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The best and most bonkers World Book Day costumes
From Harry Potter to Jeremy Clarkson 'from the Top Gear' book, the sky's the limit for World Book Day fancy dress
World Book Day is upon us which can only mean one thing - an army of Mildred Hubbles, Harry Potters, Gruffalos and Grinches streaming through the school gates for a day of literature-based fun.
Despite being in its 18th year, book-lovers are being as imaginative as ever when it comes to the all-important costume and posting their efforts on social media.
We salute all the parents who made it through the seven stages of World Book Day costume crisis and delivered their children to school looking this brilliant. Not to mention the adults, who tackled the brief with even more gusto than some of the kids. Although, there has been some argument over whether Queen Elsa from Frozen should have featured at all.
A proud JK Rowling has been sharing and retweeting her favourite Potter-themed outfits all morning. Mini-Hagrid is a real favourite.
Less predictable, but utterly fantastic, is this Jeremy Clarkson:
Top marks in the creativity category go to primary school teacher Kells Moran from Ireland and her utterly ingenious James and the Giant Peach baby bump. Her husband Ted tells us that her school "go all out every year" but with an eight-month baby bump she thought she'd make an extra special effort:
David Walliams is busy flying from school to school by helicopter on his World Book Day #WalliamsWhirlwind tour, but meanwhile, his award-winning (and often gruesome) characters proved a popular choice for young readers:
There was plenty of love for Gangsta Granny...
...and Awful Auntie and Ratburger both got a look in.
An early favourite was H.G.Wells' Invisible Man. Although it may just be a sneaky way of avoiding looking at the board all day (or in fact avoiding school altogether):
It's slightly scary how many little girls can pull off a frightening Cruella de Vil - from Dodie Smith's classic tale, 101 Dalmations:
Here's a glorious waft of nostalgia in the form of Joyce Lankester Brisley's 1920s heroine, Milly-Molly-Mandy:
How many characters can you identify from this terrific school display? (Hint: some of them are from films and Minecraft).
This outfit is a masterclass in how to turn the smallest detail from a book (in this case The Hunger Games) into a whole costume:
We're not sure Clive King wrote Stig of the Dump intending the main character to be quite this angelic...
Double points for the sheer height of these Mad Hatter's hats, a wonder indeed:
Dorothy would have no problem following this yellow brick road:
Proof that the Big Friendly Giant doesn't have to be big:
But it helps:
And speaking of adults, well done to all the teachers and librarians who made such an effort:
And here we end with the wig to end all wigs - from Chris Riddell's Ottoline and the Yellow Cat: