Sedbergh Book Town Buzz 2010
A Weekend of Book-related Events for Families.

Event 1, Shouting at the Ocean

Shouting at the Ocean

Poems, Songs & Comedy for the whole family featuring three of the UK’s most dazzling performance poets who feature in the new Hands Up Books anthology ‘Shouting at the Ocean’. An adventure playground in words!

Michaela Morgan has published over 120 titles covering poetry, picture books and junior novels. She also writes books for the education market. Her books have been shortlisted for the Blue Peter Award, the Children’s Book Award, Birmingham and Surrey Libraries’ Awards.

Roger Stevens is a poet, story writer and editor whose books include ‘I Did not Eat the Goldfish’, ‘The Monster That Ate the Universe’ and the audio book ‘Why Otters Don’t Wear Socks’. He recently edited ‘The Jumble Book, which features poems for dyslexic children. Roger lives in Brighton and runs the award- winning website www.poetryzone.co.uk.

John Rice moved to Sedbergh two years ago. He writes for both adults and children, having published seven collections of poetry for children including ‘Bears Don’t Like Bananas’ and ‘Guzzling Jelly with Giant Gorbelly’. He is also a storyteller and for the past two years he has been Scottish Arts Council’s Poet-in- Residence in Glasgow.

Event 2, Picture Books for the Younger Child

Michaela Morgan

Michaela Morgan will introduce and read from her books for children aged 3 to 7. Michaela will let Mums, Dads and young children into the secrets of how her books came to be made and will also give you a chance to make up your own story!

Michaela Morgan has published over 120 titles covering poetry, picture books and junior novels. Her books have been shortlisted for the Blue Peter Award, the Children’s Book Award, Birmingham and Surrey Libraries’ Awards. Her latest picture book ‘Never Shake a Rattlesnake’, illustrated by Nick Sharratt, will be published in April and her new ‘Sausage’ story ‘Happy Birthday, Sausage!’ will be published at the same time. Her novel ‘Night Flight’ is currently shortlisted for a libraries award.

Event 3, Drawing Cartoons & Making Comics

Spooky Skaters

Fun Crew present two workshops for young people age 11-plus to create and draw crazy characters and add the whizz factor to a comic strip! Fun Crew’s workshops are renowned for offering young people a unique opportunity to engage with experienced professionals from the fields of children’s book, magazine and educational publishing; illustration; character design; cartooning and comic-strip creation.

Angela Salt and Stuart Harrison are the creators of a series of ‘Spooky Skaters’ books published by Scholastic. They write and draw regular comic strips for Dandy Xtreme (formerly The Dandy), Dinomite and Easy Peazy magazine. They have also been contributors to Toxic, Sparkle World, The Beano and Go Girl! Stuart is a regular artist for the magazine National Geographic Kids.

Numbers are limited to 20 young people per workshop: advance booking only.

Event 4, Film: The Railway Children

A showing of E. Nesbit’s timeless classic story ‘The Railway Children’. The film will be followed by a children-led discussion about E. Nesbit’s books.

When their father is mysteriously taken from their home by two strangers, the three Waterbury children and their mother fall on hard times and eventually have to move to a small cottage in the country. There they become fascinated by the local railway and its passengers. Their adventures even include preventing a serious train crash! They make friends with an elderly gentleman who waves to them every day as he passes on the train. He helps solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of their father. The final scene of the film (which must remain a secret!) is one of the greatest moments in cinematic history! The film was written and directed by Lionel Jeffries and stars Jenny Agutter, Sally Thomsett & Bernard Cribbins.

Event 5, Tales from the Tale Coat

Taffy Thomas

The newly appointed Storyteller Laureate, Taffy Thomas MBE, will be entertaining young and old with traditional tales and stories from his huge repertoire. Taffy’s unique and wonderful storytelling sessions are a hit with both young and the young at heart. Come along and celebrate Taffy’s new appointment.

Event 6, Making Musical Instruments from Junk!

Two creative workshops – this time for all the family when Nick Penny brings his best-selling book ‘Making Musical Instruments from Junk!’ to life when he and two musician friends lead a morning and an afternoon workshop during which everyone in the family can make and play a musical instrument. We’ll provide all the junk … but you can bring some of your own!
Numbers are limited to 20 young people per workshop: advance booking only.

Event 7, Words of Love on Valentine’s Day

And of course St Valentine’s Day would not be complete without some love and romance for grown-ups, and overgrown-ups!

Visit Sedbergh’s Cafés & Tearooms with your sweetheart to hear a 20-minute programme of verse read by local people. Enjoy a lunch or a coffee and swoon to the sound of beautiful Love Poems!

• 12 noon: Post Office Café, ‘love within the family’ poems read by Clare & John Rice
• 12.30pm: Sedbergh Café, love poems read by Evelyn & Mark Westwood
• 1pm: Duo Café Bar & Bistro, poems read by Gillian Rea & Keith Wood

Free admission; refreshments & lunches available to purchase.