News

This year‘s Barnes Children’s Literature Festival presents particular challenges because of the pandemic. Luckily, Professor Tom Solomon an emerging infections expert at the centre of the UK response is on his way to Barnes with his new event, Covid for Kids at 1pm on Sunday 27th June, where you’ll have…

Dear Barnes Children’s Literature Festival family, We do hope you and your families and friends have been managing to stay safe and sane during these strange times. We’re raring to go ahead in June but we’re also watching the same news reports about the coronavirus crisis as you are, and with things…

Everybody in Barnes was saddened by the passing of Judith Kerr on 22 May 2019. The children's literature legend fell ill a few days before her annual appearance at the Festival and died shortly after, just a couple of weeks before her 96th birthday.

Have you ever wondered what a cross between a witch and a mermaid would be like? Author Sibéal Pounder invited her festival audience to find out.

Libby Jackson, head of the Human Exploration Programme at the UK Space Agency, has a special message for girls and boys everywhere.

Axel Scheffler, illustrator of such favourites as Zog the dragon, the Ugly Five, and, of course, the Gruffalo, had a full house at the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival.

Before the show had even begun, eager parents and children were flooding into the packed out Book Marquee to grab a snap with legendary children's author Michael Rosen.

It has been 20 years since Skellig, and David Almond, esteemed author and proud 'Tynesider', still can’t believe how that magical story came to him.

Master storyteller Marcia Williams, author and illustrator of Mr William Shakespeare’s Plays, Greek Myths for Young Children and Three Cheers for Woman and many many more, has written her first novel!

Dreams are something S F Said is fascinated by and uses a lot in his writing.

15 objects in the 15 pockets of Chris’s magical, history-telling coat were all that he needed to capture the audience and power through the most important moments in history.

Karen Inglis is a best-selling Amazon author who decided to self-publish after receiving rejections early on in her writing career.

Emma Carroll signing books. A talk that opens with ‘Duran Duran’ and embarrassing childhood pictures of a bad 70’s haircut, is only going to go one way – absolutely hilariously. ‘The Letters from the Lighthouse’ author kicked things off at Barnes Methodist Church, discussing all things old and new in the life…

Chitra Soundar led us on an exciting journey of sound and colour through India.

Bestselling author of The Roman Mysteries and P K Pinkerton series, Caroline has mastered Greek mythology, Roman quests and more recently time travel; and now she's sharing her secrets for writing great stories!

The queue to Matthew Syed’s event stretches way across Barnes Green.

Appearing at the festival to promote her latest work and discuss how she developed the bestselling Horrid Henry Series, she said she will now be moving into focus on new characters for the publishers Faber and Faber. After completing the 25th Horrid Henry book, she said it was a good number at which to stop.

It isn’t just about writing. I was creating ideas, stories and inventing fictional worlds long before I became a novelist. Stories are all around us if you use your eyes and ears.

Ross Welford developed an interest in magic and mythology as a child although his first foray into the world of writing was not in children’s literature. It was after having children of his own he decided to write children’s books, he told his audience at Barnes Children’s Literary Festival 2019.

Charming storyteller and illustrator, Petr Horáček, introduced the fascinated children in his audience to his wonderful world of greedy goats, blue penguins, and colourful puffins.

Robin Stevens, author of the wildly popular Murder Most Unladylike series, told Barnes Children’s Literature Festival how her unique childhood – moving from America aged five to live on-campus at an Oxford college with her parents – has heavily influenced her writing.

With his natural wit and easy story telling ability, Frank Cottrell-Boyce had the audience in the Barnes Marquee in stitches from the get-go as he introduced his new book, ‘Runaway Robot’.

From learning a special Tale Tenders salute (make an opening book and then a 'T' with your hands) to encouraging a lot of laughter through making silly faces and roaring like a monster, children were learning the importance of books from Terry and Brenda.

Looking particularly fabulous in her tailored black suit and red, glittering gloves, Lauren Child poses the question: “Do we ever think about nothing?” While today’s social pressures can make us feel like we must always be doing something productive, Lauren asks us to stop and consider allowing ourselves time to do nothing at all.

What’s the funniest book you’ve ever read? Probably Adrian Mole, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much while reading a book as I did while reading that book, which I read while laughing a lot - more than any other book I’ve ever read, in fact.

When it comes to all things football, one name comes to mind… Tom Palmer. From the Football Academy series to The Squad Series to Armistice Runner, Tom brings his love of football and reading back to Barnes Festival 2019 and we couldn’t be more excited!

From the The-Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog to the My Brother’s Famous Bottom series, funny man Jeremy Strong has written over a hundred books! He will be bringing some of his first class hilarity to Barnes Festival 2019 and introducing his latest book Armadillo & Hare. And this is no ordinary hare of course. For starters, this one plays the tuba... We can’t wait to hear more!

There might not be anyone else on the planet who loves animals as much as Sophy Henn. Sophy is a friend to all things furry and she’s bringing some of that love to this year’s festival: thank you Sophy! A first class picture book maker; she’s the heart behind the highly acclaimed ‘Where Bear?’ and the ‘Pom Pom’ series. If there’s anything more she enjoys than being around animals, it’s illustrating them… unless it’s horses and unicorns. Join us in welcoming Sophy at the festival for non-stop animal fun and her latest books ‘Lifesize’ and ‘Lifesize Dinosaurs’. You’re guaranteed to have a dino-mite time.

Candy Gourlay, the author of Bone Talk and Is it a Mermaid?, joins us for this year’s festival, hoorah! Candy, originally from the Philippines, is a dab hand at writing for different cultures and inviting the reader on a fascinating journey that grips and delights you. Candy is the BookTrust’s writer in residence and she’s coming to Barnes to share her experiences and reveal all about the mysterious dugong, a creature who might just be a mermaid – so it’s definitely not to be missed.