Book Week 2022: Dreaming with eyes open
Book week is sneaking up on us! This year’s theme – Dreaming with eyes open – features artwork by Jasmine Seymour, an indigenous author and illustrator, who won the 2020 CBCA New Illustrator Award. From the Dharug people, Jasmine won her award for Baby Business and has a new book out this year called Open Your Heart to Country.
This theme opens up so many opportunities for dress-ups. While the theme is about dreaming and country, particularly our country’s indigenous heritage and stories of the Dreamtime, these themes of dreaming and country can be used in many different ways.
The Dreamtime:
Explore stories of the Dreamtime and find an animal character to suit your child’s personality. There are lots of options to choose from, be it the Crocodile from Why the Crocodile Rolls, a Koala from Illawarra and the Five Islands, the Rainbow Serpent, or a brightly coloured bird from How the Birds Got Their Colour.
Country:
Other great stories celebrate our country, like Possum Magic, the Magic Pudding, and Wombat Stew, or you can choose to celebrate another country. Whether it’s somewhere you or your relatives came from, or somewhere you dream of going one day, there are lots of books to choose from along this theme.
Dreams of the Future:
Here is an option for occupational costumes. Whether your child wants to be a nurse, a firefighter, or a pop star there’s a book and a costume to embrace this dream.
A Whole World of Possibilities:
The very act of reading can be described as dreaming with your eyes open – you’re transported to a magical place and let’s face it, it’s pretty hard to read with your eyes closed! This means whatever book your child loves can fit with this versatile theme!
Prehistoric Cuties (& Terrors!)
There are so many awesome dinosaur books – whether your child wants to be a Tiny T-Rex or go to Camp Cretaceous, dinosaurs are a great choice this book week!
Splashing Under the Seas
Living under the sea is definitely a dream that you can experience through books but not so easy to do in reality! Experience the dream by dressing as an ocean dweller who can breathe underwater.
Wizard or Magizoologist, Anyone?
Another world we can only dream of is the magical world of Harry Potter! Where a simple command can make a broomstick fly through the air or a few words can unlock any door. Dressing like your favourite Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts character is sure to charm this book week!
Up Amongst the Clouds
Another flying dream to embrace is soaring through the clouds as a dragon. Be a Night Fury or a Light Fury, or even a dragon who loves tacos!
Comic book heroes
So many superheroes began their journey in comic books, making them perfect options for book week dress-ups! Whether they’re fans of Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, or Iron Man; Black Widow, Wonder Woman, Supergirl, or Batgirl, there’s a comic book with their name on it!
All Their Childhood Favourites
It doesn’t matter if your child loved the movie first – if it’s encouraging them to read then it’s doing the job!
Teachers need inspiration too!
If you’ve been teaching a while, you’ve probably done a few (!) book week dress-ups! Why not be the Tiger Who Came to Tea, Katniss Everdeen, Bandit, or the Ranger’s Apprentice?
While it’s fun to be kind and caring the whole year-round, it’s super-fun to play the villain for book week! Think about the Wicked Witch of the West, Captain Hook, or Cruella de Vil. We’re sure it’ll encourage the kids to behave!
The shoppable catalogue has our top picks for your 2022 Book Week costumes, as well as the cutest 100 days of school costumes for our junior geriatrics celebrating this milestone in August. Order now to avoid disappointment!
