Children’s Book Festival makes return

NINE authors will be delivering tales to youngsters this October.

The Wokingham Children’s Book Festival is returning next month with a series of live and online events.

Now in its fourth year, it will run from Saturday, October 16, to Sunday, October 17.

Sally Gurney, chair of Arts and Culture Committee at Wokingham Town Council, said she is excited for this year’s schedule.

“Book festivals are great fun and inspiring too,” she said. “I can point to the signed books on my shelves and tell you all about the time I met the author, what they were like, what we talked about.

“Being able to be even a small part of bringing this joy, this ever-expanding world of endless possibilities, to young people in my town is wonderful.

“There will be stories, there will be talks, there will be laughter, there will be games, there will be books, and there will be authors. All we need now is the audience.”

Cllr Bill Soane, executive member for neighbourhood and communities at the borough council, said the festival is a great chance for children to meet some of their favourite authors.

“We have a packed programme with something for everyone, suiting all tastes and age groups,” he said. “It promises to be another wonderful festival.”

Talks include best-selling author Kieran Larwood, sharing tales from his sixth book. He was also the winner of the Blue Peter Best Story Award.

Poet Joshua Seigal, winner of the 2020 LOLLIES, will be sharing poetry from his new collection Yapping Away.

Holly Webb will be exploring themes around environmentalism and friendship, and Hannah Lee will be hosting an event about her new picture book, The Rapping Princess.

Swapna Haddow will join live, from New Zealand, to talk about the first book in her new series, Bad Panda. Annabelle Sami will talk about the inspiration behind her books, Llama Out Loud and Llama on a Mission.

Krina Patel-Sage will give a reading from her book, My Mindful A to Zen.

The in-person events will run at Wokingham Town Hall, with others streamed online.

Tickets are available at: wokinghamtc.gov.uk/bookfest