Parents' Survival Guide to Book Week in Australia: Easy Costume Ideas and Last-Minute Hacks

Written By Keely Lister

The truth about Australian Book Week:

Book Week in Australia is one of the most important times of the year for students, specifically those in primary school, it is often referred to children’s Book Week as it is highly popular in schools across Australia. Book Week helps promote reading through the use of costumes and fairs, this is more exciting to children than just being told to read by their parents. 

It was started by the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA), they took the initiative to bring together schools, libraries, and communities to start celebrating Australian children's authors. Additionally, they wanted to start promoting the joy of reading to children and get them to start reading books more, especially in the age of social media. They do this through costume parades, displays, book awards, and often shops and readings by authors done in schools. 

Author visits in schools give children a chance to learn from them and create a love for reading in many students. For authors like Sarah, it is their busiest time of year, booked by schools a year in advance and planning their week to be full of school visits. Author visits give a chance for your child to meet a real author and buy a personally signed book.

However, it is supposed to be about books, not costumes but the Book Week parade has sometimes overshadowed the reason, just like Halloween. This can have a positive and negative affect on Book Week as dressing up gets children more excited about the books and book characters they like. Unfortunately, often children will dress as something not from a book, such as Spiderman. Additionally, children may forget that Book Week is about reading and not about the Book Week costumes. 

The truth about Book Week costumes

Children's Book Week Australia is designed to highlight children’s literature, this means that it is best when your child picks a character from their favourite book to dress as. Book Week costumes have become highly popular for the week and are almost more popular than the week itself. 

Often children will want to dress as something that may be impossible to come together with at home, this is why negotiation should start early. With children, especially those who are young, negotiation is extremely tricky, they want to pick their favourite book character and become them no matter how challenging it will be for their parents.

Some book character costumes are impossible, others are achievable from your closet. Being a hungry caterpillar takes prewarning and lots of planning. However, being Harry Potter is easier, but they are likely to find themselves in a classroom of Harrys. This is why book Week costume ideas need to be planned in advance.

When you find the book week note crumpled in the bottom of your child’s bag the night before, the result is last minute stress for busy parents and a late-night scramble raiding the closet.  We are here to help with last-minute Book Week costumes ideas than can be done from home. 

Easy costumes from Sarah's books

Here are two easy costumes from Dr Sarah’s books:

Wildlife Wong

Let’s be honest, the majority of children’s literary characters are Anglo-Saxon. This can be problematic in Australia where 45 percent of school kids are immigrants and 20 percent are ethically Asian. Wildlife Wong is a world-famous scientist of Chinese descent, and the hero of SIX children’s books! Just as important, to become Wildlife Wong is super easy.

To become him you will need: 

This is an easy Book Week costume that can be made completely from what you have at home, it is perfect for parents on the go and those who may have forgotten. 

Curious Kai Asks Why

Speech Pathology Australia shortlisted Curious Kai Asks Why for an award this year. It is about a young girl with endless questions about wildlife who goes in search of the Australian scientists who can answer her questions. If you have an inquisitive girl, this is an easy one for you!

To become her you will need: 

This is one of the easiest homemade Book Week costumes you will find, it can be completely made from what you have at home. 

Final Thoughts

Sarah’s previous blog ‘Children Reading Books: Why Reading Still Matters’ states that students read around 17 books per year and when children read for 15 minutes a day or more, their comprehension improves significantly. This shows how significant the CBCA Book Week is to ensure that children stay interested in reading as time goes on. 

Additionally, it found that as children progress to reading alone, talking about what they are reading, reading alongside them, or sharing library visits helps keep reading relevant and social. This shows that while children are still reading, they are more likely to enjoy it through things such as Book Week Australia. This is because it allows for them to communicate and express their joy for their favourite books. 

Anyone who sends Dr Sarah a photo of them in a Curious Kai or Wildlife Wong costume this book week will be sent a coupon for a 50% discount for ANY of Sarah’s books! Now that’s a good way to promote a love of reading!