Book Week has arrived! This is a week long celebration of children's books and reading.
The celebration isn't limited to kids either - it's for everyone who ever found themselves lost in the enchanted world of children's storybooks growing up - and still looks back at those times with fondness.
In that sense, Book Week is a wonderful opportunity to share 'that book' with your little one, if you have not already.
With Book Week comes the Children's Book Character Parade
One of the most cherished events of Book Week tends to be the Children's Book Character Parade. It can also be one that has parents reaching for the panic button, especially if the school note about the event has been languishing at the bottom of the backpack and only handed in the weekend before (true story).
Sourcing costumes for run-of-the-mill characters is not so bad, as Kmart and Spotlight will probably have you covered.
However, if your little ones have got their heart set on some obscure children's book character ... from a book that mum, dad, grandma or grandpa discovered on the internet ... which has not become mainstream yet ... well then yes, the panic button is much called for.
Last year, much to our delight, we heard from two parents who had to tackle Willow the Wonderer!
Sadly, we don't stock kid or adult sized Willow the Wonderer onesies ... So our parents had to become fairly creative, fairly quickly.
We loved their inventiveness and let's say, interpretive take on Willow's costume. But before I reveal their creations, lets first explore what Willow the Wonderer actually wears and why making a Willow the Wonderer costume can be a pain ...
Willow the Wonderer's signature onesie
Willow the Wonderer is always seen sporting his trademark onesie: A '70s striped, purple onesie made out of velveteen, which gives it a subtle sheen. The thin stripes are bright green and gold, perhaps hinting at his Aussie origins.
In the magical world of children's books, this striped purple velveteen onesie handles all weather and terrains with ease - whether it be snowy mountains, salty swells, gooey honey or even space radiation!
The inspiration
In all that I have written about Willow, I have never once described what he wears. Sure, Darren and I worked through the character development together, but that onesie - that's all Darren.
It did not come out of nowhere either - ideas rarely do.
Darren's inspiration for Willow's onesie was a cardigan he had owned as a child, growing up in Cardiff in the 70s.
Custom creation
When we were first designing the character plush toy of Willow the Wonderer, we scoured the world for this fabric or something like it.
The '70s have not as yet returned so nothing off-the-shelf in the textile centres of our world even came close. We finally accepted that to stay true to the character, we'd need to make the fabric from scratch ...
The onesie you see adorning our little Willow plush toy is is a one-off custom print. And that is why ladies and gentlemen, you won't find that material at your local Spotlight ...
While to some this may seem like an insurmountable problem, this was not going to stop our two pioneering parents...
Susan decided to 'tie and dye'
If there was ever going to be an award for bravery and persistence on the part of a parent designing book week costume ... it would go to Susan Snape.
Here's Susan's creative journey in costume making, in her own words:
"Attempting a rushed reverse-dye to create a Willow costume for Evie. We're in Crescent Head for the month and I didn't realise it was already book week! I'll let you know the results tomorrow."
Next day ...
"I had a failed onesie attempt (the colour just refused to strip out for me to then tie dye).
Then another outfit was pulled out of the suitcase and stripped the original colour, but it went pink lol, which meant yellow was orange-y and green barely showed.
And my last ditch effort late last night was a white baby muslin wrap to use as a cape for Archie ... which doesn't look anything like a onesie and wasn't dark enough. Oh dear ha ha.
This is all we could get! A 'Willow-themed' baby wrap at Crescent Head Primary School's book week parade, which ended with private book readings by students to all the families on their rug. Ours was Willow :)
I hope there are some awesome costumes by clever (and organised) mums out there, it's only a matter of time before Willow replaces Where's Wally!"
No matter how many great costumes may follow, from where we stand, Susan will always be the first person to have tried! She is incidentally also the first person to have ever purchased the Willow the Wonderer picture book (and an author herself)!
Frank took a more interpretive route...
Frank is also a long-time supporter of Willow the Wonderer books and amongst the first to order new books in the series for his daughters, Heidi and Grace. We eagerly await to hear what the Muller family makes of each new book in the series and were overjoyed to hear that Heidi chose to be Willow the Wonderer for her school's children's book character parade!
A creative at heart, Frank took the essence of the character and reinterpreted with the pragmatism of a modern-day parent. By all measures, it was a valiant effort but I think it was the confidence with which Heidi embodied the character that made all the difference :-)
It is only fitting that Frank and Heidi join the Wise As Hall of Fame as the second parent and child to have attempted a Willow the Wonderer costume.
I wonder what this year will bring
Susan and Frank's pioneering efforts have no doubt got the creative juices in our craft-oriented readers flowing.
So, how would you make a Willow the Wonderer costume?
If you do end up attempting a Willow the Wonderer costume, don't forget to send us a pic and a little story with the process and hacks employed. Trust me, you'd be doing a lot of parents a favour!
Happy Book Week everyone!
Comments