Inside Derbyshire Literature Festival

Northern Wings would like to welcome guest blogger Abi Burlingham 

Abi Burlingham

Abi  is a writer living in Derbyshire. She has had six children’s books published, including the ‘Ruby and Grub’ series, aimed at 2-7 year olds and  and, most recently, ‘Buttercup Magic: A Mystery for Megan’, aimed at 6-9 year olds all published by Piccadilly Press.  She has a website at: www.abiburlingham.talktalk.net and blogs, via this site, every Friday.

Derbyshire Literature Festival

I had the pleasure this year of being involved in Derbyshire Literature Festival, which is held every two years.  This year’s events ran from 11^th-20^th May.  I was scheduled to do four events – two on the 11^th and two on the 14^th.  I hadn’t been involved in the festival, or any festival, before so was a tad nervous about it.  What was I going to do?  Would anyone come? Would they enjoy it?  All those sort of questions raised their not so pretty heads.  The invitation to do these sessions was particularly well timed, as ‘Buttercup Magic: A Mystery for Megan’ was launched on 26^th April, so the sessions would give me an opportunity to read a bit from that too!

I’d had to give my sessions a title months prior to the events and had decided on, ‘Fun and Frolics with Ruby and Grub’, with the sessions being aimed at 2-7 years, the years the Ruby and Grub series of books are aimed at.  I had a vague idea of what I might do, as I do workshop sessions in schools, but it wasn’t until the week before that I sat down, with all my resources and really started to think how I might cover this age range and how I could ensure that the children were engaged and active during the hour long sessions.  After two or three days surrounded by paper, books, post it notes, scissors and glue, I was feeling a bit more confident.

My first session was at Kilburn Community Hall, Kilburn, Derbyhsire.  A class of school children from year 2 attended, along with another little girl who had come with her grandma.  The children were lovely!  They really enjoyed participating in the stories and shouting out “NO!” every time Ruby asks a question in ‘Ruby and Grub’, and they loved the cutting and sticking activity… Phew!

Cutting and sticking at Kilburn Community Centre.

In the afternoon, I flew (well… drove actually) across to Nottinghamshire for a session at Sandiacre Library. The library was beautiful and they had done a lovely display.  Another class of school children came from the local school, literally fifty yards away.  They were fab!  They loved the stories and all the colouring and cutting and sticking activities.  I also gave them an introduction to ‘Buttercup Magic: A Mystery for Megan’, aimed at 6-9 years, and introduced them to my daughter’s Flopsy Bunny, who features in the story, along with the scarf my daughter knitted.  In the story, Megan knits scarves for her very own Flopsy Bunny!

My third session, on the 14^th May, was at Chesterfield Library.  They had done a lovely display and made me feel really welcome.  This event was open to the public and attracted a younger audience.  One attendee was just four months old! The oldest was around five.  They absolutely loved the puppets and sat beautifully for the stories.  One little girl even came and rested her head on my knee while I read to them.  They really enjoyed the Ruby and Grub sticking activity, and luckily, I had some ‘pre-cut’ pictures that they could use.  It was a real ‘feel-good’ session.

Chesterfield Library Welcoming Display.

My final session was at Dronfield Library, with a class of year 3s from a local school, and a few members of the public.  It was great!  The kids were sharp and funny and a few insisted on shouting “YES!” to the Ruby and Grub questions instead of “NO!” which caused much hilarity!  They loved the colourings – I don’t think I have ever seen a group of children so engrossed in colouring before.  And all of the children, from all of the sessions, loved the lollies I’d taken along in my Buttercup bucket; it’s a bit of a trademark thing for me, and lollies do seem to feature in a lot of my stories.  Megan, in ‘Buttercup Magic’ is rather fond of strawberry ones!

Happy Colouring at Dronfiel Library

By the end of Monday, I was shattered!  But I was also buzzing.  I loved the events and got some absolutely lovely feedback. The Derbyshire County Council employees were all so welcoming and helpful, and their preparation and time and effort helped to make the events special.  And a huge thumbs up to libraries, who offer so much to families and children, and without which, the majority of these events wouldn’t have taken place. I would definitely do it again.  In fact, I can’t wait until the next one!