A reminder of just how funny Diary of a Wimpy Kid is…
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Extra Kids LitFest event: Diary of a Wimpy Kid!
We know you’re all sad that the Bath Kids LitFest 2011 is over and that we all have to wait a whole year to experience the fun and frolics of this incredible event again, but we’ve got an important surprise to tell you about…
WE’VE ORGANISED ANOTHER EVENT!
AND GENERAL BOOKING FOR TICKETS OPENS THIS SATURDAY!
The Bath Festival of Children’s Literature is proud to present Jeff Kinney, the American author of the hugely popular book, and film, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, in a one-off, special event at the Pavilion in Bath on 3 December 2011 at 2pm.
To celebrate the launch of his new book, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever, Jeff will be revealing his top secrets to becoming a best-selling author, his inspiration behind the series, and audience members will get the chance to see his very first written concepts and drawings of Wimpy Kid.
This event will be the best chance to find out how Jeff creates the jokes for the books and how the characters made the transition from page to screen! A thorough Q&A session will follow the event for all those with a burning question.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series chronicles the adventures of wise-cracking pre-teen Greg Heffley who must somehow survive the scariest time of anyone’s life, middle school. Aided by best friend Rowley, Greg must put up with a highly dysfunctional family as he embarks on a journey of survival. Written in journal style and filled with hand written notes and simple drawings of Greg’s daily adventures, Jeff Kinney’s books have been hugely popular the world over.
Tickets are available from Saturday 15th October and can be booked by telephone 01225 463362, online at www.bathkidslitfest.org.uk or in person at Bath Box Office, 2 Church Street, Abbey Green, Bath BA1 1NL
The Big Last Day (and Jeremy Strong’s last blog post *sob!)
The Bath Festival of Children’s Literature came to a stomping end yesterday evening, and what an amazing festival it has been. I have had the privilege, as writer-in-residence, of opening the festival with my own session and helping close it by introducing the festival’s final guest, Mackenzie Crook. Mackenzie has done many things in his life so far – rather exciting and eye-popping things involving Caribbean pirates and all sorts besides, but he had never spoken to a book festival audience and he was surprisingly nervous backstage.
However, as soon as he was on the platform and talking it all went like a dream. He spoke and showed material from his first children’s book and also drew live for the audience, so definitely the full five stars for that one!
Earlier in the day I had been to the Holburne Museum to see James Mayhew talk and paint for a young audience – mostly around five years old it seemed, so I must have been the oldest there at sixty-one! James told stories and painted – upside down – as he spoke. The painting was upside down, not James. It was the right way up for the audience, but James had his sketch book on his lap and he was leaning over the top to work on it – amazing stuff! And when James told the story of his great-grandfather catching and cooking a shark, and how he still had part of the shark’s eyeball, the whole audience was spellbound. Later on I met up with James in the Green Room and he got out the shark retina so that we could have a much closer look. James’ great-grandfather had been a ship’s cook on a real pirate ship! I wish my great-grandad had been a pirate, or even my grandfather, or even better, my own dad!
What a terrific festival it has been, the biggest so far. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Only eleven months and four weeks to go, and then it will be Bath Kids Lit Fest 2012. Watch out!
Jeremy Strong x
Bath Kids LitFest heats up for the second weekend!
As if you needed yet another excuse to attend the final weekend of the Bath Kids LitFest 2011 aside from Christopher Paolini, Charlie Higson, Jacqueline Wilson, Robert Muchamore, L.A. Weatherley, Lauren Kate, John Connolly and Will Hill, Louise Rennison, Mackenzie Crook and many many more; you will also get the opportunity to take in these beautiful views!
GLORIOUS FESTIVAL! GLORIOUS WEATHER!
The last time I wrote it was about all the panic of preparing for my own event. Since then I have met some wonderful writers and artists in the Green Room, preparing for their own appearances on stage. (No idea why it’s called the ‘green room’. It’s not green at all.)
Today I chatted with Jane Ray, who does the wonderful, almost jewel-like illustrations for books like STORIES FROM A FRAGILE PLANET. I also met Kevin Crossley-Holland, who probably knows more about the Vikings than anyone else in the country. His stories about them are always riveting reads and beautifully written. His event was a double event, along with Marie-Louise Jensen, a fairly new writer on the scene, whose own Viking based stories have been a big hit with readers. In the meantime I went to the children’s ward at Royal United Hospital, where I met up with several children undergoing various treatments and chatted with them about their books. They couldn’t make it to the festival itself of course, but I felt a bit like a roving reporter, carrying stories back to them about Andy Stanton, Eoin Colfer and more. It was good to see their faces break into big smiles. You see, that’s what books can do. They bring humour and hope and new ways of thinking about the world around us. Keep reading!
P.S. Apparently the ‘green room’ always used to be painted green, but they stopped doing that long ago.
Jeremy Strong x
The intriguing antics of Meg Rosoff, David Almond and Melvin Burgess.
This brilliant picture was taken on an author visit to King Edward’s School on Monday. We’re not quite sure how this motley crew of authors got hold of the TARDIS, or what they’re doing with it, but it sure is intriguing! We thought it would make a rather fun competition. Write an amusing caption for this image and you could win a festival goody bag! Captions should be a tweet long (140 characters) tweet your entries to @kidslitfestbath or in a comment on this blog post. The competition closes on the 1st October at 5pm, with the funniest entry winning the goody bag.
The Bath Kids LitFest Team x
David McKee draws Elmer
One can’t fail to love Elmer the charming little elephant. At the Bath Kids LitFest David McKee drew Elmer for a rapturous crowd, and we thought you might like to see it too! Click on the image to watch a slideshow of elmer being drawn.
The Bath Kids LitFest Team x
Photo copyright Julian Foxon Photography
Image Copyright David McKee
