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25 Fun Book Character Costumes for Kids to Buy and DIY

A list of twenty-five book character costumes for kids that you can buy or make at home, ranging from the Paper Bag Princess to Peter Pan!

Alison Doherty Oct 9, 2019

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Alison Doherty

Senior Contributor

Alison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.

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Book character costumes for kids are perfect for literary little people on Halloween or World Book Day. Reading stories puts our minds and imaginations into other characters. But on dress up days, literary costumes help kids become their favorite characters. Read on, for a list of 25 book character costumes for kids, ranging from ideas for infants to teenagers and costumes you can buy to DIY costumes you can make at home. And everyone please have a spooky, safe, literary Halloween season!

Book Character Costumes For Kids You Can Buy

1. Madeline from Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans

2. Lorax from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

3. A Hobbit from The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

4. Mary Poppins from Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers

5. Max from Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

6. Magnolia from The Princess in Black by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

7. Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

8. Pete from Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

9. Sherlock Holmes from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

10. Winnie the Pooh from The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

11. Pigeon from Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems

12. Alice from A lice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

13. The Mad Hatter from A lice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll

14. The Little Prince from The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

15. Peter Pan from Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

DIY BookIsh Costumes You Can Make

16. Greg or Rowley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

17. M r Bump and Little Miss Giggles from Mr. Bump and Little Miss Giggles by Roger Hargreaves

18. Paper Bag Princess from The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch

19. Spiderweb from Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

20. Unicorn from The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

21. One Fish Two Fish Costume from One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss

22. Little Red Riding Hood from Red Riding Hood by James Marshall

23. The Man with the Yellow Hat from Curious George by H.A. Rey

24. Peddler from Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

25. Harold from Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson