Wokingham’s first ever Children’s Book Festival on 20 and 21 October will be a fabulous chance for the children of Wokingham to meet 23 authors and illustrators who will bring stories to life through fun, interactive workshops.
Never before in Wokingham have we had so many authors, illustrators and self-professed “bookworms” ready to make children laugh, and ignite their imagination.
For avid readers or somebody yet to be inspired or find their favourite authors….. the Wokingham Children’s Book Festival offers the opportunity to come and see some award winning and ‘up and coming’ authors and illustrators who will take them on a journey from the downright silly to the ridiculous, discuss superheroes, villains and witches, delve into science, mysteries and adventure, and of course no book festival of any merit would be without many different types of animals…from cute to inspiring and the utterly awesome!
Characters and plots
Interactive workshops will be run in Wokingham Library and Wokingham Town Hall to show children how they can create and conjure up characters and plots that make them shake with excitement, amaze their parents and teachers, but most of all have them all bursting with pride.
With writing stories, creating characters and plots all part of the school curriculum, these workshops will help fuel imaginations and help in class too!
How to book
Talks and interactive workshops span the age ranges with events suitable for 3 - 12 years old.
All workshops are listed on Wokingham Town Council's website.
We ask that workshops are booked ahead of time as spaces are limited. Each workshop is followed by a book signing and we are pleased to announce that WHSmith of Wokingham will be our official bookseller with stalls at each venue.
There will be a small charge for most workshops, full details are online. The festival is brought to you by Wokingham Town Council, Wokingham Borough Council's libraries service and ‘more arts.’
Cllr Gwynneth Hewetson, Wokingham Town Council chair of arts and culture committee, said: “We are delighted to bring the first Children’s Book Festival to Wokingham in collaboration with Wokingham Library and part sponsored by ‘more arts.’’.
"Twenty plus award winning, well-known and up and coming Authors and Illustrators will be bringing their inspiration and creativity to Wokingham’s young readers and writers. Please apply early for tickets because we are having to strictly limit numbers due to the capacity of the two venues. We very much look forward to seeing you all and hope you have a really fun weekend”
Cllr Norman Jorgensen, executive member for environment, libraries and leisure, said: “We are really pleased to be working in partnership with the town council to deliver this exciting new book festival for children. Our Borough libraries are filled with wonderful books to explore, so getting to meet some of the authors and illustrators is a really unique experience for our children to take advantage of. We are sure the children and families will enjoy hearing the authors speak about their work and appreciate the opportunity to buy signed copies of their books afterwards. With over 20 sessions, there should be something for everyone to enjoy.”
Jim Stockley, chair of ‘more arts’, said: “‘more arts.’ is very pleased to be supporting this great new event. This fits with our ambition to see all young people inspired by all aspect of the creative arts. And we hope that everybody has an entertaining weekend and to see our first budding authors and illustrators from the experience.”
