Children's Books Festival 2011 will be offering a tasty programme of Irish and international authors and illustrators during the month of October, designed to whet the appetite of young readers from toddlers to teens!
Activities will be running in libraries, schools and arts centres throughout the month. With everything from readings by popular authors, to writing and illustration workshops, plus storytelling, quizzes and competitions – there will be countless opportunities to enjoy books for every taste and palate!
This year's programme includes a strong international flavour with authors Tony DiTerlizzi (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Justin Somper (Vampirates), Andy Briggs (The new Tarzan series) and William Hussey (The Witchfinder series), sharing their writing experiences at events nationwide. Ever popular, homegrown authors Derek Landy (The Skullduggery Pleasant series), Sarah Webb (the Amy Green series), Judi Curtin (the Alice series) and Oisin McGann (The Wisdom of Dead Men) will wow audiences at theatres, arts venues and libraries nationwide. Festival organisers Children's Books Ireland are also delighted to announce that literary superstar Roddy Doyle will be making a one-off visit to Liberty Hall, Dublin to celebrate his new children's title A Greyhound of a Girl.
Meanwhile teen audiences with an appetite for the mysterious will be well catered for with Sophie McKenzie (Girl Missing and forthcoming Sister Missing), Becca Fitzpatrick (the Hush, Hush series) and ,bLauren Kate (the Fallen series) due to make special festival appearances during October. Younger readers and fans of picture books will also be in for a treat, with Mary Murphy (I Kissed the Baby, Utterly Lovely One), Chris Judge (The Lonely Beast) and Bruce Ingman (Boing!, The Pencil).
Also on the menu at libraries across Ireland will be festival favourites such as Mary Arrigan (Esty's Gold), the Fanzini Brother's Comedy Circus Show, the National Print Museum workshops, Aubrey Flegg (Katie's War, Wings over Delft), Celine Kiernan (The Moorehawke Trilogy) and Maeve Friel (Tiger Lily). They will be joined by a raft of newly published talents, including Nita Fitzgerald (It's Great Being Little), Paula Leyden (The Butterfly Heart) and Fionnuala MacCurtain (The Story of Thomas MacCurtain).