Canterbury Children's Literature Festival
Programme
.jpg)
Kerfuffle Bird with Helen Docherty
Chapters of Sturry, 10am & 4pm, Friday 11th July
Join Helen Docherty for an interactive storytelling and creation session featuring the Kerfuffle Bird, Superwolf and more!
​
Learn the Kerfuffle Bird Song, join in with a fantastic storytelling and put your artistic skills to the test as you learn to draw some amazing characters.
What's the Story Creative Writing Competition
Help us create an animal trail around Wildwood with your creative writing!
​
We need your most imaginative, amazing stories and poems about nature, habitats, or the amazing animals found at The Wildwood Trust! Download our leaflet for some awesome background information about bears, arctic foxes, bison and wolves and get your imaginations whirring! Entries must be submitted by May 30th, and you must be aged 7-13 years old to enter. Full rules & information can be found below.
Make a Musical with Gareth P Jones
School Event, Friday 11th July
Rabunzel, Snowy White and CinderGorilla are all picture books written by Gareth P Jones, illustrated by Loretta Schauer & published by Farshore. These are reimagined fairytales, with animal protagonists and empowering messages. In Fairytale Musical Mash Up, author/performer Gareth P Jones invites the audience to help him bring these stories to life and turn them into musicals. Live music, interactive story telling, howling, quacking, fast rapping, disco dancing gorillas, catwalk cats, a long eared rabbit & the chance to sing LET DOWN YOUR EARS!
The Storymakers
11am, Canterbury Library, Friday 11th July
What makes a great story? Find out as you become a Storymaker.
​
Create your own amazing characters, treasure hunt for story elements and then use your incredible imagination to decide how you'll put it all together in your very own book!
​
This event is recommended for ages 2-5, and an adult must attend for every two children & come prepared to assist with story creation!
%20Bookish%20Quiz.png)
The Big Kids Bookish Quiz
6.30pm, Chapters of Sturry, Friday 11th July
Join us at Chapters Coffee & Books for the first of our Big Kids events, celebrating the wonderful world of children's books with a fun and hilarious quiz night. Although the quiz is all about children's books, this is one for the adults.
​
Snacks and drinks (soft drinks, local beers and wine) will be available to purchase from the cafe on the night, and there will be prizes for the winners.
What the Crow Saw Below
10am, Chapters of Sturry, Saturday 12th July
Meet Robert Tregoning and Greg Stobbs, the brilliant author/illustrator team responsible for What the Crow Saw Below, a beautiful story about love, freedom and being brave!
​​​
Enjoy a beautiful, rhyming storytime with Robert, and a drawalong with Greg where he'll show you how to draw your very own crow.
Storytime with Mama G
10.30am, Waterstones, Saturday 12th July
Mama G will be reading Oh Yes I Am!, discovering the history of panto, singing songs (by Moxy from Andy and the Oddsocks) and telling some pretty silly jokes!
There'll be lots of joining in, some terrible jokes, and some very theatrical magic! You don't want to miss it! Oh no you don't!
Time Travel Adventures with Claire Linney
10.30am, The Old Synagogue, Saturday 12th July
Join Claire Linney for a time travelling adventure through some of the fascinating (but unknown) figures of Black British history.
Discover the inspiration behind her award winning Time Tub Travellers series and create your own time travelling adventure. Packed with facts about history that kids will find exciting and engaging this session explores a new series that is full of adventure and intrigue.
Garry Parsons
11.30am, Canterbury Library, Saturday 12th July
Join Garry Parsons, illustrator of the best selling Dinosaur That Pooped series and many more children’s books, for a fun draw-along and story session.
Get ready for fabulous flamingoes, dancing llamas and a lot of POOP!
(Disclaimer warning: This session might well be smelly, stinky and gross!
The Rock Family Band with Robert Tregoning
12.30pm, Waterstones, Saturday 12th July
What if your whole family was in a glam rock band, and you were a quiet, flautist who liked classical music and didn't feel like they fit in?
​
Join Robert Tregoning to discover his brand new book The Rock Family Band. Then dust off your air guitars and get ready to make your own music as we put on an all-singing, all-dancing performance of our own!
A Kidsummer Night's Dream
12.30pm and 3.30pm, The Old Synagogue, Saturday 12th July
A magical play full of fast-paced, interactive fun for all the family
A fun, fast-paced family version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it has all the comedy and confusion of the original play but is considerably shorter (about 50 minutes) with more audience interaction, songs, water pistols and none of the long boring speeches.
However, within the informal theatrical style, occasional snippets of original text slip in, allowing everyone to enjoy some authentic Shakespearean language.
​​
Recommended for ages 5-11, but suitable for all!
.jpeg)
Improvised Poems from Saturn with Jonathan Sellers
2pm, Chapters Bookshop, Saturday 12th July
Embrace your inner poet with Jonathan Sellars in this hilarious workshop
​
Part poetry recital, part amateur theatre, part grey area between artistic innovation and chaos.
​
Equally perfect for those who just want to sit and watch funny poetry, and those who want to volunteer and channel their inner aunt-eating alligator or bouncy-bellied cow (or any one of the many other characters you’ll meet).
​
Recommended for ages 5-11.
