The mums were poised at the front of the shops,
Not a hair out of place, they were all hot to trot.
A strange eerie silence was all to be heard,
These mums clearly meant business *it was a little absurd.
You see it wasn’t just any old ordinary day,
It was the morn of the eve of brilliant ‘World Book Day’.
These mums weren’t queuing to pick up a loaf,
What they wanted was far more elusive than ‘toast’.
A click of the lock and the doors flew wide open,
A sudden stampede and the silence was broken.
The mums shoved forwards, all dignity lost,
Bags were flung in faces and clicking high heels were tossed.
They raced and they chased through the homeware aisles,
Passing pillows and vases and duvets piled high.
They threw themselves through the confectionary stands,
Determined not to peek at the distracting sweet brands.
And there, the escalators dazzled in view,
They abruptly stopped and weirdly formed an orderly que?!
Fingernails tapped and hearts were a flutter,
‘They’d better be well stocked’ someone grumpily muttered.
Then the top was suddenly in full view,
And over they tumbled as sporty mum tried to break through.
‘There it is’ someone screamed, all hearts seemed to stop,
Their once smiling faces now sour with strops.
The kids dressing up aisles, once a sight to behold,
Were now skimpily clad in nothing but old,
World Book Day costumes that had seen much better days,
In all the wrong sizes and bits missing… ‘oh my days’!
But this didn’t stop them, oh no not those mums,
They had come for a costume not to chat over lunch.
They speedily scattered to snatch what they could,
An old Rumpelstiltskin costume they could surely ‘make good’.
By the time they had finished not a scrap could be seen,
The kids dressing up aisles looked remarkably clean.
The bare rails stood there all shiny and vast,
Not even a rolled up sock had been able to slip pass.
Tired and bruised the mums made their ways home,
Eager to pop their darlings up on a throne.
Eager to win the best World Book Day costume prize,
Wanting to be ‘best mum ever’ in their little ones eyes.
But their efforts, in vain, as costumes were met with a frown,
The littles weren’t interested in puff sleeves or crowns.
The clever beans shrugged and headed straight to their nooks,
What I REALLY want mum, is for you to READ me this book!
Happy World Book Day!
WILD is now out in Spanish!
WILD – Our debut children’s picture book
Dad blogger Ross Good from The Stented Papa is the official storyteller for WILD!
Happy book birthday WILD!
A fantastic post and rhyme! It seems to have taken on a whole life of its own now. It is a few years since our last one (2016) when we lived in the uk. our daughter went as Aslan with a brown leotard and leggings from dancing and some ears, tail, and faceprint. not a penny spent! It seems to be a lot of pressure on the parents from what I see on FB
Thank you! Oh I love the idea of doing Aslan – I bet she looked gorgeous.
I think it’s great to see all the different outfits that come out and the range of characters.
And sometimes they remind you of forgotten books too 🙂
Haha, brilliant. I honestly don’t get stressed about these things any more, we make do with what we’ve got and that’s an end to it!
Exactly the right attitude to have 🙂 If we buy anything new for world book day its weeks in advance to avoid the hellish last second trip goers to the supermarket.
My nephew is having is first book day costume and we are excited about making one for him. Love this poem.
Thank you 🙂
heheh love that poem – i think as we get older we stress less about things like costumes – well its easy for me to say as this year hubby school isnt doing it 😉
A lovely poem, or should I say “Ode” to a day that causes many parents a few more grey hairs, but plenty smiles from our children. It made me giggle:)
Brilliant poem! We didn’t do World Book Day this year – the first year of the children being deemed ‘too old’. Can I be honest? I’m really relieved!!
Fantastic! I say every year I am going to make the costumes then I’m always at Tesco the night before raiding the shelves!
Oh how wonderful is this! It’s pretty cute idea.
I have also written a post on World book day this week#dreamteam
I remember when I taught in secondary schools, I used to admire the primary school kids all dressed up in their costumes. Little did I know then of what the mums went through to make sure their darlings were well decked out. Lovely way to put this funny scenario across.
I remember when I taught in secondary schools, I used to admire the primary school kids all dressed up in their costumes. Little did I know then of what the mums went through to make sure their darlings were well decked out. Lovely way to put this funny scenario across. #Dreamteam
So spot on!
We adults complicate everything!
I always watch the book parade to steal ideas for next year – the easy,minimal effort ones that look fantastic….it’s amazing how creative some people are! #Dreamteam
This year both my. Kids want to be matt Smith from Dr who so my husband did well to think outside the box and get the jacket shirt and braces. Can’t wait till Wednesday they are going to look ace x #dreamteam
Good grief it is always such a massive last minute stress! #dreamteam