British Library - Press and Policy Centre - Wonderlands – a summer festival of writing for children at the British Library

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31/07/2012

Wonderlands – a summer festival of writing for children at the British Library

Wonderlands festival, running from 24 to 26 August (c) British Library Board

The British Library will be throwing a three day party of storytelling, exciting conversations, poetry and performance for families and children of all ages - from Friday 24 to Sunday 26 August. Wonderlands features some of the most popular authors and illustrators from Britain and around the world, including Shaun Tan, Michael Rosen, Julia Donaldson, Michael Morpurgo and the authors behind Rastamouse! Wonderlands runs alongside and borrows its name from the Library’s major London 2012 Festival exhibition, Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands.

In addition to events led by brilliant authors and artists, the Library’s Poets’ Circle on its famous piazza will be home to a free storytelling tent, hosted by Sef Townsend and Kate Corkery.

The Library has also teamed up with Booktrust to run a special creative writing competition for children and teenagers. All three of our category winners will be invited to read their winning entry at an event as part of the Wonderlands festival, taking place at the British Library on Sunday 26 August where they will be introduced by the guest judge. The winners of the 6-8 years old and 9-12 years old categories will also each win a year's worth of books, and the winner of our 13-16 years old category will win a brand new e-reader, as well as have their work published in full on Booktrust's website.

Wonderlands is presented in association with Booktrust and The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY UK) whose congress Crossing Boundaries: Translations and Migrations coincides with Wonderlands.

Wonderlands events include:

Friday 24 August 18.30 – 19.45

Shaun Tan in conversation

Shaun Tan is a masterly visual storyteller, whose brilliantly detailed picture books conjure up separate universes where anything is possible but where people are always at the heart. Based in Australia his best known books include The Rabbits, The Lost Thing, The Red Tree and The Arrival. He has also worked as a concept artist on animated films, including Horton Hears a Who and Wall-E. In 2011 Shaun Tan received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and an Oscar for best animated short for The Lost Thing. Shaun will draw and talk to Nicolette Jones about his work.

Suggested age range 12 years upwards

£6/ £4 children and concessions / Conference Centre

Saturday 25 August 10.30 – 11.30

Michael Rosen and Charlie Dark: Up My Street

The fabulously entertaining Michael Rosen and the brilliant DJ and poet Charlie Dark lead a fun-filled morning of verses and stories about where we come from, where we are going to, and how we are getting there!

Suited to families with children aged 5 to 10 years.

£6/ £4 children and concessions / Conference Centre

Saturday 25 August 12.15-13.15

David Almond and Bart Moeyaert

David Almond is one of the most exciting and innovative children's authors writing today, and his books – such as Skellig, Kit’s Wilderness, The Fire Eaters and Clay have sold over one million copies around the world and won numerous awards. He is joined by the remarkable Flemish writer Bart Moeyaert, whose novels have been translated into twenty-five languages, and chair Nicolette Jones.

Suited to families with children aged 11 years and above.

£6/ £4 children and concessions / Conference Centre

Saturday 25 August 14.00 – 15.00

Julia Donaldson

Meet Julia Donaldson, who will be acting out stories and singing songs from some of her best loved books, with plenty of help from the audience too. Julia, recently appointed as the Children's Laureate, is the outrageously talented, prize-winning author of some the world's most popular children's books, most notably the modern classic The Gruffalo, which has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

Suited to families with children aged 5 to 8 years.

£6/ £4 children and concessions / Conference Centre

Saturday 25 August, 15.30 – 16.45

Michael Morpurgo: Stories and Places

Michal Morpurgo’s wonderful stories are often set in special and almost magical places such as the Isles of Scilly or the Devon coast. At this special event, he tells tales inspired by the natural world and explains why we all have a special connection with the landscape.

Michael Morpurgo is the author of many, much loved books for children including War Horse, Private Peaceful, Kensuke’s Kingdom and The Butterfly Lion. He is a former Children’s Laureate, and also, together with his wife, the founder of Farms For City Children which give young people a meaningful experience of the world beyond the urban. They now have three farms, Nethercott in Devon, Treginnis in Wales and Wick in Gloucestershire.

Suited to families with children aged 8 years and above

£6/ £4 children and concessions / Conference Centre

Sunday 26 August 11.30 – 12.30

Anthony Browne, Emily Gravett and Peter Sís: Drawing Stories

Join some of our most brilliant artist-storytellers, for an action-packed chance to find out how they create their books. What comes first, the story or the pictures? And could one possibly manage without the other?

