So, Halloween is fast approaching and I have never been that big on celebrating it, or dressing up. In fact, I don’t think I’ve really tried to create a costume in a very long time, and mostly I’ve half-assed it. (Forgive my cussing, but it’s the truth.) Last year, a delightful blog called The Broke and the Bookish put out an idea which caught my attention, asking what the Top 10 characters are that I would want to be for Halloween… a very good question. Who ARE the fictional book characters that I might want to be for the day? Of course, narrowing it down to just 10 might be tough, so here’s round 1…
Round 1: Children’s Book Characters:
Annabeth Chase
From: The Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan
Why Annabeth?
In spite of the Yankees cap (I’m a Red Sox supporter), this would be an easy costume to pull together (I already own a camp half-blood T shirt). Add some jeans, and perhaps a fake sword and I’d be good to go. Also, she is one of the smartest, toughest, and most awesome characters in children’s/young adult lit. How could I NOT want to go as her?
Hermione Granger
From: The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Why Hermione?
This one is another big fat DUH! She is perhaps one of the greatest literary characters of all time (regardless of age or genre) and she would be fairly easy to piece together a costume for as well. Perhaps the reason she’s not first on my list is because I’ve done another Harry Potter character for Halloween before (Ginny, because my hair already is straight and a bit red). But that also means I’ve already got the gear if I want to give the HP world another go…
Lucy Pevensie
From: The Chronicles of Narnia
Why Lucy?
Lucy has always been my favorite of the Pevensie children. She’s the one who believed first, and who believed longest, who never wavered in her desire to be a part of Narnia. I love the innocence and faith that she represents in these stories. I also think she got more enjoyment out of this world than the others. She would also be fairly easy to dress as, because I would simply need an old fashioned dress and sweater, and perhaps a bow or clip for my hair. And of course a small jewel-like flash for the potion that Aslan gave her.
Ms. Frizzle
From: The Magic School Bus series by Joanna Cole
Why Ms. Frizzle?
Outside of her sheer awesomeness, Ms. Frizzle is a character I feel like I could totally pull off! Shaping the wacky hairdos and finding myself a stuffed lizard companion might be a bit tricky, but I’m sure I could find a wacky-patterned dress and some crazy earrings and talk about the wonders of science. I think this would be a big hit as a costume, and would be so much fun to wear!
Madeline
From: The Madeline series by Ludwig Bemelmans
Why Madeline?
Once again, I feel like this would be a fun, and fairly simple costume to put together… A navy dress with short white gloves, white knee-socks and black shoes. The yellow hat would probably be the trickiest part to get my hands on. Then just a little hair dye and I’m in business. I think people would get a real kick out of seeing a Madeline costume, she’s such a staple of so many people’s childhoods. I would have a blast as her.
Lowly Worm
From: The Busy World of Richard Scarry
Why Lowly?
This one I would do for fun, especially if I were going to a party with a bunch of friends or people in my age group (or people who have kids). Because I think Lowly would get a lot of attention. As a costume, this would be a lot harder to pull together. Getting green pants and red high tops would be difficult. So would that crazy little hat. Also, if I wanted to be really authentic, I would probably have to find a way to tie my feet together and hop around (because Lowly only has the one leg, of course).
Nancy Drew
From: The Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene
Why Nancy?
She’s such a classic children’s literature character, and her look is pretty iconic. While it might be a pain to try and curl my hair a la the 50’s styling, finding a poofy, collared, old-fashioned dress wouldn’t present much of a challenge. I might also see if I could find a toy car like hers just to be cute. Add a magnifying glass just for those who don’t “get it” right away and I think I’d be all set. I’d probably have to practice my “surprised” face so that I look like all the
Fancy Nancy
From: The Fancy Nancy series by Jane O’Connor
Why Nancy?
THIS Nancy would be a riot to dress up as because I could go all-out. Nancy loves to dress up, so I would definitely want to find some grown-up, dress-up clothes (maybe even a tutu) and find lots of sparkly hair pieces and jewelry. Nancy has so many delightful outfits to choose from. Anyone with girly-girls would probably recognize me. And in general I just think this one would be a blast.
Sister Bear
From: The Berenstain Bears series by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Why Sister Bear?
The Berenstain Bears are some of the most iconic literary characters of my childhood, and I can’t even describe how many videos and books I consumed that were about these lovely bears. Sister Bear was my favorite of the family, so I would want to dress like her. She also probably had the most recognizable look of the family, which would probably be difficult for me to replicate. Pink overalls are not very easy to come by, especially not with a matching pink polka-dot shirt. That would take some doing. But I be the reaction I got from friends and family would be worth it!
Sara Crewe
From: A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Why Sara?
Sara Crewe has been one of my longtime favorite characters, and her story has been wonderfully recreated on film. I think wearing an outfit from the time period of this story (takes place during WWI) would be really interesting and fun. I would want to try for an outfit from before she becomes an orphan (or perhaps do the outfit from when Ram Dass decorates her and Becky’s attic room, and he leaves them beautiful robes and slippers). In any case, it would be fun to live out this fantasy and pair whatever outfit with her signature locket and her doll Emily.
The Roaming Librarian 