2006 FESTIVAL DECLARED A "GREAT SUCCESS"!

Two days of talks, activities and exhibitions were declared a great success by all who took part.

The feedback received from both children and parents alike was incredibly positive. In fact, we were besieged with requests to run the Festival again!

Among the authors and illustrators that took part, two undoubted highlights were appearances by Nick Butterworth and Helen Craig. The whole programme was well received, with most performances at "capacity".

You can read more about the 2006 speakers below.

Starting out as a photographer, it was only when Helen’s son, Ben, was born in 1965 that she experimented with ideas for children’s books. She was inspired by Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are after buying it for Ben.


Since 1970, when she first took her drawings to an editor at Macmillan Books, Helen Craig has worked on over 60 children’s book titles. The most famous are her illustrations for the Angelina Ballerina series written by Katherine Holabird. The stories relate to childhood themes such as jealousy, shyness, happiness and dedication. The books have inspired a popular animated television series.

He has also had numerous articles and illustrations published in magazines and newspapers in Britain and the US, including The Independent on Sunday (The Lost World; 9 Sept 2001), a summer 2005 column in the Times Education Supplement, BBC Wildlife and Wanderlust. He has written and recorded for BBC Radio 4 and lectured on the organisation of jungle expeditions at the Royal Geographical Society, of which he is a fellow.

He lives with his wife and his two young children in Lancaster. He won the Blue Peter Award for Best Books with Facts in 2005 for his "Explorers Wanted - Polar" title.

As well as collections of his own poetry, John has compiled many poetry anthologies for Oxford University Press. These range from popular books of first verses for the very young to zany collections on all sorts of topics. The anthologies feature work by such poets as Roger McGough, Wendy Cope, Michael Rosen… plus many up-and-coming poets – and, of course, John himself.

John first started making up poems to entertain his children and stop them getting bored on long car journeys. Now he does the same for his grandchildren. His advice to aspiring poets is to become a word-hoarder. Poets collect words and play with them, says John, juggling them round and trying out unusual combinations. Poetry can happen anywhere and everywhere – at home, on the beach, driving in the car: be prepared to jot the words down before they disappear!

Titles by John Foster include: (for 0-5s) Cockadoodlemoo; See you later, Escalator; Drift Upon a Dream; (for 5-7s) Dinosaur Poems; Magic Poems; Fantastic Football Poems; You Little Monkey; Juggling a Jug of Jelly; (for 6+) My First Oxford Book of Nonsense Poems; (for 7+) Our Teacher’s Gone Bananas; Ready, Steady, Rap; Wordspinning. All are published by Oxford University Press.

Nick Butterworth was born in Kingsbury, North London in 1946, but moved to Romford in Essex with his parents at the age of three. They moved to run a sweet shop, so Nick found himself fulfilling every child’s sugar-coated dream of growing up right inside the proverbial chocolate factory.

Having intended to go to art college after leaving school, Nick decided to take a job as a typographic designer in the printing department of the National Children’s Home at the last minute instead. He went on to work for several major London design consultancies before moving into freelance graphics. He has also worked as a television presenter on the TV-AM children’s programme Rub-a-Dub-Tub and produced a regular illustrated story called Upney Junction for the Sunday Express magazine. At present, Nick concentrates on writing and illustrating his phenomenally successful children’s books.

Percy The Park Keeper first came to life in One Snowy Night in 1989, which The Sunday Times described as, ‘a tremendous and well-deserved success’ and The Independent called, ‘a heart warming bedtime tale.’ It wasn’t just the reviewers who loved Percy and the world of his park – children, parents and teachers alike fell in love with the kind hearted park keeper. More Percy adventures followed and the range now includes 6 hardback books, paperbacks, audio tapes (read by Richard Briers) and a range of activity books. Each title is dedicated to one of Percy’s animal friends and includes stories, poems and interesting information making these books the ultimate guide to Percy and his animal friends. The series was reissued in 2003 and November 2005 sees the publication of the One Snowy Night Gift Set and Percy the Park Keeper : A Classic Treasury.

Percy has sold a staggering four and a half million copies worldwide and been translated into 16 languages. A Percy book is bought every 15 minutes – not bad for an animal-loving park keeper!

Nick has also written and illustrated other popular books for children including All Together Now!, Amanda’s Butterfly, Jingle Bells, Q Pootle5 and Q Pootle 5 in Space. Nick’s book Albert Le Blanc was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2002 and in 2005 Nick’s latest paperback, The Whisperer, was nominated for the same award. In March 2006 Tiger will be published, featuring a familiar face from The Whisperer.

Nick lives in Suffolk with his wife and two children. His success is outstanding and marks him out as one of the most popular and talented author/illustrators in the world of children’s books today.

