The last-minute guide to World Book Day

It's World Book Day this week, an annual event that seems to inspire either love or panic in parents. Here's our last-minute guide to creating costumes with as little fuss as possible

This week is the 20th annual World Book Day, a day set up to celebrate reading, books and authors and ignite a life-long passion for literature in children. It is celebrated in schools, pre-schools, nurseries and libraries the world over with activities ranging from dressing up to readathons.

But for many parents it signifies one thing; a last-minute scramble to assemble a costume.

As Alison from Not Another Mummy Blog wrote in her post on 22 thoughts every parent has when it comes to World Book Day, it's likely that as a parent your thoughts will range from excitement about making something creative through to fear that you have no time, ending in a mad scramble through the dressing-up box for anything that's passable (World Book Day; it's emotional!)

Here's some last minute ideas for World Book Day costumes:

Get something online: Let's face it, if you're dressing up tomorrow it's probably too late, but if you have same-day Amazon Prime in your area or they are dressing up on Friday, then get something online - quick (everyone does it, don't worry!).

Raid the dressing up box: It's likely your child will have something you can use, re-use or recycle. Leftover Halloween costume? The Worst Witch! Most film characters will have books about them, so we think it's totally fine to dust off Elsa or Darth Vader for the occasion.

Send them in normal clothes: There are a lot of children's book characters that wear normal clothes, so lots that you can do last minute, from a red striped t-shirt (Where's Wally) through to scruffy clothes and a hastily-made golden ticket (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).

Go to the supermarket: Bigger supermarkets are likely to have a stock of dressing-up costumes, so grab something with the groceries if you're shopping.

Here's some more detailed ideas for making last-minute costumes, with ideas for everything from Matilda to Mr Bump:

• Made for Mums
• Mumsnet
• Activity Village
• Pinterest!

Remember, for most schools World Book Day dress-up is about the gesture rather than the execution, so don't worry if your child doesn't have a beautifully painted and hand-sewn costume. Don't panic; they won't throw the book at you.