Each year in late August, Australian schools and libraries dedicate a week to celebrating the books, authors, and illustrators that have fed our imaginations with wild and wonderful stories.

Book Week has been inspiring for nearly 80 years, and is a staple of the school calendar. More than ever, this year is a year to highlight the importance of reading – and to make the most of an occasion to dress up as our favourite book characters. Now that surely beats going to school in uniform!

In anticipation of the bookish celebrations to come, we’ve put together a list of our favourite Book Week costumes for children and teachers alike.

Ready to take a page out of your favourite book and bring some iconic characters to life? So are we! Check out our amazing collection of Book Week costumes. Order now for fast delivery around Australia.

Alice in Wonderland Book Week costumes

Everyone was read or at least watched Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. To honour the classic – a story that remains one of the most fantastical children’s books ever written – we recommend tapping into the madness within with an Alice in Wonderland costume for Book Week.

Step into a world where dresses act as parachutes, road signs are nonsense, caterpillars blow technicolour smoke rings and cats disappear before your very eyes.

There are so many unique looks at your disposal. You’re guaranteed to find the character you were born to play within these pages:

• Sweet and innocent like Alice
• Powerful and commanding like the Queen of Hearts
• Just plain kooky like the Mad Hatter
• Cute and loveable like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum for boys and girls

Harry Potter Book Week costume ideas

It might be a few decades early to make this call, but we’ll make it anyway: Harry Potter is destined to go down in history as one of the most beloved children’s or young adult series of all time. The first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was first released in 1997.

It has since captivated at least two generations of children – not including those fully-grown adults who happily jumped aboard the bandwagon. Fact: everyone who loves Harry Potter has taken at least one survey telling them which of the four ‘Houses’ they’d be sorted into.

Book Week is your perfect opportunity to let everyone know where you belong with a Harry Potter costume from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin, and live your dream of attending Hogwarts for a whole week! You can also dress up as:

• Newt Scamander from Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
• Professor Dumbledore
• Hermione Granger

Ideas for book week costumes from Where's Wally?

Where’s Wally? is the perfect Book Week costume for teachers: fun, classic, appropriate and not excessively embarrassing to wear on public transport on your way to work. And, as the book series has proven, it’s the perfect outfit if you want to get lost in the crowd and take a little breather.

At Blossom, we have more Where's Wally? Book Week costume ideas than you could fit on a single page! These include:

• Where’s Wally? costumes for boys
• Where’s Wanda? costumes for women
• Where's Wally Odlaw boys Book Week costume

After all, we wouldn’t want to deny either Mr or Ms the possibility of camouflaging themselves against an onslaught of parents at Book Week.

Angelina Ballerina Book Week costume ideas

Angelina Ballerina from Katharine Holabird and Helen Craig’s series Angelina Ballerina is an easy option for any of your little ones going through a pink phase. After all, everyone loves cute mice and shiny shoes. May as well jump on an opportunity to combine the two!

We stock a range of ballerina costumes and shiny ballet shoes that can easily be transformed into an Angelina Ballerina costume for Book Week with just a touch of craftsmanship: a painted-on nose and some wee little whiskers.

Everyone knows that onesies are the closest you can get to wearing pyjamas in public and it being socially acceptable (though ‘socially acceptable’ is arguable depending on who you’re talking to). A fluffy pig from Nick Bland’s King Pig is the perfect costume for the older Book Week participants!

A pig onesie to work on Book Week is such a brilliant idea for teachers looking for costume ideas: you get to combine the comfort of pyjamas with literary relevance thanks to author Nick Bland, and if you’re feeling sleepy, all you need to do is pull your snout down over your eyes!

View our full range of children’s costumes and adult costumes for more great Book Week costume ideas. Order now for speedy delivery around Australia in time for Book Week!