Illegally Easy Halloween Costumes for Kids

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

For most parents, the scariest part of Halloween is trying to come up
with yet another original costume for their child. Leila Peltosaari has
been designing children’s costumes for more than 20 years. This book
features 100 creative outfits that are made mostly from materials found
in the average household. Basic stitching is required for some outfits,
but none of the costumes requires hemming or seaming because they are
held together with hot glue.

Among the designs are such Halloween standards as Dracula, the Mummy,
Frankenstein’s monster, devil, skeleton, pirate, angel, princess,
clown, jester, scarecrow, fairy, cat, bat, bug, witch (both common and
uncommon), wizard, gypsy, astronaut, aliens, Native, toy soldier, hobo,
spy, monk, and nun. For the more adventurous, Peltosaari includes more
offbeat designs such as a gingerbread house, swamp thing, Christmas
tree, cinnamon toast, ghost window, geisha, stock broker, sunflower,
pyramid, sun and moon (reversible costume), and octopus. Most costumes
come with easy-to-make matching treat bags. All the designs are laid out
in diagrams with full-color photographs of the finished product. Many
designs are simple enough to allow even young children to participate in
the making of their own costume. Highly recommended.