I’m never quite sure what to expect when it comes to taking part in a new event. If I’m asked to do something I usually go with my gut instinct, and generally I will say yes to an event if it ticks all the boxes that make sense to me and my children’s book illustration world.
This Spring/Summer (2024) Derby Book Festival organised an outdoor family-friendly event specifically aimed at encouraging storytelling with children. The Bookworms Kids Take Over was held at the community focused Electric Daisy venue on Bold Lane in the heart of Derby, just around the corner from my favourite Derby high street, Sadler Gate. The first event was held in May, a Thursday in the Spring Bank Holiday week, and it had that familiar “this is a new thing that we are trying” feeling! For me, the day had started with a 5.30am get up, followed by packing all that I could into my trusty pink wheelie suitcase, getting rained on all the way uphill to the bus stop and finally arriving a little disheveled at the venue. However, once I was settled into a cosy wooden hut with my stall all set up, I immediately knew this was going to be a lovely day (always trust your gut).
Electric Daisy is an outdoor venue comprising of several wooden huts all the way around the edge and a central picnic bench area, which is also cleverly under cover, so no problem in rain. There is a larger wooden shed at one end which the Derby Book Festival team had decorated as the Storytelling Hut. Directly opposite across the far side was a place to get food and drink. The smaller huts around the edge had plenty of free interactive activities for children as well as stalls like mine selling books by local authors (mostly independent) and illustrators.
My stall was next to the lovely Susan Hughes, author of Sprout’s Surprise children’s picture book, and we had a really nice day together watching families enjoy themselves and soaking up the joy on people’s faces. We were asked to bring some free activity sheets to give out, but I had clearly underestimated how many I would need, and I ran out of mine in the first hour. Derby Book Festival had provided plenty of caddies full of art materials which were dotted around the central picnic tables for kids to help themselves. You really did have everything you needed for a full day out at the Bookworms.
There was a good mix of children’s book authors, from picture books to chapter books, and we were each given a couple of 10-minute slots in the Storytelling Hut to read some of our books. This was a real highlight for me. It reminded me of all the things I loved about stories as a child. I think if you love books and stories as an adult, it must go back to your first memories of being read to as a child. Even now, I remember how much I looked forward to story time on the carpet at the end of the day in primary school, or stories that my grandma would read to me and my siblings just before bedtime. The Storytelling Hut for me was a chance to read to a captive audience and see their instant reactions. It is the best way of knowing whether your story works well or not. I read my two books: The Greatest Cake and Bonnie’s Ball, because the rhyming stories are always crowd pleasers and I really enjoy reading those ones aloud. Plus, you can guarantee that all audiences will enjoy stories about cakes or dogs!
One thing that I always love about these events, is the way it brings independent authors and illustrators together from the local area. I know I have mentioned this before, but it amazes me that there are so many of us hidden away working on our passion projects and trying to make them come to life with the limited resources that we have. I never feel like I’m in competition with any of these, in fact, the opposite. I feel like a little community is forming and growing each time that we are together, and there’s a real magic to that which I never expected. We look, we listen, we learn from each other and we try to offer up any advice along the way. I keep bumping into Susan and her Sprout character at these events, and we are starting to get to know each other well. I really enjoyed hearing about the beginning of her story idea and her book making process, as well as hearing about where she wants to take the Sprout series in future (we are all waiting for the Christmas one!).
Clare C-Saunders, another local independent author, was someone I met at the Bookworms event, and it’s been great to get to know her recently. So far, she has written two books in the Charlotte and Arthur’s Adventures series (chapter books), with illustrations by her daughter, so a real family collaboration. Most of us have other jobs alongside our book projects, and Clare’s is actress and voice artist. I’m so interested in why independent authors start their books and what inspires them. I think it is the secret journalist in me! Let me tell you something, nobody ever does it for the money. That’s probably what draws me to this community the most. We are all so passionate about what we do and because of this we are incredibly motivated and eager to pass that on to young minds. There might not be much money in this book business, but it has got to be the most rewarding thing that I’ve ever done. It does something to your soul that I can’t explain, other than it gives you a very warm feeling and generates a level of happiness that only like-minded people would understand.
As you can imagine, I jumped at the chance to be part of the next Bookworms event, which was held at the beginning of August. This time, I had my two little helpers, my nieces Belle and Ivy, who always love to get involved in any event that I’m part of. I like to think of it as a bit of early work experience for them! I love that they have grown up watching me create and sell my own books. Of course, there’s a little bit of each of my family in my stories, so this is a great talking point when people come over to my stall and ask about the books. Belle insists on telling everybody that her artwork is in The Peg People, and Ivy loves to show people that she is a character in Wooglefog (both true).
This event felt a little quieter than the last one, probably down to the fact that a lot of people were away on their summer holidays and there were a few stallholder drop outs due to illness, but as ever, each event is what you make it. I chose to enjoy every bit of it again, and this time I arrived with plenty (too many) of free activity sheets. I was asked by Derby Book Festival to host a little draw-a-long in the Storytelling Hut, as well as read my books, and I decided a simple Greatest Cake design would be the easiest thing to produce given the limited time. It went down well and I would love to do more of these in future.
Next up was a completely different event for me, two visits to my local library. Ilkeston Library turned 120 years old on August 24th, and as part of their celebrations, I was asked to come and read The Greatest Cake followed by a cake collaging session afterwards. I had no idea what to expect, but once again I found myself spending a lovely hour or two chatting to children and their parents who had popped in to borrow some books that day. Most children were about 5 or 6 years of age, and fully engaged with the art task set before them. A quiet and mindful morning passed as we talked about my books and cake. They all seemed to enjoy my story and I explained a little bit about what inspires me and why I do what I do. I even decided to show them a sneak preview of my new picture book and story calendar 2025: Box of Treasures (which went down well thankfully)! I was delighted to meet a couple of children who remembered me from previous visits to their schools. These little connections feel very special.
I only ever take part in events that really appeal to me and this summer has been a real joy getting out and about meeting people and sharing stories. Summer is generally a really quiet time for me in terms of sales, so I would like to thank each and every one of you for buying a book or a card. Thank you for coming to talk to me at my stalls too, I love meeting like-minded people and having good conversations about our favourite authors and illustrators. Working alone for the majority of the time means that I have truly come to appreciate these face-to-face interactions. I have come away from each event feeling reassured that this path in the publishing world is the right one for me. See you at the next one…
Belper Children’s Book Festival, Sunday 15th September, 11am – 4 pm, at the Market Place, Dormouse Books and No.28, Belper.
Fancy Dress costume optional (prizes for the best ones)
Dress up as your favourite book character!
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