Happy World Book Day everyone!!! I'm doing a couple of online school events today, to tie in with it -- I'm actually in the middle of them as I type this, having finished the first one a few minutes ago, with the next coming up shortly! (If YOU are a teacher or librarian interested in trying to set up a Darren Shan event, it's easier than you might imagine -- just drop me a line at [email protected] to find out more!)

I know lots of kids (and adults!) like to dress up as their favourite book characters on World Book Day, and this year we have a true world's first -- the first ever TERRIFIED TROLL costume!!! That's POLLY looking fabulous in green -- she's the eldest daughter of The Terrified Troll's illustrator, EVA BYRNE. Eva has been testing out the material on her kids, and Polly was really taken with the idea of dressing up as the troll, and... well... Eva has proven that she's just as great at making costumes as she is at drawing!!!! Absolutely STUNNING!!!!

That's Polly's younger sister, GOLDIE, in the second photo with her, dressed as the young owl from the Chris Haughton book, A BIT LOST, which is a household favourite in OUR house too -- both my kids have been huge Chris Haughton fans over the years, and I still often find myself dropping "Shh! We have a plan!" into conversation quite regularly!!!

Finally, not to be outdone, there's my son, DANTE, dressed up as a character from the NARUTO manga, and absolutely delighted with himself that he gets to weapon up for the part!! He's definitely a bit on the bloodier side than Eva's girls, but hey, I blame bad parenting for that!!! Um...