How To Make A Children’s Book Character Costume (Part 3)

And we are back today with Part 3 of our children’s picture book costume ideas. (See Part 1 and Part 2.) Today’s grouping is much smaller and might speak more strongly to the hearts of boys. These are some fun, active characters with bold moves and outfits. Let’s see some more character costume ideas!

Big Anthony costume from Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola

Beginning with the oldest, the Big Anthony character from Strega Nona would be a unique, vintage costume. He looks sort of peasantish which would make the costume quite easy to acquire I should think, but the added touch would be that heaping plate full of noodles of course. There’s just something funny to me about a costume including food! Combine this with a Strega Nona costume from Part 2 and you have a great pair!

Boy costume from Flashlight by Lizi Boyd

Hopefully I’m not making a terrible mistake by assuming this is a boy in Lizi Boyd’s new book, but I’m sure the costume could be adapted either way! This is actually a new wordless picture book just out from Chronicle Books and it is striking to behold with its die-cuts and black pages with white accents. Given how quickly the sun sets now, I think it could be a marvelously fun and easy costume! And seriously, what kid doesn’t love to play with a flashlight?

Beekle costume from Beekle by Dan Santat

This might possibly be my favorite costume idea for picture books this year. I love that it is kind of a unique twist on a ghost-like character and oh, he just looks so lovable. Dan Santat’s illustrations actually show Beekle’s crown as being paper and taped on one spread, so the whole thing just seems ripe for recreating. Pair it with an Alice character costume from Part 1 and it is picture book perfection!

Mr. Tiger costume from Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown

I’m still kind of in shock that this book did not receive anything from this year’s Caldecott awards, especially as it took top billing in our Cybils’ debate last winter. Nonetheless, Peter Brown’s lovely (uncoated paper!) book about a tiger not willing to strictly force himself into the societal standards, is a charming book. Replicating the look would be fantastically fun. I do not however recommend copying his free-spirit and losing the suit at some point of the evening, unless you have donned a full tiger suit of course!

Niño costume from Niño Wrestles the World by Yuyi Morales

Another stunning, memorable and humorous character to recreate would be the fabulous Niño. This little dude is quite imaginative in his Lucha Libre wrestling skills (a book that is incredibly fun and interesting especially for someone who knew nothing about the existence of this Mexican style of professional wrestling). While I definitely admit this would be a cold costume to carry out, I’m sure you could figure a way around it. I have also recommended white shorts here rather than a pair of underwear as I don’t think wearing underwear about town would be such a great idea.

And there’s the five for Part 3. (Don’t miss Part 1 and Part 2!) I’m hoping to put out one more post to finish off these crazy costumes (Part 4). Stay tuned!