Children from Wokingham are invited to take part in a reading extravaganza featuring author-led writing workshops this autumn.
The Wokingham Children’s Book Festival will return for a second year from October 19-20.
It is open to children aged 3 to 16 years old and will take place at Wokingham Library and Wokingham Town Hall with workshops running for 45 minutes each at the cost of £3 per session.
The educational weekend will consist of 20 interactive workshops designed to inspire participants and get their imaginations flowing.
Chairman Arts and Culture Committee for Wokingham Town Council, Cllr. Sally Gurney said: “I was delighted when the idea of running our own Book Festival came to the Arts & Culture committee last year. As a child, I was an absolute bookworm, regularly checking out 12 books at a time 2 or 3 times a week from my local library.
“The opportunity to meet one’s literary heroes is an excitement not to be missed. Even now, I can point to the signed books on my shelves, and tell you all about the time I met the author, what they were like and what we talked about.”
Authors running the workshops include award winning writers Holly Webb, A.F. Harrold, Adam and Charlotte Guillain and Candy Gourlay.
Spoken word poet Matt Abbott will also run a workshop especially for teenagers, called Poems for When Your Phone Dies.
Whether your child is a budding writer, interested in developing characters, a keen poet, or simply a fan of picture books, the Wokingham Children’s Book Festival has something to offer them.
Executive Member for Environment and Leisure at Wokingham Borough Council, Cllr Parry Batth said: “It is fantastic to see the children’s book festival back and I am really pleased to see that we can offer even more sessions for all our children to enjoy.
“This year Wokingham Borough Libraries are filled even more with wonderful books to explore and we’ve got some fantastic authors and illustrators coming along to offer a really unique experience for our children to take advantage of.”
As space is limited, booking must be made in advance at Wokingham Library or online at www.wokingham- tc.gov.uk/bookfest.
Workshops are aimed at different age groups- with the content managed accordingly- and all under 12s must be accompanied by an adult.
Each workshop is followed by a book signing with WHSmiths as the official bookseller. All venues are fully accessible.
