Energy levels high with lots of laughter at Bath Children’s Literature Festival 📚

We had such a fun time during the second weekend of the festival, with energy levels high and a lot of laughter. 

Illustrator Rob Biddulph had his audience at Komedia in full pantomime mode as he teased them with pop-up pictures of his aliens and they all shouted excitedly every time they saw one. He taught us how to draw dogs and shared a few tricks of the comic artist’s secrets. 

Families flocked to see TV fitness guru Joe Wicks launch his first picture book for children The Burpee Bears. This was the very first event surrounding the new book and everyone was willing to get stuck in with some warm-up exercises and calling out challenges for Joe to try on stage. The book signing queue, like Rob’s before him, was full of parents who wanted to express their thanks for all Joe had done throughout lockdown. 

There was a competitive edge to Andrew Pettie’s family quiz, inspired by his Listified! Book and mums and dads pitted their wits alongside their kids to see who knew the most about the gross habits of dinosaurs and other trivial but fascinating facts. 

On Sunday at Komedia Scottish writer Pamela Butchart, author of many popular titles including Attack of the Demon Dinner Ladies and My Head Teacher is a Vampire Rat, took to the stage for a fully inter-active show. Members of the audience were invited up on stage to play roles ranging from a scary head teacher and ferocious dinner ladies to the cute school bunnies hopping round the floor. Readers left clutching their signed copies of her new book A Monster Ate My Packed Lunch. 

Simon Farnaby, star of Horrible Histories and Ghosts, had a very entertaining chat with fellow children’s author Joanna Nadin, putting on loads of hilarious voices as he did. He gave a taster of his books about Merdyn the Wild and talked about bringing the thoughts of Bubbles, the dim guinea pig to a new book for World Book Day. 

There was more laughter (and loads of fart jokes) when former doctor Adam Kay and illustrator Henry Paker brought their interactive show, A Gruesome History of the Human Body, to the stage. The audience took part in a Poo or True? Quiz and there was a chance to learn how to draw a terrified human heart running away from an evil zombie poo in a step-by-step art class by Henry. We’re not sure how many audience members were inspired to go and become doctors as a result, but people were still grinning when they went back out into Westgate Street.