THE line-up for this year’s Bath Children’s Literature Festival, from Friday 27th September to Sunday 6th October, includes some of the country’s best-loved writers – Cressida Cowell, Michael Rosen, Cornelia Funke and Jacqueline Wilson.

The organisers of one of the biggest children’s books festivals in the world have put together a programme of more than 80 events which really has something for all tastes and interests (whatever your age!)

Both weekends of the festival will be filled with interactive events with the chance to hear your favourite authors and illustrators talking about the stories you love.

The Schools Programme during the week will also be hosting some top names, with children from 44 schools in Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Somerset and Wiltshire taking part. More than 1,000 free tickets have been given to children in state schools and every child who attends the Schools Programme with a free ticket will be given a book.

The festival hub this year will be the Assembly Rooms, where official booksellers Waterstones will be setting up a special festival bookshop. Waterstones bookshop and café in Milsom Street will also be running events for families during the festival, including setting up The Illustrators Cafe during both festival weekends, featuring free how-to-draw events and activities with four illustrators in residence, Alice Tait, Luke Scriven, Conor Busuttil and Rhian Wright.

Here’s a brief look at some of the speakers:
• Michael Rosen, one of our best-loved children’s poets and authors and a former Children’s Laureate, will read many of our favourite verses, along with gems from his new collection Out of this World: The Weirdest Poems of All Time.
• Illustrator Rob Biddulph, holder of the Guinness world record for hosting the world’s biggest draw-along, entertains with silliness, laughter and the chance to draw along with Rob as he introduces new characters from Follow The Fox.
• Cressida Cowell, author of How To Train Your Dragon and other brilliant and fantastical fantasies, shares news of her latest adventure series, Which Way Round the Galaxy and will be illustrating live on stage.
• Hamza Yassin, wildlife presenter, cameraman and CBeebies star, who knows how much we love fun facts about the animal world, will lead a fun session, sharing his adventures in Hamza’s Wild World.
• Robin Stevens celebrates ten years of her Murder Most Unladylike series, introduces The Most Unladylike Puzzle Book and has top tips for solving mysteries for her legions of fans.
• Actor, comedian and popular children’s author Ben Miller, who brought us The Boy Who Made the World Disappear and The Day I Fell Into a Fairytale, talks about his new adventure, Robin Hood Aged 10 ¾.
• Dame Jacqueline Wilson, who was born in Bath and has a special place in the hearts of local people, will talk about some favourite characters from her many bestselling books and introduce her new title, The Star of the Show.
• Comedians Harry Hill, Russell Kane and Richard Ayoade will all bring a lot of laughs to the festival.

Themed events will feature old favourites, from the charming tales of Peter Rabbit and the Gruffalo to an evening of Doctor Who events with some of the stars from the long-running series. You can also enjoy drawing, savage stories and foul facts with illustrator Martin Brown of Horrible Histories fame.

Other events to look out for include Paralympian Jonnie Peacock, who is competing in Paris and coming to the festival to give an inspiring talk; American writer Megan Whelan Turner, author of The Thief, on a rare visit to the UK; Cornelia Funke, author of the Inkheart series; Katie Kirby, creator of the Lottie Brooks series; and illustrator Axel Scheffler, whose most famous characters include Zog and the Gruffalo.

The 2024 line-up has been put together by John and Gill McLay, who founded the Bath Children’s Literature Festival in 2007. Returning after a couple of years away, John, who is the festival director, says: “This festival is all about having fun – a place you’ll get to meet your literary heroes and be inspired to make and create your own stories.”

Gill McLay says: “Post-lockdown, we are hearing more and more about children’s reading abilities falling and the learning gap that Covid has left behind. As a result, it feels more important than ever to host live events with authors and illustrators to help children discover the joy in reading and creativity and offer families the opportunity to ignites their children’s imagination with books.”

For more information or to book tickets visit bathfestivals.org.uk

Pictured: The Gruffalo, Cressida Cowell, Michael Rosen, Jacqueline Wilson and Rob Biddulph with his fox.