1. Harry – Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs by Ian Whybrow

Normal clothes + bucket + toy dinosaurs

2. Charlie Bucket – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Normal clothes + golden ticket + chocolate bar

3. Sophie – Sophie's Adventures by Dick King-Smith

Normal clothes + wellies + (toy) snail

Book characters that wear pyjamas

4. Tom – Tom's Midnight Garden by Phillippa Pearce

Blue and white striped PJs

5. Sophie – The BFG by Roald Dahl

Pink nightie + jar (of dreams)

6. ‘Boy’ – The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Yellow PJs + blue dressing gown

7. Grandmother – Little Red Riding Hood

Nightie + wolf ears/mask

8. Ben – Penguin by Polly Dunbar

Green PJs with white dots

9. Wendy – Peter Pan by J M Barrie

Light blue nightie (in the film)

15. 'Boy' – Lost & Found by Oliver Jeffers

Red and white striped top + brown/red and white striped hat + suitcase

16. Grace – Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch

Pink and white striped shirt + red (or blue) and white striped hair ribbons

17. Dave – Dogger by Shirley Hughes

White and red striped top + toy dog

18. 'Girl' – Monkey and Me by Emily Gravett

Red and white striped top + toy monkey

19. Burglar Bill – Burglar Bill by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Dark blue and white striped top + blue peaked cap + torch + robber mask + sack + (optional) toy cat to go in sack

20. Father Christmas – Father Christmas Goes on Holiday by Raymond Briggs

Blue and white striped top + red and white polka shorts + white sun hat + white beard

21. Julius Zebra – Julius Zebra by Gary Northfield

Black and white striped top + black and white striped tights + gladiator-type brown skirt + plastic sword

22. Grandma Swagg – Cops and Robbers by Janet and Allan Ahlberg

Blue and white striped top + black skirt + red feather boa + white wig + glasses + walking stick + black hat with purple ribbon + (optional) gold plastic jewellery

World Book Day fairy or winged costumes

23. The Fairy Godmother – Cinderella by Charles Perrault

(From the film) Purple cape/hooded dress + pink bow + grey wig + magic wand

24. Puck – A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare

Green/brown top + shorts + tights + wreath of leaves

25. Angelina Ballerina – Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig

Pink tutu + pink ballet shoes + mouse ears + bow + flower decoration

26. Holly Short – Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

Green top + trousers + yellow belt + wings + red wig + elf ears + plastic shooter

27. Skellig – Skellig by David Almond

Brown clothes + (ideally big) white/brown wings

28. Tinkerbell – Peter Pan by J M Barrie

Green dress + green shoes with pom-poms + magic wand + wings

World Book Day knight costumes

29. Tom – Beast Quest by Adam Blade

Brown clothes + boots + plastic shield + sword

30. Arthur – Sword in the Stone by T H White

Red tunic + yellow tights + yellow scarf + boots + sword

31. Oliver – Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

T-shirt + brown waistcoat + three-quarter-length trousers + peaked cap + plastic bowl + scarf (optional)

32. William Beech – Goodnight, Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian

White shirt + brown blazer + shorts + knee-length socks + box with a string shoulder handle

33. Mary – The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

(In the film) White dress + red tam beret + black coat + purple scarf + hair ribbons + old-looking key, red hat

34. Anne – Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Light shirt + blue or white tunic + straw hat + hair in pigtails + (optional) old-fashioned bag/suitcase

World Book Day costumes with football kit

Got a kid who's refusing to wear anything but their football kit? Fear not – there are plenty of fictional footballers out there. We're also strong supporters of children reading football annuals – reading is reading!

35. Football Academy by Tom Palmer

Any football kit

36. Girls FC by Helena Pielichaty

Football kit + tiara (optional)

37. Willy – Willy the Wizard by Anthony Browne

Football kit + monkey ears

World Book Day witch or wizard costumes

38. Mildred Hubble – The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy

Shirt + tunic + striped tie + pointy hat + hair in pigtails

39. Harry Potter/Ron Weasley/Hermione Granger/Cho Chang – Harry Potter series by J K Rowling

Black cape + white shirt + grey jumper + trousers/skirt + coloured tie dependent on Hogwarts house (red for Gryffindor) + magic wand

40. Meg - Meg and Mog by Helen Nicoll and Jan Pienkowski

Black dress + black pointy hat + black shoes with yellow buckles + black-and-white striped toy cat + cauldron + broomstick

41. Merlin – Sword in the Stone by T H White

Light blue robes + light blue pointy hat + light blue pointy shoes + white wig + white beard + spectacles + wooden staff + toy owl (optional)

42. Gandalf – The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien

Grey dress + belt + grey cape + grey pointy hat + grey shawl + grey beard + long stick

43. Dumbledore – Harry Potter series by J K Rowling

Grey/silver dressing gown + spectacles + tassel hat + white/grey beard + hairband to go around middle of beard + magic wand

44. The Witch – Room on a Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

Witch's hat + red top + purple skirt

45. Winnie – Winnie the Witch by Valerie Thomas and Korky Paul

Blue dress + purple waistcoat + red and yellow striped tights + multi-coloured pointy hat + blue shoes + magician's wand + black toy cat

World Book Day costumes by colour

Because sometimes, you've just gotta work with what you've got.

