An A-MAZE-ING Book Festival!

Hello lovelies!

Well it's been a very exciting couple of weeks!

Firstly, I went to Balletomane's performance of THE THREE MAGIC MICE BALLET!  I was completely blown away by their performance and so honoured that they chose one of my books. It really was just magical watching the characters come to life. The fabulous Balletomane are a self-funded company of volunteer dancers (many of whom have non-dance related careers, from architects to social workers!) who bring ballet to people with limited access to the theatre. They perform in public libraries free
of charge, and also offer free workshops in schools to explore story-telling and literacy themes through movement and dance - do let me know if you’d like them to perform at a library near you or come to your school!

Helen searches for the way out

Then I was invited to take part in Linton Bookfest's A-MAZE-ING Storytelling event! Wonderful children’s authors Helen Moss, Yasmin Finch, Janet Bingham and I snuck in early to explore the beautiful gardens, lake and MAZE! A proper “Alice in Wonderland” style hedge maze!

What do you call 4 children's authors
stuck in a maze? Answers on a postcard!

It was very complicated (and there was even a lion in the very middle – eek!) and we got a bit lost, and only just made it out in time to tell our stories!

Helen read from her fantastic ADVENTURE ISLAND series, Janet shared her beautiful picture books DADDY’S LITTLE STAR and THE BEST PRESENT, I read PRINCE CHARMING'S PRINCESS QUEST (and nearly deafened Helen with my Princess Aurora impression!).

Then it was the super-duper very-special world premiere performance of Yasmin Finch’s MR MUSTACHIO – complete with builder outfit and mustaches on sticks!

I love book festivals - there's always such a buzz and excitement about reading and books - and I seized the opportunity to see some of my favourite authors in action.

The lovely Ruth Hatfield ran a workshop based on her novel "The Book of Storms"

Helen Moss and Robin Stevens talk about their anthology of crime stories:
"Mystery and Mayhem" - Helen's story is all about a pineapple!!

I was especially impressed that both Helen and Robin
wore nail varnish to match their book cover! Awesome!

I also went to a fab event on The Hero's Journey by the equally fabulous Candy Gourlay, but I wasn't allowed to take photos, so here's a lovely one of Candy with the library cats instead!

Photo by Ruth Keys

What fun, exciting, inspiring, fascinating events book festivals are! Have you been to any fab festivals lately?