Our Living Soil with Emma Rosen
2pm, The Wildwood Trust, Saturday 12th July
Find out all about the amazing world of soil under your feet with a sensory storytelling of the newly released 'Our Living Soils' by Emma Rosen.
Make your own soil paint, and create amazing mud pictures.
​
Recommended for age 2+
The Storymakers
2.30pm, Canterbury Library, Saturday 12th July
What makes a great story? Find out as you become a Storymaker.
​
Create your own amazing characters, treasure hunt for story elements and then use your incredible imagination to decide how you'll put it all together in your very own book!
​
This event is recommended for age 5+, and adults should come prepared to assist with story creation!
Cloudboy with Greg Stobbs
2.30pm, Waterstones, Saturday 12th July
When Bobby gets distracted, he starts to float. There's just so much in the world to interest him! His friends and family try to help him, but maybe the best way to do that is to become a little bit more like him?
​
Join Greg Stobbs for a Cloudboy reading and drawalong, exploring this beautiful story about imagination, acceptance and thinking differently. It could be about ADHD, but it is for everybody.
In Conversation with Nathanael Lessore
4.30pm, Waterstones, Saturday 12th July
Award-winning author Nathanael Lessore will be in conversation discussing his books Steady for This, King of Nothing, and What Happens Online.
Ask him your questions and find out all about how he comes up with his hilarious, inspiring stories about being a teenager.
​
Recommended age 10+
Kip and the Squiggledoodle
10am, The Old Synagogue, Sunday 13th July
Have you ever met a Squiggledoodle? Now is your chance!
​​​
Join Em Cosh as they introduce you to Kip and his best friend, the Squiggledoodle with a lively storytime, learn the 'Blueberry Shake', said to summon Squiggledoodles from miles away and help Em create the ultimate imaginary friend!
Storytelling Board Game Session
10.30am - 12.30pm, The Long Rest, Sunday 13th July
Stories aren't just found in books - they're everywhere! Come along to Canterbury's amazing board game cafe, The Long Rest, and discover the wonderful world of storytelling board games.
​
We'll have wise and friendly helpers on hand to teach you the rules of the games, so get ready to have a giggle and go on an adventure or two with us!
.png)
The Bison & the Butterfly Author & Illustrator Workshop
10.30am, West Blean & Thornden Woods
Join Alice Hemming and Nancy Leschnikoff at West Blean & Thornden Woods for a morning of activities inspired by The Bison and the Butterfly!
​
We'll start with a story telling session as Alice reads 'the Bison and the Butterfly', before games and crafts with Alice and the book's illustrator, Nancy.
Don't miss this morning of bison themed fun!
Storybuilding with Sheena Dempsey
11.30am, Waterstones, Sunday 13th July
Meet Pablo and Splash, amazing time-travelling penguins!
Join Sheena Dempsey for an interactive, fun-filled session with a behind the scenes insight into how she makes her books, two drawalongs and a penguin quiz!
​
Recommended age 6+, younger children welcome too
How to Write a Mystery with Eve Wersocki Morris
11.30am, The Old Synagogue, Sunday 13th July
A famous diamond has gone missing! What are the clues? Who is the thief? How will our brave young storytellers write this tale?
​
A fun and interactive workshop for aspiring authors and illustrators who love mystery, adventure and baddies! Learn how to set the scene of a crime, plant clues and create a mysterious character with bestselling writer Eve Wersocki Morris, author of Clem Fatale Has Been Betrayed – a mystery adventure about jewel thieves in 1950s London.
Eve is dyslexic so no one needs to worry about perfect spelling and grammar – this workshop is all about ideas and imagination!
Create your own Comic with James Turner
12pm, Chapters of Sturry, Sunday 13th July
In this workshop, comics writer and artist James Turner, creator of the award winning Star Cat graphic novel series, will take you through how to come up with your own brand new alien characters, and how to bring those characters to life in a silly space adventure. You'll learn all the secrets of making great comics, from character design to speech bubbles, and have a lot of fun along the way!
.png)
Lifesize Choose Your Own Adventure!
1.30pm, The Old Synagogue, Sunday 13th July
Come on an epic adventure with us, and the best thing about it is you get to choose it yourself!
​​
Create yourself a character to play as and make decisions with your group about what to do next. Where will it lead you?
​​
Based on The Magic of the Unicorn by Deborah Lerme Goodman, this session will be silly, magical and a lot of fun, with thanks to Pushkin Children's for their collaboration.
Mythological Drawalong with Thiago de Moraes
2.30pm, Chapters of Sturry, Sunday 13th July
Create spooky mythical monsters and terrible beasts. Listen to legends from all over the world before joining in a draw-along with Thiago de Moraes, the author and illustrator of Myth Atlas and Let Sleeping Gods Lie. We’ll invent together new monstrous beasts in this fun draw-along session. Careful you don't get eaten before the end!
In Conversation with Katherine Webber
3.30pm, The Old Synagogue, Sunday 13th July
Join bestselling YA author Katherine Webber as she introduces her newest YA novel, CAPTAIN OF FATES, and talks about writing YA fantasy. Explore magic, myth and fairytale -- and get a behind-the-scenes look at being a young adult writer. There will also be an audience Q&A.