Edinburgh International Book Festival
Scholastic authors and illustrators were once again out in force at another brilliant Edinburgh International Book Festival.
PHILIP ARDAGH led his audience on an madcap and raucous journey through Henry’s House in an event filled with props, gruesome details and silly antics.
MARTIN BROWN passed on illuminating illustration advice in an interactive extravaganza featuring some of the meanest, smelliest and most rotten people to have ever walked the Earth. Using props, costumes and visuals, Martin delighted his audience and explained how he manages to make history look so horrible
JULIA DONALDSON put on an interactive show filled with sing-along songs, dramatisations and live illustrations, introducing audiences to Zog for the very first time as well as old favourites like The Gruffalo. With the support of a host of friends, Julia brought her books to life and enraptured the young audiences lucky enough to see her.
RODDY DOYLE delighted attendees at his events as he discussed the madcap Rover Adventures as well as Wilderness and Her Mother’s Face.
ALLY KENNEN is best known for her gripping thrillers for young adults. But this year she explored the lighter and funnier side of family life and the challenges and rewards of writing for a younger audience as she joined Lucy Christopher in conversation to discuss her Guardian Children’s Book Prize longlisted novel Sparks.
SARAH MCINTYRE introduced You Can’t Eat a Princess to keen young fans in her events, leading a wild romp through the worlds of weird monsters and wacky aliens. Her audiences learnt how to invent characters and make their own stories come to life in a flurry of cutting out and colouring in.
KJARTAN POSKITT enthralled audiences with fantastic facts, revealing how he puts the murder into Murderous Maths with mind-bending maths problems and stupefying sums that had children gasping with delight and leaving with a new found respect for their humble calculators.
PHILIP REEVE took guests at his events further into the fantastic world of Mortal Engines as he discussed fantasy writing in conversation with Ian Beck, giving guests an incredible insight into one of the most creative minds in children’s books.
AXEL SCHEFFLER gave a masterclass in children’s book illustration in a bill-topping event, providing a unique opportunity to learn from one of the most iconic illustrators in picture books. Attendees were given the chance to study his work, illustration style, artistic approach and the very stuff that inspires his unique craft.
NICK SHARRATT brought his stellar cast of quirky characters for a dose of silly drawings and rhyming fun, bringing audience members on stage to learn about Kung-Fu Cows, Toffee-Choctopus’s and Chitter-Chatterpillars. One lucky participant as his event was Fraser Brown, son of former Prime-Minister Gordon Brown, who attended with his mother Sarah. Following the event Sarah mentioned how much she enjoyed it and put up a link to Nick’s website on her Twitter feed.
ALEX T SMITH revealed to the children in his audience what they had always feared – that mums really do have X-ray vision in an event filled cuddly characters and plenty of drawing and colouring in.
Our thanks to everybody who helped us to organise these incredibly successful events, your hard work and invaluable assistance is always appreciated.