A 9-year-old boy planning
out his career as a novelist with help from a Book Festival author; a
trio of girls squealing at writer Jacqueline Wilson as if she were
Justin Beiber; a group of school kids sitting on the grass with their
noses buried in freshly-bought books.
Those were just some of the
scenes from this month in Charlotte Square Gardens. We have nothing
to fear from the future of literature – the youngest generation of
book fans will make sure no page goes unturned. Or indeed unwritten.
By the way, I'm not just
venting randomly. Today was the Schools Gala day at the Book
Festival, which meant a full day of events just for schoolkids. We
had Julia Donaldson and Tom Pow, Theresa Breslin and Joan Lingard,
many other talented and good-spirited contributors, and loads of
bunting and balloons (which of course meant a number of helium-voices
over the radios). All of it added a great party atmosphere to the
sun-filled Gardens.
Oh, and there were about a
zillion Where's Wallys.
Where's Wa- THERE HE IS.
I'll post one last time here
on the blog tomorrow with m'final thoughts on this year's
record-breaking Book Festival, but, for now, it's time to fold up the
deckchairs, take down the tents, pull up the walkways, pack up the
books, and sweep up all the sleeping authors.
No comments:
Post a Comment