From Lucy Chambers, CBF Children’s Events Coordinator
I do hope you enjoyed the Chiswick Book Festival and Young People’s Poetry Competition. Thanks to all the families and schools who encouraged children to take part - and to our generous sponsors, from schools to publishers. You can still see the winners and read the winning poems here on the Festival website.
There’s a great report by Zoe Antoniades (above), who spoke about her Cally & Jimmy books at the Local Authors Party and Chiswick Playhouse. She also has pictures of poetry performers Joshua Seigal & Neal Zetter, the draw-along with Rob Biddulph, and Clare Balding, who presented the poetry prizes. Click here.
The next CBF poetry competition will launch in April 2022 and the Festival will take place from September 7th to 14th. Please save the dates!! Meanwhile, read on for news of recent books published by some of our Festival authors, great Christmas reads (and presents!) and exciting writing competitions.
Read, read, read! Children’s poetry
Michael Rosen’s On the Move, was announced as the winner of the CLIPPA children’s poetry award 2021. Read poems about his family, the Holocaust and refugees’ journeys. Evocatively illustrated by Quentin Blake.
ACA does great work and you can support them by becoming a member or making a donation. See the links at the bottom of the YouTube page.
Plus: Zombierella: Fairy Tales Gone Bad by Joseph Coelho, is a witty graphic novel/poetry alternative version of the tales with a zombie twist (for readers 8+).
Recent books by children's speakers at the Chiswick Book Festival 2021
Sindhu and Jeet’s Detective Agency series by Chitra Soundar. ‘Sindhu and Jeet are the best detectives in town: they solve all their cases with a dollop of observation, a dash of imagination and a whole load of legwork.’
We All Celebrate! By Chitra Soundar. Celebrations around the world. Beautifully illustrated by Jenny Bloomfield.
Yapping Away: poems by Joshua Seigal (above at the 2021 Chiswick Book Festival) Funny and imaginative poems for children.
When the Bell Goes: a Rapping, Rhyming Trip through Childhood by Neal Zetter. The witty rap version of school life.
Look out for Zoe Antoniades’ next Cally and Jimmy book Twins Together to be published in February 2022.
And in Spring 2022, Marty's Party, the follow-up to Frederick The Fox by Kim Ansell and Lisa Read will be published. Watch ex-Royal Sarah Ferguson reading Frederick The Fox here: bit.ly/FergieReadsFrederick
(+ see below for Rob Biddulph’s new picture book.)
Some recent Christmas children’s reads I’ve enjoyed:
Rob Biddulph’s An Odd Dog Christmas (above), a festive take on his classic Odd Dog Out - celebrate with Rob’s fab illustrations and humour.
Read all about a chirpy robin in Dan Ojari’s charming story Robin Robin.
Julia Donaldson’s Rock-a-bye Rumpus is a collection of action poems for the very young.
And a performance of Julia Donaldson and Axel Sheffler's The Gruffalo is on at Waterman's from Tuesday December 2nd to Saturday 11th (age 3+)
Writing competitions
Design a superhero: ‘What makes your hero super?’ A couple of weeks left to enter this lovely competition from The British Library. Share your activity and photos and enter a draw to win one of 10 prizes of National Book Tokens. Closing date: November 30th 2021 . Full details here.
Join Story Seeker Command on their mission to find, tell and share important stories from across the globe. The National Theatre and Unicorn Theatre challenge pupils aged 8-11 to connect digitally through story telling. The project supports teachers in reconnecting children with learning and their school community in a creative way - term by term, throughout 2021/2022. Spring Term sign-up deadline is January 22nd 2022. Share your stories! Details here.
Don't forget that if you didn't buy the authors' books and get them signed, there are now signed copies in Waterstones Chiswick. Get your Christmas presents!
