Ana Sampson and Chris Riddell signing
Alex Milway with his moose hat in 2021
Rob Biddulph
“Alex Milway was animated and engaging for the children and that they really loved his sessions -Hopefully he has inspired some of our children to be future writers and illustrators!”
Lindsay Galvin at Howard of Effingham School
“I really love the excitement generated by the author visits - the children’s faces are GREAT to watch”
Our Schools Programme
Opening books. Inspiring minds.
We bring authors and illustrators into local schools to engage and encourage young readers.
Our schools programme offers the opportunity for pupils from both Primary and Secondary state schools to meet some of the very best authors and illustrators face to face.
It aims to inspire a love of reading, writing and illustrating among young people that will stay with them for a life-time, hopefully inspiring the authors of the future.
Last year the Guildford Book Festival visited over 4,000 school pupils across Surrey and worked with over 17 schools. This year we plan to build on this number and also start a series of illustration workshops for budding artists.
Authors planned so far for this year include: Carrie Dunn, Ramie Targoff, Ally Sherrick, James Carter and Stephen Mulhern.
A big thank you to all the teaching staff involved in supporting these events and the schools for creating such a wonderful atmosphere.
“Thank you so much for organising Rob to come to Northmead this morning - I could hear children telling their parents all about it when walking up the drive at the end of the day... We are now trying to work out how best to display Rob’s masterpiece!
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Planning for next year’s school programme has already started and due to high demand we are prioritising our existing, local state schools. Events will run throughout the year and home-educated children are welcome to join in these sessions.
We are not taking on any new schools at the moment but if you are home-schooling and would like your child to join in a local session, please contact: alexandrews@guildfordbookfestival.co.uk.
“Thank you so much - the children were absolutely buzzing afterwards and said it was ‘the best day of their life!’ A really wonderful experience for them - thank you so much for organising it for us.”
“We all thoroughly enjoyed the session. It really inspired the children. All my MG Leonard books have flown off the shelves in the library today and they are also now borrowing more wildlife and bird books.
It was fascinating to hear how MG went about writing her books and that she didn’t think she was good at writing at school! So inspirational for our children.”
“Thank you all so much for AM Dassu’s visit on Friday. The children really enjoyed it and gained a huge amount from the experience. Please do pass on my particular thanks to AM Dassu for the energy and compassion she transmitted to the students.”
Schools involved this year...
Park Mead Primary School, George Abbot School, Glebelands School, Tillingbourne Junior School, Holy Trinity Pewley Down School, Pyrford C of E Primary School, Busbridge Infant School, Wonersh & Shamley Green, Guildford County School, Weyfield Primary, St Peter's Catholic School, Kings College.
