Best-selling author and illustrator, Lauren Child, is taking part in Dumfries’ annual Big DoG festival of children’s literature this weekend.
Running from today until Sunday the festival – with its mascot based on Nana from Peter Pan – features a multitude of authors, illustrators, storytellers, performers and others, offering an abundance of events for children, young adults and families.
The festival is devised and produced by Wigtown Festival Company and delivered in partnership with Moat Brae, DG Arts Festival, PlayTalkRead and PAMIS, and the events are at various venues in the town with the full programme and booking details available online at www.wigtownbookfestival.com/ or from the Big DoG HQ, Bookshop and Box Office, 109 High Street, Dumfries.
The venues are: Moat Brae, George St; Big DoG HQ; The Kennel, 117 High Street; The Cairndale, English Street; and the Theatre Royal, 66 Shakespeare Street.
Among the well-known names at Big DoG will be the former Children’s Laureate and Charlie and Lola author Lauren Child, who will take part in three events. One introduces Smile from her hugely popular Clarice Bean series, which began 25 years ago in 1999. The book is only officially published on March 28, but Lauren will bring some along so fans attending the event will be the first to be able to get hold of a copy.
There will also be street theatre from The Refs plus storytelling, readings, puppetry, writing workshops and visual arts activities at venues across the town.
There is free festival fun with the Smart Play Network’s Benji the PlayTalkRead double decker play bus for under 4s at the Midsteeple; and The Refs with their Referees Tank and Bogie are looking for champions in a family-friendly walkabout show that turns everything into one big game on the High Street.
Also free is Big DoG’s Family Rhyme Time with storyteller in residence, Renita Boyle and everybody’s favourite furry canine friend who will be telling stories, share rhymes, sing and dance together at The Kennel on the High Street, and the Accessible Events with one-to-one sensory storytelling for those with profound and multiple learning disabilities at Moat Brae.
The Cucinema Workshop with Dumfries and Galloway Arts Festival’s team is free at Big DoG HQ.
The festival’s family events include a drop-in draw-along with illustrator Tom Morgan-Jones; Peter Pan Pirate Breakfast or Afternoon Tea with Moat Brae’s Storyweavers fun and games inspired by Peter Pan, plus a delicious breakfa-a-a-rst with yummy pirate tucker – dress up if you can. There is a also a garden party on Sunday at Moat Brae.
More events to book include the Dinosaur Detectives: Clydebuilt Puppet Theatre (age 5+) – combining puppetry with projection and shadow theatre – at the Theatre Royal which promises a fascinating journey of discovery, fun and conflict surrounding the first fossil finds of Mary Anning, William Buckland and Gideon Mantell.
Fairytale Musical Mash Up with Gareth P Jones (ages 5-8) offers a disco-dancing gorilla, CinderGorilla, Snowy White and the cat-walk cats of Purry Tale Lane.
There is Adventuremice with Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre (ages 5-8) and Later When I’m Big: Bette Westera and Mattias de Leeuw (ages 5-8).
Pick up pencils as Maisie Chan (ages 8-12) inspire kids to write or draw their own stories using Chinese myths and legends as starting points or join the Scribble and Scrawl Crawl with Justin Davies and Jill Calder (ages 8-12) which invites young people to be inspired by sights and sounds around Dumfries in a drawing and writing workshop.
Also at the festival is a fun-packed event about the lives of great Scottish heroes, with experiments, quizzes, drawing, called Strong Brave True: Great Scots who Changed the World, and how You Can Too with Mairi Kidd and Tom Morgan-Jones (ages 5-8).
Author events include Tiny Owl’s Scary Day with Petr Horacek (ages 3-7); Museum Mystery Squad and the Case from Outer Space with Mike Nicholson (ages 6-9); One Button Benny and the Dinosaur Dilemma with Alan Windram (ages 3-7); Knight Sir Louis and the Sinister Snowball with The Brothers McLeod (ages 8-12); and No Matter What with Debi Gliori (ages 3-7).
The festival also has events 16s and above including a New Writers’ Clinic with Mairi Kidd (adults). In these 20-minute sessions, she will chat through ideas, pitches and give writer support opportunities.
Lauren Child and illustrator Jill Calder will discuss their creative approach to writing and illustrating children’s books, followed by a Q&A with the audience.