46. Violet Baudelaire – A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

Dark red dress + white collar + boots + pocket watch

47. Things 1 and 2 – The Cat in the Hat by Dr Seuss

Red top + red bottoms (jumpsuit if you have one) + blue wing + badge saying either 'Thing 1' or 'Thing 2'

48. Lyra Belacqua – Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman

Shirt + red dungaree dress + boots + long socks + soft toy animal (ideally a rodent) + compass

49. Stuart Little – Stuart Little by E B White

Red jumper + trousers + converse trainers + tail + mouse ears (see how to make them in the video above)

50. The Boy in the Dress – The Boy in the Dress by David Walliams

Orange dress + orange (or football) shoes + football

51. Charlie or Lola- Charlie and Lola by Lauren Child

Charlie: orange top with 'Charlie' on it

Lola: orange striped or floral dress + orange shoes + blue ribbons

52. Fantastic Mrs Fox – Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl

Yellow dress (ideally with red dots or apples on it) + belt with paintbrushes/pencils in it + brooch + fox tail + fox ears (see our video above on how to make them)

53. Man in the Yellow Hat – Curious George by Margret and H A Rey

Yellow shirt + yellow trousers + belt + yellow tie with black polka dots + boots + yellow wide-brimmed hat + toy monkey

54. Coraline – Coraline by Neil Gaiman

(From the film) Yellow raincoat + yellow wellies + blue/purple wig + red striped tights + red skirt + red messenger bag

55. Pete – Pete the Cat by Eric Litwin and James Dean

Yellow jacket + multicoloured buttons + blue trousers + red converse + blue cat ears/mask

56. Peter Pan – Peter Pan by J M Barrie

Green top + green trousers + green cap with red feather + brown belt with plastic sword + boots

57. Babar – Babar the Elephant by Jean de Brunhoff

Green suit jacket + green trousers + white skirt + red bow tie + elephant ears + black smart shoes + bowler hat (or crown)

58. The Little Prince – The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Green top + green trousers + red belt + red bow tie + blond wig + (optional) plastic rose

59. Mr Bump – Mr Men series by Roger Hargreaves

Blue clothes + bandages (or loo roll) + plasters

60. Dorothy – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L Frank Baum

Blue and white chequered tunic + white top + white socks + red shoes + hair in pigtails + hair ribbons + basket + toy dog

61. Peter Rabbit – The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

Blue/denim jacket + white top + brown trousers + bunny ears + carrot

62. Madeline – Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

Dark blue dress + white collar + red ribbon + straw boating hat + white socks + black shoes + white gloves

63. Sophie – The Tiger who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr

Light purple tunic + dark purple top + white tights with purple and pink squares drawn on + purple/blue hair ribbon + toy tiger + plastic teacup

64. Violet Beauregarde – Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Dark blue shirt + dark blue trousers + red belt + red boating hat + bubblegum

65. Lavender – Matilda by Roald Dahl

Purple floral dress or purple dungarees + glasses + hair in plaits, pinned up

Want a Matilda World Book Day costume? See more Roald Dahl costume ideas

66. Handa – Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne

Pink floral dress + pink sandals + basket (to go on head) + plastic fruit

67. Annie Rose – Alfie and Annie Rose stories by Shirley Hughes

Pink dungarees + white top + converse trainers + red bucket

68. The Little Princess – I Want My Potty by Tony Ross

White dress + crown + green potty

69. Wimpy Kid – Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney

White T-shirt + black shorts + black backpack

70. Max – Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

White onesie + furry headband + furry tail + crown + face-painted whiskers

71. Fantastic Mr Fox – Fantastic Mr Fox by Roald Dahl

Brown blazer + brown trousers + shirt + tie + waistcoat + fox tail + fox ears (see our video above)

72. Katniss Everdeen – Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Brown jacket + brown trousers + boots + plastic bow and arrows in bag + (optional) Mockingjay/bird brooch + hair in a plait

73. Stick Man – Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

Brown top + brown bottoms + brown shoes + twig/leave headpiece + additional twig/leaves on outfit

74. The Paper Bag Princess – The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

Brown dress (ideally made out of paper) + crown

75. Amelia Earhart – Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli

Brown jacket (ideally leather) + brown trousers + boots + white scarf + goggles + aviator hat. Plus, really impress with our easy-to-make airplane addition: see the video above

All ideas found on Mumsnet.