[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-blue-bear-bookshop-farnham-literary-festival-2022":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"This week \u003Ca href=\"https://philipreeve.com/\">Philip Reeve\u003C/a> and I travelled to Farnham in Surrey to visit \u003Ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/blue_bear_bookshop/\">Blue Bear Bookshop\u003C/a> and take part in the inaugural \u003Ca href=\"https://farnhamliteraryfestival.co.uk/\">Farnham Literary Festival\u003C/a>. And what a beautiful bookshop it is, right in the heart of the old market town!  \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1155854_original-8cbdce3d86.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's the Blue Bear of the shop's name: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1156148_original-4d92952d22.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd some of the wonderful team who looked after us! From left: owner \u003Cb>Sylvia Schüller\u003C/b>, our main contact person \u003Cb>Khira Standley\u003C/b>, and intern \u003Cb>Han\u003C/b> (who had coffee and cake with us from their lovely cafe). \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1156379_original-a63a663fef.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for more photos under the cut!-->\\r\nIt's a beautiful shop, in some ways more of a beautiful museum of books, with a large percentage of the books turned face-out, so they can catch the eye of people coming for the cafe. It was intriguing to see how Sylvia had designed it and selected the slightly unusual stock, and I bought a great book of Calvin & Hobbes I'd never seen before. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1156693_original-1476d79d68.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nThe first event was my solo Grumpycorn event (featuring the space sequel \u003Ca href=\"https://jabberworks.co.uk/dont-call-me-grumpycorn/\">Don't Call Me Grumpycorn\u003C/a>) at \u003Ca href=\"https://www.south-farnham.surrey.sch.uk/\">South Farnham School\u003C/a>. Khira from the bookshop brought us and introduced us to the Head, \u003Cb>Esther Whitbourn\u003C/b> (pictured). I read to them from the book and we all drew Grumpycorn - they did a great job! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1157108_original-b476117195.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nIn the evening, Blue Bear Bookshop hosted Philip Reeve for a sold-out public event, featuring his new book \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"https://philipreeveblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/utterly-dark-face-of-deep.html\">Utterly Dark and the Face of the Deep\u003C/a>\u003C/i>. It was a great cosy evening and it was fun seeing a wide range of readers who came along - children, parents, teachers and fans of his various books. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1157199_original-5b1fc1b443.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nThe next morning we visited William Cobbett Primary School, where the librarian \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/caroline_clary\">Caroline Clary\u003C/a> made us feel so welcome. Philip and I led an assembly featuring \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"https://jabberworks.co.uk/kevin-vs-the-unicorns/\">Kevin vs the Unicorns\u003C/a>\u003C/i>, and after we signed lots of books, Caroline showed us the Illustrator Corner in the library. I was so chuffed to see that she'd bought one of the pieces of original book art I'd sold during Lockdown! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1157441_original-d622602188.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nWhen she showed me the back, I remembered writing the dedication, and it was so great to see the art in situ, along with artwork by Chris Mould and other illustrators I admire. Thank you, Caroline! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1157825_original-6c2b392f8e.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nShe also took a photo of Philip and me with the 'Libearian', so hopefully we'll appear on this wall with the other illustrious authors. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1158017_original-12a12f1899.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nThe area around the Blue Bear Bookshop is lovely! Here's a drawing after we signed a huge stack of books. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1158353_original-08b6a5ba9f.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nIf you're ever near Farnham, absolutely stop by Blue Bear Bookshop for coffee and cake and a look at their beautiful shop - you won't be disappointed! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1158602_original-df7244bdb6.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nYou can follow them on Twitter at \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BBbookshop\">@BBbookshop\u003C/a> and Instagram as \u003Ca href=\"https://instagram.com/blue_bear_bookshop\">blue_bear_bookshop\u003C/a>. Thank you to the bookshop team, our publicist \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/LizScottPR\">Liz Scott\u003C/a>, and \u003Cb>Oliver Cluskey\u003C/b> from Farnham's town council for all your work making this festival happen! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/1158676_original-953ec3df97.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">","2022-03-11T19:00:00.000Z","blue-bear-bookshop-farnham-literary-festival-2022",[],"Blue Bear Bookshop & Farnham Literary Festival 2022",1776628731406]