Best-selling children’s authors to headline Derby Book Festival

Three of the country’s best-loved children’s authors will feature in the seventh Derby Book Festival with events at Derby Theatre during the schools’ half term. Lauren Child will reveal her latest book, Clarice Bean: Scram! on Monday 30 May at 2pm, David Baddiel will discuss his latest, The Boy Who Got Accidentally Famous on Tuesday 31 May at 2pm and Jacqueline Wilson will talk about her latest book, The Magic Faraway Tree: A New Adventure on Wednesday 1 June at 2pm. Tickets go on sale today (25 March) for Lauren Child and Jacqueline Wilson’s events with David Baddiel’s on sale on Monday 4 April.

Derby Book Festival is funded by Arts Council England and the University of Derby with additional sponsorship from local businesses. It will include around 70 events from 20 – 28 May in venues across the city with these three special events offered the following week during the schools’ half term to enable children and parents to attend the matinée performances.

Lauren Child’s new book features how Clarice Bean’s family came to have a dog and how he got his name in this hilarious and joyous new novel. Her event will be sponsored by local firm, Smith Partnership.

The award-winning author and illustrator and former Children’s Laureate is also the creator of family favourites including Charlie and Lola and Hubert Horatio. She will discuss her new book with Fun Kids Radio’s Bex Lindsay.

The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton was best-selling author Jacqueline Wilson's favourite book as a young child. Now, Jacqueline, creator of Hetty Feather and Tracy Beaker, has written an irresistible new story set in this glorious magical world, perfect for the next generation of young readers. Featuring the popular characters from the original books as well as fantastical new lands and a new group of modern-day children. Jacqueline’s event will be sponsored by local children’s supplier, Cosy.

Million-copy best-selling author and comedian David Baddiel’s latest novel, (The Boy Who Got) Accidentally Famous, is a laugh-out-loud story that takes you on a roller-coaster ride of fame and friendship, which asks the question – what if everyone suddenly knew your name?

The Festival is now a well-established part of the city’s cultural calendar and celebrates the joy of books and reading. It has a successful schools’ programme involving around 90% of the city’s primary schools with their popular Meet the Author events held at Derby Theatre and live streamed to schools. This year’s events will feature authors Onjali Q Rauf and Zanib Mian.

Tickets cost £8 for children and £10 for adults (plus £1.50 booking fee per ticket). You can buy tickets online from the Festival website: www.derbybookfestival.co.uk or from Derby Theatre’s box office, either in person or by phone.

The Festival is chaired by Liz Fothergill, who is also Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire. Liz said: “The Festival is back in full force in 2022 and we are delighted to welcome three much loved children’s authors to our Festival to appeal across a range of ages. We believe that children should be inspired from a very young age to develop their creativity through a love of reading and by experiencing the joy that books can bring to their lives, taking them to new worlds and helping them to understand our own.

“Our Festival is putting Derby firmly on the literary map and attracting world class authors each year. We believe it is the largest and most successful literary festival in the East Midlands and something Derby can be proud of in its ambition to be a City of Culture.”

Other Festival authors will be announced in the coming months and tickets for all the other events to be featured in the Festival will be available from Wednesday 6 April. Tickets will be available online from the Festival website: www.derbybookfestival.co.uk where you can find full details of all events. You can also visit the box offices at Derby Theatre, QUAD or Déda for the events they are hosting.

To find out more, visit the Festival website and sign up for more information. You can also follow the Festival on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.