WHILE Christmas only comes once a year, Book Week appears to roll around at least twice.
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It seems only months since I penned: Oh, The Places You’ll Go to Settle on a Costume.
This year Children's Book Week runs throughout Australia from August 19 to 26.
The theme is “Escape to Everywhere”, which is, of course, completely tongue-in-cheek.
There is no escaping it!
The fact I will be scrambling for two costumes at the 11th hour is no work of fiction. Of all my written assignments during the year, Book Week is the literary deadline I dread the most.
I have been pressing our children since early August on whether the Book Week parade was going ahead at their school.
“I haven’t seen any notes or heard any mention of it,” I say, wishfully.
“Yes,” says the eldest, “Book Week will definitely be going ahead this year!”
I say: “Please don’t wait till the last minute again to tell me that you need a Harry Potter and barnyard owl costumes.”
“Fine,” they say in unison, without even a hint as to what they have in mind.
With a week to go until the alleged Book Week parade, I again inquired about any progress in the wardrobe department.
The eldest says: “I was going to go as a tortoise.”
This might explain why it took so long to communicate this idea.
“As in, The Tortoise and the Hare with my friend being the hare,” she continues.
Within 15 seconds, I had planned it all out in my head. She could wear her beige leggings, a motley brown long-sleeve T, my French woven market basket with leather straps for a shell and oversized brown tortoiseshell sunnies. Ta-da!
“But,” she says, “I thought the shell was going to be too hard so we have changed our minds.”
“Nooo-oo!!” I say, “The shell is a complete cinch, remember we used the market basket when you were Yertle The Turtle for something or other?”
“Oh yeah!” she says, “It doesn’t matter now. I’m going to go as the Queen of Hearts and my friend is Alice.”
Then our six-year-old says: “I’m going as the Queen of Hearts too!”
The look on our eldest’s face meant this couldn’t happen; not during her reign.
“What about the Cheshire Cat?” I say, expecting a, well, cat fight.
“Okay,” she says, “So long as I’m a purple cat.”
Having dressed her up in a white laboratory coat once too often during preschool’s What I Want To Be days, she is making up for lost time in myriad, multi-coloured ways. Hint: That same lab coat made a scientist’s costume (just add black-rimmed plastic glasses); a doctor (just add stethoscope); and a chef (just add toque and a wooden spoon, and stir).
The big issues with Book Week costumes are all of the unwritten rules:
- Do not buy a costume. Then we’re kicking ourselves for spending more on craft supplies than a brand new costume. At least we have a glue gun now!
- Be practical. Will your diminutive Ariel negotiate the steps on the school bus?
- Make a good-but-not-brilliant character costume. Otherwise people will be booking you up for Book Week parades for years to come.
Having got official notice of the Book Week parade now, I’ll be working on a cat and a queen between now and deadline. Then I will happily-ever-after hit: Escape!
