Trawling the high street for a fancy dress costume

is anything but a fairy tale.

But when it comes to World Book Day,

as always, Mumsnet has got you covered

with some quick and easy costume ideas that

are sure to impress on the day.

Mr. Fantastic Fox, a British classic and an ultimate

favourite for many children out there.

We picked up some things from local high street stores,

but you might already have a bunch of this in your child's

wardrobe at home.

We've got a really sweet check shirt.

This one actually even has foxes on it.

We've got a nice waistcoat on here and obviously a blazer

to make him especially smart.

And then this is just a kid's tie

that you can either have as a cravat

or you could do it as an actual tie for them.

But to make your child truly foxy,

they're going to need some ears and a tail.

You're going to need some orange felt, some beige felt,

some card, pencil and scissors, something

like an orange sock for the tail,

and something to stuff it with.

We've gone for bubble wrap.

You'll also need a headband.

We've obviously gone for orange, but whatever you have at home

is fine.

I would recommend cutting the shape

that you want for your ears on paper

before you cut into the felt. You

need three sizes of that shape--

one for the back of the ear, one for the middle of the ear,

and the piece of card that's going

to go in between so that they don't go floppy.

Stick those three together.

Take your headband and position them on either side.

You can then stitch or glue along the inside here.

You can see how we folded it over.

And there you have it.

You're nearly there.

Next, the tail.

All you need to do is take your stuffing and roll it up.

And then you stuff.

Make sure you have enough space at the end

so that you've got somewhere you can stick it

to their trousers or the bottom of their jacket as well.

You can do that with a safety pin.

Or if you're happy to, you could sew or stick it instead.

The most dapper, the most distinguished ensemble

for your World Book Day effort this year.

World Book Day need not just be about fictional characters.

There are plenty of inspirational autobiographies

aimed at children of all ages on the market these days,

looking at men and women who've done amazing things.

Amelia Earhart was the first female aviator

to fly solo across the ocean, and is the perfect inspiration

for your World Book Day costume.

You're going to need a leather jacket, preferably

brown to make it look like an old-fashioned flight jacket.

One of your scarves, preferably cream.

Some aviator sunglasses, or any sunglasses, to be honest.

You want some sort of hat that comes down

over their ears to make it look like an old flight cap.

Brown boots or brown shoes, and then

some beige or brown trousers would do the trick.

For a windswept look, take an old metal coat hanger.

Untwist it and bend it into the shape you need.

This part is going to fly out the back,

whereas this part hooks over your child's shoulder

under their jacket, so that it can't be seen.

I'm just going to cover the ends with masking tape, which

makes it a bit more comfortable and a bit more safe.

Then, attach an edge to your scarf with the coat hanger,

either with stitches or glue.

And it should stand out behind you

and give the illusion of a windswept scarf blowing

in the wind as you pilot your plane.

For the plane, you need a box big enough for your child

to be able to wear it, but small enough to get through a door.

Some extra cardboard, these are the shapes needed.

Glue together with hot glue the wings, the tail, propeller.

We've added a plastic lid for the nose.

Add ribbon straps to go over your child's shoulders

and you're all set.

We've modelled our next costume on our little mousy friend

from The Gruffalo.

But if you're reading Stuart Little or another book with

a mouse in it, you could easily repurpose this and just make

sure the felt you're using is the right colour

for your little mouse character.

You're going to need some brown trousers and a brown hoodie.

It needs to have a hood.

Some brown, pink, and white felt, a piece of card.

Either a glue gun or, if you can sew, a needle and thread.

So let's give it a go.

Once you've cut out your pieces for the ear,

take your brown piece.

Put a piece of card in the right shape in the middle.

And then you're going to stick or sew

your pink piece over the top.

Put that to the side to dry if you're glueing.

Then, on your white felt, measure this against your child

and just cut it oval shape in the shape of the stomach.

You're then going to stick that on top of the brown hoodie.

And finally, mousie's tail.

You just need a piece of scrap pink felt.

And you're going to at the end make it quite a tight coil,

getting slightly bigger towards the body.

And then you're just going to glue or sew that into place.

And then with the end here at the thick part,

you can use that to sew it or glue it to your hoodie.

If you can sew, or if you're willing to give it a go,

one of the benefits is that this costume will probably stand

the test of time a bit longer.

Because you can throw it in the washing machine and it

will just be that bit more durable than if you glue it.

If you're using glue, once it's dry, take your ear.

To create a bit of a 3D effect, I've

just folded over the sides.

And then stick them into place.

If you do want to be able to still use the zip,

you might need to cut through the middle of the oval

and stick it in two halves on either side of your zip.

We've chosen to leave the tummy as a single piece,

because our kid can just pull this hoodie over his head

quite easily.

And then we've sewn the tail to the hoodie like so.

And there you have it, a super quick and easy--

and if you want it to be, sewing free-- costume

for World Book Day.

We hope you've enjoyed these book-inspired costumes

and found some inspiration to help you have a fantastic World

Book Day.