World Book Day has fast become a highlight of Gus’s term time ever since he started nursery and then school. Early costumes included a much-loved tiger’s costume (The Tiger That Came to Tea; a firm favourite!)…
And while he repurposed the tiger suit for a few years running – sentimental child of habit this one 😉 – thing’s got a little more interesting last year where he agreed to a fox onesie for Fantastic Mr Fox. Enjoying us reading him the book at bedtime – one of the best bonding experiences for both child and adult IMHO! – and imagining himself as the wily Mr Fox brought the whole event to life for him in a way it hadn’t previously!
And suddenly costumes became the thing! Brilliantly Tu Clothing’s book character costumes for this year’s World Book Day (March 1st!) provided ample choice! This year, as part of Sainsbury’s support for the Vision for Literacy Business Pledge (led by the National Literacy Trust), the supermarket is encouraging parents and children to get reading this World Book Day. As well as the costumes, you can find the associated books at Sainsbury’s, where you can redeem your World Book Day tokens in-store.
The Gruffalo – who doesn’t adore this Julia Donaldson classic! – was an obvious choice and then he surprised me by fully embracing the fabulous Willy Wonka suit – this isn’t yet a book we’ve done; our only encounter was a dip into Charlie & The Chocolate Factory movie when it was on TV which left Gus a little unsure – he’s still got quite a high ‘drama’ aversion when it comes to films lol!
But the one thing he did pick up on was Willy Wonka’s zany character and has regaled us with hobbled over the walking stick moves jumping into action just as Wonka does in the story.
With Gus now in Year 1 and a concerted effort placed on phonics and reading at school, his own reading is coming on really well. Being a bookworm myself, especially as a child, I can’t wait for him to be able to curl up with a book himself and lose himself in the magic a story.
Seeing his reading evolve over the last year – from spelling out words phonetically and figuring the word out to managing whole sentences by himself – is an incredible experience. As is the curling up every night for bedtime stories – rediscovering old favourites and bringing new tales into the fold.
So, if you’re in need of a costume for your little ones, pop on over to Tu Clothing; in addition to the Gruffalo and Willy Wonka they have a whole load, including Alice In Wonderland, Harry Potter, Stickman, Frozen’s Anna, Peter Rabbit, Mary Poppins and Little Miss Sunshine.
And over on the World Book Day site you can find loads of activity ideas and suggestions, with PDFs to download to inspire and encourage reading as a pleasure and help contribute to getting books into the hands of disadvantaged children.
Gruffalo costume | Willy Wonka costume| My tassel jumper & skinny grey jeans
Created in collaboration with Sainsbury’s