Anthony Browne was recently Children’s Laureate. His fantastically detailed picture images and tales such as Gorilla, Zoo and the Willy the Chimp stories have made him one of Britain’s favourite authors. Emily Gravett is the author and illustrator of truly exciting books such as the Kate Greenaway Award–winning Wolves and Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears, Wolf Won’t Bite! and The Rabbit Problem. Peter Sís, Czech born but New York based, has created many fabulous illustrated tales and won many prizes, including the prestigious 2012 Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator Award.

Suited to families with children aged 8 years and above

£6/ £4 children and concessions / Conference Centre

Sunday 26 August 13.15 – 14.30

Valerie Bloom and John Lyons: Whoop and Shout!
Come along to enjoy an afternoon of poetry, stories and noise at The British Library in the company of poets Valerie Bloom and John Lyons.

Valerie Bloom is well known for her funny and engaging poetry plus two novels for young people, Surprising Joy and The Tribe. She performs everywhere from local libraries to the Royal Albert Hall. John Lyons is a prize-winning poet and painter with five published poetry collections, the latest being No Apples in Eden, plus his celebration of cooking, Cook-up in a Trini Kitchen which features poems, anecdotes, recipes with drawings.

Suited to families with children aged 6 years upwards
£6/ £4 children and concessions / Conference Centre

Sunday 26 August 15.15 – 16.30

Genevieve Webster and Michael De Souza: Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew and Trouble in Mouseland

When things go wrong in Mouseland, President Wensley Dale can always count on Rastamouse, and his mystery-solving friends, Scratchy and Zoomer to ‘make a bad ting good’. Rastamouse is the star of the CBeebies hit show, and the acclaimed books by Michael De Souza and Genevieve Webster. Join them discover what Rastamouse and Da Easy Crew has been up to.

Suggested age range: 4 years upwards

£6/ £4 children and concessions / Conference Centre

Notes to Editors:

Summer Workshops

Are you sitting comfortably?

Join Kevin Graal and Charlie Dark for

wokrshops inspired by our Writing Britain

exhibition.

14, 15 and 16 August – 11.00 and 15.00

21, 22 and 23 August – 11.00 and 15.00

For ages 6 years and above

Duration approximately 90 minutes

Events

To see the full range of Writing Britain events please visit http://www.bl.uk/whatson/index.html

To book tickets for Writing Britain events please visit http://boxoffice.bl.uk, call 01937 546546 (Mon - Fri, 09.00 - 17.00) or buy tickets in person at the British Library.

Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands

Wonderlands celebrates the Library’s major exhibition Writing Britain. Visitors can visit the exhibition and see the original manuscript of children’s classics, such as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The Wind in the Willows, Alice’s Adventures Under Ground and The Owl Service.

Writing Britain is part of the London 2012 Festival, a spectacular 12-week nationwide celebration from 21 June and running until 9 September 2012 bringing together leading artists from across the world with the very best from the UK.

www.bl.uk/writingbritain

Booking information

To book tickets for Writing Britain visit www.bl.uk/writingbritain, call 01937 546546 (Mon - Fri, 09.00 - 17.00) or buy tickets in person at the British Library.

Exhibition opening hours

Monday 10.00 – 18.00, Tuesday 10.00 – 20.00, Wednesday – Friday 10.00 – 18.00, Saturday 10.00 – 17.00, Sunday and English public holidays 11.00 – 17.00

All galleries are accessible by wheelchair. Information can be requested from Visitor Services staff on: T +44 (0)20 7412 7332.

Booktrust is an independent reading and writing charity that makes a nationwide impact on individuals, families and communities, and the nation's culture. Booktrust makes a significant positive contribution to the educational outcomes of children from the earliest age. We work to empower people of all ages and abilities by giving them confidence and choices about reading. And we want individuals of all backgrounds to benefit from the wellbeing that a rich and positive engagement in reading and writing can bring. Booktrust is responsible for a number of successful national reading promotions, sponsored book prizes and creative reading projects aimed at encouraging readers to discover and enjoy books. These include the Orange Prize for Fiction, the Roald Dahl Funny Prize, the Children’s Laureate, and Bookstart, the national programme that works through locally based organisations to give a free pack of books to babies and toddlers, with guidance materials for parents and carers. www.booktrust.org.uk

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation and includes books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, photographs, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. Up to 10 million people visit the British Library website - www.bl.uk - every year where they can view up to 4 million digitised collection items and over 40 million pages.