Bath Children’s Literature Festival 2018 Roundup

Once again, Bath Children’s Literature Festival delivered 10-days of world-class literary events to the families of Bath and beyond, with some of the most acclaimed authors and illustrators visiting the city for the occasion.

Bath Children’s Literature Festival 2018 Highlights 

Ade Adepitan & David Walliams. Photo Credit James Cheadle.

Bath welcomed David Walliams and chair, Ade Adepitan with open arms on the first full-day of the festival.  Ade quizzed David about his career in writing, encouraging him to describe some of his much-loved characters and how they reflect some of his own childhood memories. The event included animated storytelling, bags of humour and intriguing questions from children in the audience.  The ‘World’s Worst Children’ were conjured up on stage with subtle undercurrents of adult humour that engaged the whole audience. Ade and David had everyone in stitches and received a rip-roaring applause at the end.  Tickets for this event sold out within 72 hours of going on sale

Cressida Cowell. Photo Credit James Cheadle.

Celebrating the 25^th anniversary of Horrible Histories, renowned author, Terry Deary, made his first public appearance in ten years.  Terry was joined by partner in historical crime, the hugely talented illustrator Martin Brown, and the duo entertained the audience with live music and drawing.

Cressida Cowell had the audience spell-bound. Recalling stories from her childhood in the Hebrides, she described the interesting landscapes that inspired characters from her ‘How to train your dragon’ and ‘The Wizard of Once’ series of books.  Sprinkling the audience with gold dust, Cressida cast a spell over the children, encouraging them to use their imaginations and create their own stories. Last year, Cressida launched her first book in the ‘The Wizards of Once’ series; this year she introduced her newest book ‘Twice Magic’.

Tom Fletcher (Left) and Harry Hill (Right). Photo Credit Jesper Mattias.

Bestselling author and lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of McFly, Tom Fletcher, delighted the audience with a jam-packed event full of music and storytelling. Appearing for the first time at the festival, Tom brought the characters from his children’s books ‘The Creakers’ and ‘The Christmasaurus’ to life.

Back by popular demand, festival-regular Harry Hill, entertained the audience with stories from his latest children’s book ‘Matt Millz’, Britain’s youngest comedian. Never without a prop, Harry showered the audience with icing sugar via his clarinet, sang amusing songs whilst playing his mini guitar and encouraged children to take part in his custard-pie-in-the-face antics. Everyone left with smiles on faces and books in their hands.

Check out more photos from the festival here

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