Make Children's Book Week Easy and Fun with ABC Reading Eggs!

Parents, get ready for a joyous Children's Book Week 2023, an exciting celebration that promotes literacy and ignites a lifelong passion for reading in kids. This year's enchanting theme, "Read, Grow, Inspire", emphasises how books profoundly influence your child's development, sparking boundless imagination and creativity.  

As the event draws near, we’ve got you covered with 17 captivating books to choose from and over 30 fabulous Book Week costume ideas below! The ABC Reading Eggs Library’s 3,500+ books are the perfect way to help prepare for the festivities. Just remember to have fun and encourage your child’s reading.  

The Best Book and Costume Ideas for Children’s Book Week 

Check out our phenomenal book options and matching costumes below, to make choosing Book Week dress-ups a fun and stress-free endeavour.  

Best of all, your child will improve their reading skills while they’re being inspired to dress up. Our e-books have unique features, with many being phonetically decodable, read-to-me audio enabled and including sections like “Helpful Tips for Reading at Home”. Plus, there are book quizzes for comprehension and fun rewards for confidence building! We have books across many themes and children’s reading levels, so everyone is sure to find what they’re interested in.  

These are the 9 book themes we cover in this article, offering 17 books to read and over 30 costume ideas!  

1. Classic kids’ stories 

2. Fanciful fairytale dress-ups  

3. Fantasy fiction  

4. Superstar sports stars 

5. Career dress-ups  

6. Books brimming with adventure 

7. Shakespeare 

8. Dress as a historical figure 

9. Dressing up book ideas 

Classic kids’ stories 

You’ll find plenty of myths, legends and the most beloved classic tales in the huge ABC Reading Eggs library.    

1. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

From Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella to Prince Charming, let fairytales inspire your costume. Follow Alice as she goes down the rabbit hole, meets some friends and has a one-of-a-kind adventure!   

All this simple costume requires is Alice’s famous blue dress and apron. Raid the dress-up box for a princess dress for Cinderella or get your little person looking smart as Prince Charming.    

2. Robin Hood

Join Robin Hood and the Merry Hikers on their adventures as they make their way through Sherwood Forrest. After this story, your child will want to become the hero of Nottingham!

Craft a costume with a fitted brown hooded capelet, drape a tunic sash, waist belt and a side bag to complete the look!  

Fanciful fairytale dress-ups 

Little kids adore fairytales and will love the idea of dressing up as Little Red Riding Hood or Peter Pan. 

3. Peter Pan

Immerse your child in this enchanting retelling of Peter Pan and join him on a captivating adventure alongside Tinker Bell and Wendy.

Deck your little Peter Pan in a green t-shirt and black leggings, get crafty together by making a paper hat and complete the look with a feather.  

4. Snow White Sees the Light  

Frustrated by her seven cheeky cohabitants, Snow White lays down the law.  

This fun spin on a beloved tale will have your child wanting to don Snow White’s outfit whether it’s her tattered rags or her glamorous ball gown. Two options for Children’s Book Week!   

Fantasy fiction  

If your child adores fantasy books, our library has an enthralling selection waiting for them. 

5. Stars of Harry Potter

Indulge your child's passion for Harry Potter with this captivating non-fiction title. Discover intriguing details about author J.K. Rowling and the stars of the movie, including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and more.

Book Week will be magical as your little one dresses up as Harry or Hermione, adorning a cloak, wielding a magic wand or sporting Harry's distinctive round glasses and birthmark.

6. Loxy the Lopsided Fairy

Fly along with lovely Loxy in this fantastical tale where she gets her wings, but it doesn’t go according to plan.

Your child will love reliving this wonderful story by dressing up as Loxy the Fairy for Children’s Book Week! All you’ll need is a floaty dress and fabulous fairy wings to complete the look.  

Superstar sports stars 

Is your child sports-mad? Are all their heroes athletes who succeed on the pitch, court or football ground? This is the perfect Book Week theme for you and is always a great way to get a child who does not want to dress up for Book Week involved!    

7. Naomi Osaka

Watch your child be inspired by this terrific tennis champ, her incredible achievements and her life off the court.

This makes for a very simple Children’s Book Week costume idea too, with a sports tee, skirt, cap and tennis racket as an accessory.    

 8. Stars of Soccer

Your mini-footballer will love learning all about magic with the round ball. Full of facts about the world’s top players from David Beckham to Cristiano Ronaldo, this is sure to inspire the sportiest Children's Book outfit.   

All they need to do is put on their football or soccer kit – jersey and football boots, and they’re sorted!   

Career Costume Ideas 

In keeping with the “Read, Grow, Inspire” theme, why not help your child explore jobs they might like to do when they’re older? Our People Who Help Us and So You Wanna Be set of e-books are full of great ideas! Also, check out our books about other jobs such as Jobs on a Jet, Audrey the Vet or Firefighters for more inspiration. 

