Costume ideas for Book Week

With Book Week just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about costumes! In this blog, we have put together some quick and easy costume ideas to help get you started.

Dreaming with eyes open

This year's theme, "Symphony of Stories" unlocks a range of possibilities when it comes to planning your book week costume! The theme invites us to imagine characters bursting out of their stories, each bringing their own instrument and sound to a big, joyful celebration of reading.

If you can imagine it, you can be it…

Turn a favourite book character into a musician! Add a cardboard guitar, a triangle, or a drum to any existing costume and suddenly they're part of the symphony. A conductor is another easy win — black pants, a white shirt, a bow tie and a baton (a chopstick works fine) goes a long way.

Connect your costume to country by dressing up as an iconic Australian animal! There are plenty of native animals to choose from including favourites such as the Kangaroo, Emu, or even a Koala!

When I grow up, I want to be…

Do you dream of what you’ll be when you grow up? Perhaps you want to be a rocket scientist, with a white lab coat. Maybe becoming a doctor is what you’ve always wanted to be. This year, make your dreams come true by dressing up as your dream job!

The police are always a popular option, but how about dressing as a firefighter with a bright red coat and a hard hat, or throw on your space helmet to become an adventuring astronaut! Maybe you want to become a football player or a tennis star! The choices are endless!

Bursting out of the story

Let your imagination run free as you dress up as your favourite characters from worlds beyond our own! Grab out your green face paint and extra arms as you become an alien from another planet, or add an instrument and become a character who's burst right out of the pages into the Symphony of Stories.

Some other out-of-this-world ideas include dressing up as a superhero from your favourite comic book, or perhaps a princess from a fairy tale. Why not try and become a mystical creature like a dragon or a unicorn! You could even become your own Star Wars or Lord of the Rings character!

I dream and imagine worlds of…

Let your imagination run free as you dress up as your favourite characters from worlds beyond our own! Grab out your green face paint and extra arms as you become an alien from another planet! 

Some other out-of-this-world ideas include dressing up as a superhero from your favourite comic book, or perhaps a princess from a fairy tale. Why not try and become a mystical creature like a dragon or a unicorn! You could even become your own Star Wars or Lord of the Rings character!

Looking for more ideas? 

For even more inspiration, check out these great websites for more simple and easy costume ideas! 

• Book Week 2026 Costume Ideas – Inner West Mums — genuinely useful parent-written guide, good mix of budget levels and reassures that costumes don't need to be musical
• Symphony of Stories Costume Ideas – Blossom Costumes — solid editorial explainer on what the theme actually means for costume choice
• Symphony of Stories Book Week Ideas 2026 – CostumeBox Australia — retailer but decent character-specific inspiration (Narnia, Roald Dahl, Wizarding World)
• Book Week Costume Ideas – Heaven Costumes — you already had a Heaven Costumes link in the old post, this is their current 2026 version

Activities for celebrating Book Week

• Design an album cover for a favourite book — what would its "soundtrack" sound like?
• Host a mini "book concert" — students perform a short reading or scene with a musical or sound element added in
• Students can write a short story imagining themselves as a character who bursts out of a book with their own instrument

Editors note: This blog was originally published in July 2021, and updated in August 2026 for freshness, accuracy, and relevancy.