This article is from page 14 of the 2012-09-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 14 JPG
IN AN era of Kindles and iPads, online gaming and smartphones, children across the county still find fun and adventure in an old-fashioned book.
Libraries across Clare will celebrate that love of reading and aim to recruit even more bookworms during the Children’s Book Festival 2012.
Events are already being planned at all Clare library branches over the month of October. Up to 100 events are in the pipeline to spark the imagination of young readers from toddlers to teens.
In association with Children’s Books Ireland, everything from readings by popular authors to writing and illustration workshops, plus storytelling and competitions, will be part of the line-up, with countless opportunities to explore a wide array of books.
Headlining this year’s festival in Clare are Marita Conlon McKenna ( Children of the Fa mine trilogy), and literary superstar Derek Landy, who will be celebrating the publication of the latest title in his Skulduggery Pleasant series, Kingdom of the Wicked .
Other visiting authors will include Alan Early, whose first book, Ar thur Quinn a nd the World Ser pent , has enjoyed extensive media coverage. Alan Nolan will be there as well, with his graphic whodunnits for 10- to 14-yearolds including The Big Break Detectives Casebook, Death by Chocolate and Six Million Ways to Die .
Nicola Pierce will give four readings based on her novel, Spir it of the Tita nic , now in its fifth reprint since publication last year, while Michel Moylan’s ‘Irish History Live’ will present an interactive show to his audiences on the making of the ship, how it was powered, the class system on board, how the ship sank and more.
Also among the many other authors visiting is Tomi Reichental. His visit to deValera Library, Ennis, on Tuesday, October 2, is exclusively for Leaving Cert students. During his visit, he will speak about his book, I Was a Boy In Belsen , as well as recalling his harrowing boyhood memories.
Hands-on workshops facilitated by experienced artists are always popular and, this year, children can choose from percussion workshops to journal writing by Isabelle Gaborit or story creation workshops with Donough O’Malley.
Visual artist and co-founder of Dog and String Theatre, Sarah Fuller will also be on hand to guide children in making their very own animated film show based on characters they will create on paper.