The Most Popular World Book Day Costumes Revealed
Although World Book Day celebrates the joy of reading and is a wholesome event for many children, it can be a demanding time for parents. More than five in ten (52%) UK parents revealed they struggle to find their child a costume and half feel stressed about it. Over half (56%) also admitted they feel pressured to create an impressive costume. So, to help parents and give them some costume inspiration, the mother and baby retailer JoJo Maman Bébé has revealed the UK’s most searched World Book Day costumes.
Catherine Reed, children’s fashion buyer from the brand spoke with YCB and discussed the top five hacks on how to create a costume at home.
| The Top 20 Most Googled World Book Day Costumes | ||
| Rank | Character | Monthly UK Google Searches (Feb 21 – Jan 25) |
| 1 | Harry Potter | 630,200 |
| 2 | Matilda | 544,420 |
| 3 | Alice in Wonderland | 542,600 |
| 4 | Spider Man | 536,600 |
| 5 | Deadpool | 479,400 |
| 6 | Beetlejuice | 439,750 |
| 7 | Mad Hatter | 377,900 |
| 8 | Queen of Hearts | 350,800 |
| 9 | Minion | 332,400 |
| 10 | Where’s Wally | 326,300 |
| 11 | Barbie | 300,800 |
| 12 | Willy Wonka | 287,880 |
| 13 | Star Wars | 274,100 |
| 14 | Iron Man | 251,000 |
| 15 | Darth Vadar | 247,500 |
| 16 | Wednesday Adams | 217,430 |
| 17 | Gruffalo | 189,030 |
| 18 | Cat in the Hat | 185,620 |
| 19 | Captain America | 175,100 |
| 20 | Mary Poppins | 169,380 |
Harry Potter takes the top spot for themost searched for World Book Day costume, with 630,200 searches from February 2021 to January 2025. JK Rowling’s fantasy series, which has sold more than 600 million copies worldwide, with all seven novels topping Amazon’s most read list, proves to be a hit with children year after year.
Luckily for parents, Harry Potter’s costume is easy to make with very few elements – the main ones being a black cape, which some will have from previous Halloween costumes, a white shirt, school trousers or a skirt, a striped scarf or tie and a stick from outside for a wand substitute. To take it to the next level, grab some fake glasses and red face paint to draw on Harry’s forehead scar.
Matilda follows in second place with 544,420 searches. This best selling Roald Dahl book has sold 17 million copies worldwide and due to the book’s success, has been adapted into a film and musical. Matilda’s costume is arguably easier than Harry’s – all parents need is a blue dress, white cardigan, red hair ribbon, white socks and black shoes. A small pile of books can be an additional prop.
Alice in Wonderland is in third with 542,600 searches and Lewis Carroll’s novel is considered one of the most popular children’s books of all time, selling 100 million copies. This uncomplicated costume only needs three items – a blue dress, a hair bow and a white apron or pinny. A plush rabbit can be carried as an extra prop.
Spider Man, the first superhero and comic book character to make the ranking, takes the fourth spot with 536,600 searches. The Marvel Spider Man comic books have proved very popular with children and adults and have sold over 385 million copies.
An easy way to make this costume at home is to use any spider man themed pyjamas or if there are none available, use a blue hooded sweatshirt as the base layer and add a red hooded sweatshirt over the top – ideally, an old one, as the arms will need to be cut off so the blue shows underneath. After this, draw a spider on the red sweatshirt chest and pair it with red gloves.
Deadpool is the second Marvel comic book character to complete the top five with 479,400 searches. The Deadpool comic made its debut in 1991, and since then, there have been 63 issues. It has also expanded to a trilogy series film series with the latest film making 205 million at the box office. This costume requires a red hooded sweatshirt and matching joggers, red and black trainers, black gloves, black knee pads and a red face mask with black attachments for the eyes.
With over four in ten (41%) of UK parents buying their child’s costume ready-made and 23% creating their child’s costumes completely from scratch, Catherine Reed, JoJo’s kids fashion buyer reveals their top tips on how parents can create costumes using staple household items.
Catherine’s five top tips on how to create a World Book Day costume at home:
- Make use of old clothing – “If there’s any old clothing they’re not using, such as a tutu – make use of this for a costume. The same can be done with parents’ clothing if they’re not attached to it, pop on an old red and white striped top and you have a Where’s Wally costume.”
- Use accessories – “Instead of an entire outfit dedicated to a theme, add accessories such as character wellies, soft toys or hats to make the prop the main part of the costume, for example, a plush dinosaur prop creates a zookeeper character.”
- Utilise household items – “Make use of household items that would be going to waste to flex your creative skills, so for example, old loo rolls can be used as goggles or binoculars or a cardboard box can help create a robot costume.”
- Upcycle decorations – “For a last minute costume idea, have a scour through old decorations to make use of. Christmas baubles are perfect for this as you can attach them to a green dress to make a Christmas tree.”
- Use existing clothing – “A section of books that are often overlooked are non-fiction books – these are easy wins as you can use existing clothing to dress your child as historical figures, inventors or celebrities.”
For those looking for costume additions or accessories, check out JoJo Maman Bébé’s wide range of soft toys, hats, character clothing, blankets and toddler gifts.