Paul Cookson and David Harmer became Spill The Beans on 4th of February 1992 in Widnes. Since then, they have performed hundreds of shows together, throughout the country.

Their highly original double act is an action- packed explosion of performance poetry, that appeals to all ages. Fun and audience participation are guaranteed in a Spill The Beans rock and roll poetry show.

Both Paul and David are highly successful poets, editing numerous anthologies and widely anthologised in many more. They are available for school events, festivals, libraries, INSET, conferences, the opening of garden fetes and national radio and television. They offer performances and workshops as part of a school day.

Chris used to be a primary teacher and has also worked as a schools advisor and inspector. She has contributed to the Family Literacy project with the Basic Skills Agency and the BBC and has worked on the National Literacy Strategy.

Steve Tiplady as Geppetto, uses the objects of a carpenter’s workshop to tell the tale of the puppet that wants to be a real boy and the puppet-maker who wants to be a real father. Pinocchio is carved on stage, brushes become a fox and the shadow of two saws transforms into a giant shark. An element of improvisation means no two performances are the same, each unique to its audience. Puppetry, shadows, illusion and live music combine in a show where there is something for all ages; it’s inventive, visually and verbally witty with a big heart.

Indefinite Articles was founded by Steve Tiplady (Performer) and Sally Brown (Sculptor) in 1995 to create and tour visual theatre using objects and materials. Working from the premise that every thing has a story to tell, the Company creates shows using objects, shadow, and materials. Since 95 they have given 500 performances in 10 different countries, their latest show Dust, a performance that uses three actors, three overhead projectors and three buckets of sand, won the Time Out Live award for 2002 for most inventive show.

Steve Tiplady got his puppet training on the road, working for ten years with Sue Buckmaster & Faulty Optic. He worked on the groundbreaking Houseworks for Theatre Rites and received an OBIE as part of the creative team behind Improbable Theatre’s 70 Hill Lane. He has performed in 20 different countries - on boats, in tents, in prisons and the Houses of Parliament. He has directed and puppet-directed for theatre and opera and is a Fingerling on G.M.T.V.’s Ni-Ni’s Treehouse.

“Wonderful work that celebrates the possibilities of theatre.”
Lyn Gardner The GUARDIAN

“Brilliant” TIME OUT

"Since I have been doing everything for such a long time, there's no way I can specialise in just one thing!" says Eden Solomon. A talented painter, sculptor, poet, storyteller, puppeteer and musician, Solomon focuses on creativity as the key, rather than being pigeonholed within one art form.

Brought up in Ethiopia, Eden says she "feels privileged to have studied sculpture and painting at the School of Art in Addis Ababa" where she was given the freedom to work with a whole range of media.

Eden has told stories all her life. "If you have a good story, you tell it" she says,and thinks she told her first stories aged six or seven. Eden also recalls coveting a kirar (six string guitar-harp) so much that she tried to make one with tins and rubber bands "but it never really worked!" At 14 she acquired her first one from a neighbour and learnt to play it by listening to the radio. "From then on every place that life took me my kirar was with me". And even today Eden still tunes her kirar over the transatlantic telephone line to her mother in America.

After a brief spell at an advertising agency in Addis Ababa, Eden came to the UK and in 1990 began her degree course at Goldsmith's College. It was here that she encountered puppetry for the first time, making her own puppets from papier mache. After six months with the London School of Puppetry, she now creates puppet shows in schools and art centres, both in the UK and abroad. Eden also receives commissions for her figurative paintings and writes poetry in Amharic, Tigrigna and English.

Asked where she will be in five years time Eden says that she would love to give more time to sculpture. "Until then, however, I want to do everything that I can!"

The Curwen Print Study Centre was established by Stanley Jones Hon. D Litt. Master Printer and Director of The Curwen Studio with Sam Alper managing director of Curwen Chilford Prints as an educational Print making charity.

They identified a need for fine Art Print making teaching for students and artists against a background of growth within computer-generated art and the declining provision and facilities within art schools for fine art printing techniques.

The aim of the study centre is to preserve and develop the experience and skills which form a background to the concept of the artist's original print.

The study centre has the unique benefit of being situated adjacent to the Curwen Studio allowing students and artists the opportunity to learn how a commercial fine Art Print making editioning studio works.

Since the formation of the Curwen Print Study Centre students from schools, primary and senior, have benefited from the printmaking experience along with University graduates.

Teachers attending training workshops ensure Print making skills are taken directly back into the classroom to enrich and support the curriculum.

Print making at The Curwen Print Study Centre responds to all ages and abilities and delivers high quality education and experience for all. Groups have come knowing nothing and left feeling enriched.