9. People Who Help Us 

This non-fiction title introduces children to many professions that help us, including doctors, vets, farmers, teachers and delivery drivers. With photos of people doing their jobs, your child will get some great ideas about how to dress up for Children’s Book Week this year!

Put on some scrubs and drape a stethoscope around their neck or don a farmers’ hat, checked shirt and overalls.      

 10. So You Wanna Be a DJ? 

This makes for a fun and easy costume idea. Start with headphones, a tracksuit, cool shades and sneakers. Yes, it’s that simple!

This is also a brilliant Children's Book Week costume for kids with sensory issues. It’s comfortable and the headphones can block out some of the cacophony of the event.

Books brimming with adventure  

If you have a child that's entranced by adventurous, swashbuckling stories that are out of this world, these book and costume ideas won’t disappoint. 

11. Where Are the Dinosaurs?

This beautifully illustrated adventure book will captivate your child and make them want to be a dinosaur for Children’s Book Week! River and Pebble can’t find their dinosaur friends, so they go exploring to discover where they’ve gone. Join them as they search a stream, explore the forest and even take to the sky in search of dinosaurs.  

This is one costume where your child can throw on their dinosaur onesie and be ready to go!  

12. Buried Treasure

Part of the Reader’s Theatre set, this book is written as a play – perfect for your drama-loving child! It has a handy read-to-me option too. Join Captain Red Beard as he sets off on a mission to find where he buried his treasure. Unfortunately, he’s lost his treasure map!  

After reading Buried Treasure, your child will be inspired to wear a stripy top, pirate hat and eye patch for Book Week this year!    

13. Star Powers Mum on the Moon

Join Star on her outer space adventures in this incredible story, that includes spectacular space facts and craft activities. It even has space jokes your child can share with their friends while wearing their astronaut suit.

Wear all white and construct a papier mâché helmet together if you’re crafty!

Shakespeare – drama dress-ups for Children's Book Week

14. A Midsummer Night’s Dream

If you have a child that loves drama this is a great way to introduce them to Shakespeare. This most whimsical of the Bard’s tales will delight your child with its humour and magic.   

Dress as Puck in green tights and add leaves to a brown t-shirt, or a long flowing dress and crown for Titania the fairy queen.  Or there’s always Bottom the donkey – pin some big grey ears to a hat and a tail to grey tracksuit pants.

Our library has lots of Shakespeare titles, so if your child loves this book why not try Romeo and Juliet or Hamlet too?  

Honour a historical figure for Children’s Book Week 

Some children may prefer to dress as people who’ve inspired them with their feats, discoveries or research.     

15. Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Champion

This biography of the famed scientist is sure to inspire your child. It covers Jane’s early years, arriving in Africa 50 years ago, learning to talk to the animals and how she introduced the world to unknown facts about her beloved chimpanzees and conservation.  

Dress as Jane Goodall for Children’s Book Week by wearing a khaki shirt, shorts and hiking boots. Add a toy monkey in your pocket or on your shoulder.     

16. Trailblazers

This captivating book introduces children to three impressive figures from history (and provides three Children’s Book Week dress-up options!) There’s intrepid explorer Ferdinand Magellan, suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and the incredible Nelson Mandela to learn about.

Sail into Book Week with Magellan’s explorer’s outfit. Draw on his signature beard, wear a brown top and leggings with a yellow tunic over the top. Add a beret, compass or map to finish the look.   

Wear the long-sleeved button-up shirts and floor-length skirts that were common during Pankhurst’s era of fighting for women’s rights. Make a sash to wear that says, “Votes for Women”. 

Honour the great South African leader Mandela, with a suit or a brightly patterned shirt like the Madiba style he wore which became emblematic of post-apartheid freedom. It’s a great chance for your child to share what they’ve learned from the book when their friends ask about the shirt! 

Books on dressing up for Children’s Book Week 

Is your little one stumped for Book Week costume ideas?    

 17. Dressing Up 

This sweet book with adorable pictures will offer all sorts of imaginative dress-up ideas. There are eight more brilliant Children’s Book Week costume ideas they can read about in this non-fiction title. Plus, you might have some of these outfit ideas at home already!   

Do Children’s Book Week better with ABC Reading Eggs  

As you can see, the ABC Reading Eggs Library is brimming with ideas for Children’s Book Week this year! In fact, there are over 3,500 books to inspire, inform and captivate your child as they learn to read.

They’re sure to find a Book Week costume that will excite them and that they’ll be proud to wear. Additionally, don't miss out on the excitement of the monthly themes, where you can dress up your avatar in unique styles every month!