Traditionally, on World Book Day, I write about the trials and tribulations of trying to cobble together whatever outlandish costume my son has decided he wants to wear. This year, in spite of him never changing his mind at the last minute, something had stopped me buying the £40 replica WWII era Naval officer’s hat he needed to complete his costume for Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland, commander of the Royal Naval forces during the Battle of the Denmark Strait. He had been saying from this time last year that he wanted to go as him and he is still just as keen on HMS Hood and her battle with the Bismarck. However, change his mind he did and I found myself facing the prospect of trying to decide on and kit out something infinitely complicated in less than a week. I was scared.
Not expecting to meet with success, I offered a hopeful suggestion - why don’t you just go as your character from the book I wrote about you and your brother? To my complete amazement (and delight) he agreed. My only stipulation was that he had to read Book 2 - because it’s not on his reading scheme, we’d originally agreed he could read it once he’d hit his termly target - before World Book Day.
I should have kept quiet! Arthur from Book 1 is basically just a normal little boy. By the time we get to Book 2, he is firmly ensconced in the life of the Summer Court and takes on the role of the Summer King. The plot of the book is basically him having to prove to others that he is worthy of the crown. This obviously means that there are considerably more fantasy ‘bits’ to his costume. I wouldn’t let him take a sword into school (I know, such a mean mum!) but agreed to make him a crown and Arthur’s Great Seal. Consequently, I spent last weekend cutting oak and holly leaves out of cardboard in a bid to make a kids’ dress up crown vaguely resemble the Coronet of Llywelyn (aka the Crown of the Summer King) as I’d described it in the book. The Great Seal was a bit trickier - there was absolutely no way my crafting skills were going to extend to carving intricate patterns out of wood and making gold symbols to nicely fit into a large seal. In the end, we compromised, using an old drawer knob, a ribbon reel and a print out of the seal from the cover of the book!
Fast forward to this morning and I’m not sure which of us is most excited. He is obviously delighted by the idea of effectively dressing as himself on World Book Day because what child doesn’t want to be a character in a story written specifically about and for them? However, for me, it’s about far more than that.
This series began life back in 2013 when my eldest asked me to write a story about him having an adventure with Robin Hood. I wrote the book and its sequel and he was delighted with it, but for me, it needed a lot more work to make it a ‘real’ book. Eventually, after a LOT of editing, in 2022, I published the reworked version as ‘The Reign Of The Winter King’ with the idea of it being a trilogy. 2024 saw the release of ‘The Quest Of The Summer King’ and both books got beautiful new covers, designed by scarily talented Olivia Goddard. The third and final book in the series, ‘The Rise Of The Winter Queen’ will be published (all being well) in 2026.
The short one and I share a love of Robin Hood, and not just because the easiest costume he ever asked for was Robin Hood! We’ve been to conventions together, watched documentaries and read countless books about him, so to see him dressed as a character I created for him, who is descended from Robin Hood, is an absolute dream come true!
Oh… and if this could start a trend of him choosing easier costumes for me to assemble, I will be VERY grateful!!
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