Happy birthday Hiccup

Who's Hiccup? Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and his hunting dragon Toothless are the heroes of the How To Train Your Dragon books by Cressida Cowell. These books, along with Joan Aiken's Arabel and Mortimer books, are the ones which really got the Boy into reading for pleasure, so even if they weren't thoroughly entertaining (which they are) I'd have a soft spot for these books. But to get back to the point, Hiccup's birthday is Leap Day, hence today's title.

I've been reading the Hiccup books too - it's given the Boy and I something to share. And I really enjoy them too. The phrase 'T-T-Toothless in ROME' (Toothless's vain attempt to deny that he's hopped up on Dragon-nip by claiming he's not even there, let alone flying upside-down) reduces us both to helpless laughter.

Tomorrow is World Book Day and the kids' school has said anyone can dress up as their favourite character from a book, if they want. So for the Boy it was really no contest - Hiccup it is. The Hiccup of the books is rather different (rather younger for a start) from the Hiccup of the film*. Here he is:

My Beloved dug an old flokati rug out of the loft and made a sheepy waistcoat to resemble Hiccup's fur waistcoat. I've cut the sleeves off an old knitted cardigan (no, not hand-knitted!) that the Boy had when was four or so and I've been attaching bits of fleece pulled from the flokati - these will be fuzzy legwarmers to look like the fur round Hiccup's ankles.

He'll wear a white t-shirt underneath the waistcoat, and his normal school trousers. Add to that a wooden sword and it's looking pretty good. Hiccup really needs a helmet to go with it but the only option we have is, oddly enough, a Viking helmet - that is, a proper re-enactor's replica Viking helmet (therefore sans horns!) which we're trying to convince the Boy he could take. He looks so cool in it!

Meanwhile Miss Mouse has decided she'll be dressed as Ruby the Red Fairy from the Rainbow Magic books. Thankfully this is easy - she has plenty of red clothes so she'll be wearing a red sundress with red cropped leggings and a red cardigan. And pink fairy wings from her dressing-up box - erk, I've just remembered she needs a wand, aargh! Now do I have any shiny red paper.....




* Unlike many film adaptations of books, the film of How To Train Your Dragon is a really lovely film - probably because apart from some of the characters it's almost entirely different from the books so can be enjoyed on its own merits, rather than niggling the viewer with smaller differences.