World Book Day: This year’s best costumes, from Alice in Wonderland to Elmer the Elephant

Imaginative children pull out all the stops to depict their favourite characters for World Book Day

(Twitter/Kimmy M (@kimmy9312) / Instagram/Wild Things Drama (@wildthingsdrama))

The annual celebration of World Book Day provides children across the nation with the perfect opportunity to let their imaginations run wild, dressing up as their favourite book characters.

For this year’s World Book Day, which takes place on Thursday 5 March, numerous children have donned a variety of fun and eye-catching costumes, some of which were expertly made from scratch.

Alfie, who is a member of drama school Wild Things Drama in Rochdale, mastered multicolours when he dressed as the cheerful and colourful Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, first published in 1968.

Meanwhile, parenting and lifestyle blogger Emma, who goes by the name Dirt, Diggers and Dinosaurs, handcrafted her five-year-old son Stanley’s Gruffalo costume, using a combination of materials including towels, egg cartons and pipe cleaners.

Click through the gallery below to see a selection of the best costumes for this year’s World Book Day:

Child psychologist Dr Elizabeth Kilbey, best-known for appearing on Channel 4’s The Secret Life of 4, 5 and 6-year-olds, explained the importance of encouraging children to read.

“Helping to nurture an interest in the written word can make a world of difference to your child’s language, communication skills and overall development,” Dr Kilbey said.

“Spending that quality time together to chat, play and read with under 5s before they start school, can set them up to thrive socially and academically in later life.”

Dr Kilbey is supporting the Department for Education’s “Hungry Little Minds” campaign, which encourages parents to support their children’s learning in the earliest years, from 0 to five years old.

For 10 of the best kids’ activity books that are fun and educational, take a look at our IndyBest guide here.