Wokingham Children's Book Festival back for seventh year

Children and families are in for a treat with the return of the Wokingham Children's Book Festival, a celebration of storytelling, imagination and creativity.

Now in its seventh year, the festival will be held on the weekend of 19 and 20 October, with a total of 13 events featuring award-winning authors and illustrators.

If you have ever wanted the chance to meet your favourite authors, enjoy storytelling in an immersive environment and take part in fun sessions, this is the perfect event for you.

Sessions will be held at Wokingham Town Hall and Wokingham Library, with a mixture of book readings, crafting and singing.

The festival will get underway on the Saturday at the Carnival Hub in Wokingham with a visit from Enchanted Players Theatre Company. The audience will be taken on a journey through a selection of Julia Donaldson's popular tales. With drama and puppets, props and music you will have lots of fun and plenty of interaction. This event will run from 10.30am to 11.30am.

Among the authors attending this year will be children’s author and poet A. F. Harrold, whose novel The Imaginary was recently released as an animated film on Netflix. He will be talking about his latest novel The Worlds We Leave Behind, as well as reading some of his hilarious poems.

A returning favourite of the book festival and Wokingham Library is bestselling author and illustrator Steve Antony. Join him for an interactive reading of his latest picture books, Cat Nap and Bird Bath. He will also show the children how to draw their own little animals.

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Another festival regular Holly Webb will also be talking about animals – meet the bears, dolphins and other wild creatures that have inspired her stories. One of Britain’s best loved children’s writers, Holly has written more than 150 books for children and her work has been translated into more than 30 languages.

Cllr Barrie Callender, chair of Wokingham Town Council's arts and culture committee, said: “Books are a wonderful way to escape reality, explore new worlds and have adventures. So it’s with great pleasure that we are able to bring such a wide range of authors and exciting storytellers to Wokingham again this year.

"We’re going to have a fabulous weekend with many fun topics to explore, creative processes to learn and artists on hand to help children and teens bring stories to life. We’re kicking off the weekend with some theatrical storytelling over at the Carnival Hub, so whether it’s reading, writing or illustrating that grabs you, I urge you to plan ahead and pre-book the sessions you’d like to attend.”

Cllr Rachel Bishop-Firth, Wokingham Borough Council executive member for resident services, inclusion and fighting poverty, said: “The children’s book festival still offers fantastic value for money to families. This is a chance to meet award-winning authors right on your doorstep and take part in some really fun and engaging sessions, which will encourage children to use their imagination and let out their creative side.”

Other authors attending this year will be...
 

• A joint talk from Seth Burkett and Matt Oldfield, explaining how they got into writing and a discussion about their latest book The Football GOAT
• Join Catherine Cawthorne as she debunks your favour fairy tales using science, discussing her book Big Bad Wolf Investigates Fairy Tales
• Returning to the festival, bestselling author Nizrana Farook will take you on a journey involving her books The Girl who Stole and Elephant and The Boy Who Saved a Bear
• Take a crash course in creativity and storytelling with Rowan Foxwood, author of Heart-Seer: The Tale of Anise Star, to start your writing journey
• Enjoy an interactive reading of SP K-Mushambi’s upcoming book Tairai's Choice: The Tirivhu Games and find out if Tairai’s team finally win the golden cup
• Josh Lacey will talk about his bestselling Dragonsitter series, which are ten very funny books about a boy who has to look after his uncle's pet dragon. He will also introduce his new series, The Time Travel Twins
• Charlotte Middleton will introduce children to the world of Christopher Nibble with interactive readings from her books followed by a question-and-answer session
• Unlock your imagination with Eloise de Sousa, author of A Tale of Knots, as she discusses the creation of fiction and how to develop your thoughts into stories
• Join Eva Wong Nava for a talk that will focus on writing a story within a story and why this literary device is so useful for structuring children’s stories

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Early birds will be able to get a 15 per cent discount on tickets bought between now and Sunday 15 September. Otherwise, tickets will remain priced at £3 per person and can be purchased from the Wokingham Children's Book Festival website.

As with previous years, the book festival will also feature the popular ‘Authors into Schools’ initiative, which this year will feature:

• Alex Falase-Koya – A fun and interactive session about how Alex co-wrote the bestselling series The Breakfast Club Adventures with footballer Marcus Rashford
• Derek Keilty – A storytelling event based around the Ivy Newt series of books, find out how Derek got the bug for reading and writing as a child
• Manjeet Mann – An award-winning author of picture books, Manjeet will be giving an interactive reading of Whirly Twirly Me, along with a game about emotions
• Michelle Robinson – Bestselling author of more than 50 picture books, Michelle will be encouraging children to use their imaginations as she discusses her books Daddy’s Footsteps and Counting Sheep

The Wokingham Children’s Book Festival is brought to you by Wokingham Town Council, Wokingham Borough Council’s Library Service, Love Wokingham, more arts and some very dedicated volunteers.