Mar. 5th, 2023 at 8:01 PM
World Book Day 2023: Oundle Lit Fest
Hope you all had a good World Book Day! A lot of schools celebrated differently: some simply by reading, others by dressing up as their favourite book characters, and still others dressed up as an adjective (in Worcester, teacher Cathy Spence dressed up as 'Debonair' and in Oundle, a teacher wrapped in bubble wrap said she was 'Fragile'). I am terribly biased in that my favourite costumes are always when children dress up as characters in my own books (who wouldn't, what a rush!).
I can't share all of the amazing photos because of social media privacy settings, but here's a couple fabulous costumes! The photo above is a terrific Kevin the Roly-Poly Flying Pony from my Patron of Reading School, Chagford Primary, shared by Chloe Brooks-Warner. With a giant custard cream biscuit! And here's another great one shared by Chloe Banks, See-through George from Jinks & O'Hare Funfair Repair:
My co-author of the book, Philip Reeve, replied "But all I can see is a Penguin, hovering in mid air..." And Chloe replied, "Uncanny right?! (Perfect character for a kid who hates dressing up but has lots of grey clothes - thanks!)" and added, 'He’s had the penguin since he was born. He absolutely fell in love with George when we read it." Yay!
So where was I on World Book Day? Funnily enough, it was technically the launch day for our first Adventuremice book, but World Book Day is kind of a crazy day to launch a book because everything's in such a tumult with dressing up and a zillion other people are also launching and talking about books. (You'll be hearing a lot more about Adventurmice soon!) I spent the day at Oundle Lit Fest in Camridgeshire, and I focused on books the children were already familiar with, the Grumpycorn picture books. Check out Oundle Great Hall, isn't it amazing?! Organiser Helen Shair brought in loads of schools including Laxton Junior School to celebrate with a big author event and I gave the a story and taught them how to draw their own Grumpycorn book covers to inspire their own stories.
We also went out of town to visit Stanion CofE Primary School, who were joined by Brigstock Latham's CE Primary School...
...and they drew excellent pictures!
Huge thanks to the schools for your enthusiasm, and to Helen for making my visit possible! Helen was incredible, driving, hauling books, putting me up for two nights and even baking cakes for every author during a week of events! A total legend.
And thanks to The Oundle Bookshop for hosting booksales!
I signed lots of books right at the events, but I got a chance right at the end to pop in with Helen and see the lovely shop itself, right in the centre of town.
I'll finish with a fab Grumpycorn costume shared by Kerriann Speers, together with Mark Bradley's Bumble (a tall photo to accommodate Bumble's very tall hat):
I can't share all of the amazing photos because of social media privacy settings, but here's a couple fabulous costumes! The photo above is a terrific Kevin the Roly-Poly Flying Pony from my Patron of Reading School, Chagford Primary, shared by Chloe Brooks-Warner. With a giant custard cream biscuit! And here's another great one shared by Chloe Banks, See-through George from Jinks & O'Hare Funfair Repair:
My co-author of the book, Philip Reeve, replied "But all I can see is a Penguin, hovering in mid air..." And Chloe replied, "Uncanny right?! (Perfect character for a kid who hates dressing up but has lots of grey clothes - thanks!)" and added, 'He’s had the penguin since he was born. He absolutely fell in love with George when we read it." Yay!
So where was I on World Book Day? Funnily enough, it was technically the launch day for our first Adventuremice book, but World Book Day is kind of a crazy day to launch a book because everything's in such a tumult with dressing up and a zillion other people are also launching and talking about books. (You'll be hearing a lot more about Adventurmice soon!) I spent the day at Oundle Lit Fest in Camridgeshire, and I focused on books the children were already familiar with, the Grumpycorn picture books. Check out Oundle Great Hall, isn't it amazing?! Organiser Helen Shair brought in loads of schools including Laxton Junior School to celebrate with a big author event and I gave the a story and taught them how to draw their own Grumpycorn book covers to inspire their own stories.
We also went out of town to visit Stanion CofE Primary School, who were joined by Brigstock Latham's CE Primary School...
...and they drew excellent pictures!
Huge thanks to the schools for your enthusiasm, and to Helen for making my visit possible! Helen was incredible, driving, hauling books, putting me up for two nights and even baking cakes for every author during a week of events! A total legend.
And thanks to The Oundle Bookshop for hosting booksales!
I signed lots of books right at the events, but I got a chance right at the end to pop in with Helen and see the lovely shop itself, right in the centre of town.
I'll finish with a fab Grumpycorn costume shared by Kerriann Speers, together with Mark Bradley's Bumble (a tall photo to accommodate Bumble's very tall hat):