DRESSED in elaborate costumes from head to toe, students from St John's School and Roma State College came to school as their favourite fictional character on Friday.

While you'd be forgiven for thinking Halloween had come early, Book Week had in fact arrived in the Maranoa.

Established by the Children's Book Council of Australia, book week was first celebrated in 1946 as a means of bringing words, images into the minds of Australian children to enrich of lives.

At Roma State College middle campus, students paraded from the classroom to the hall before a winner was selected from each class.

Some of the highlights included brothers Clayton and Tyson Chambers-Rice in Thing One and Thing Two matching ensembles and Patrick Crimmins dressed as Oliver Twist - complete with a bowl and spoon.

Over at St John's students from each year walked into the hall, showing off the range of unique costumes.

St John's School principal Donaugh Shirley said this year's Book Week was the first time every grade in the school participated in the event.

"It was fantastic to see for the first time ever, kindergarten to year 12 taking part in Book Week, because this is the first year of our kindy being on campus,” she said.

Ms Shirley said it was great to see the older children promoting the importance of reading a good book to those in the lower years.

"We see ourselves as a community and just for the older ones to support the younger ones and still enjoy the dressing up and that role modelling to the younger ones,”

"Showing you're never too old to love and enjoy a book is a really good message to send.”

"Reading is the basis to everything and I think, particularly in this digital day and age, the book probably doesn't hold the place it once used to so we're here promoting that the children have to be in a costume that represents a book, not some TV character.”

Adjudicating the winners came down to a series of factors, from the handiwork of the costume makers and closeness of the costume to its original subject matter, Ms Shirley said.

"The criteria for judging is very much around the relationship to the book and whether the children themselves contributed to the making of the costume,” she said.

"There's been some really fantastic costumes here today, I really liked the Noah's Ark and Violet Beauregarde from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”