Humdinger! Children’s Book Festival 2014 by Nerve Centre

www.humdingerbookfestival.com

Humdinger! Celebrating words, stories and imagination... The Dog Ears team is proud to welcome you to our Humdinger! Children’s Book Festival 2014... Whoop, whoop! This year’s programme features fantastic authors and illustrators who invite you to join them for fun, family-friendly events. Children will have the chance to meet their favourite authors and illustrators, get their books signed, listen to stories, take part in workshops, learn new drawing techniques, develop new skills and have a brilliant time! Our hope is that Humdinger! will inspire a love of reading, and an appreciation of stories and books for years to come. We are delighted to welcome our lovely guests: Oliver Jeffers, Tony Ross, Ian Whybrow, Tony De Saulles, Adam Stower, Zoë Tucker, Mike Brownlow, Chris Higgins, Carlo Gebler, Paul Howard, Louie Stowell, Sara Daddy, Adrienne Geoghegan, Clive McFarland, Trisha Deery and Claire Heaney. Humdinger! takes place over six days from the 24th-29th March, kicking off on the 24th with the launch of the outreach events, a Libraries NI Van will take to the road bringing Carlo Gebler and Paul Howard across the city to various primary schools where they will deliver magical story-time sessions. Thursday 27th will be the pre-school day for Surestart families and Friday has been designed for primary school groups in our gorgeous new building, Holywell, in Bishop Street. Humdinger! 2014 will culminate on Saturday 29th March – we’re taking over St. Columb’s Hall and declaring it a Humdinger! zone where, from 10am until 6pm, there will be workshops, readings, screenings, performances and guaranteed family fun... everyone welcome. Book your tickets now!

We gratefully acknowledge and thank all of the individuals, organisations, funding bodies and businesses who have joined forces with us to help deliver Humdinger! 2014. Thanks very much to: The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure, Booktrust, Honeycomb, Libraries NI, Skillset, The Nerve Centre/Fablab, Derry Print Workshop and Seven Stories. Thanks to all our volunteers, especially the team from Thornhill College. Special thanks to David Campbell and Chantal Sweeney for heading up this year’s festival. So here’s to a fabulous festival this year... now it’s over to you to do your part... See you there :)

Dog Ears x

Humdinger!

In a nutshell...

MONDAY 24th MARCH

SATURDAY 29th MARCH

10:00am 10:00am 10:00am 1:00pm 4:00pm

PAUL HOWARD, LIBRARY VAN TOUR CLIVE MCFARLAND EXHIBITION OPEN BORROWING E-BOOKS - DEMONSTRATION PAUL HOWARD, LIBRARY VAN TOUR IRON GIANT - HUMDINGER! MOVIE CLUB

TUESDAY 25th MARCH 10:00am 1:00pm 4:00pm

CARLO GEBLER, LIBRARY VAN TOUR CARLO GEBLER, LIBRARY VAN TOUR CHARLOTTE’S WEB - HUMDINGER! MOVIE CLUB

LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL HOLYWELL CENTRAL LIBRARY LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL* THE NERVE CENTRE LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL* LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL THE NERVE CENTRE

WEDNESDAY 26th MARCH 10:00am 1:00pm 4:00pm

PAUL HOWARD, LIBRARY VAN TOUR PAUL HOWARD, LIBRARY VAN TOUR DIARY OF A WIMPY KID - MOVIE CLUB

LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL LOCAL PRIMARY SCHOOL* THE NERVE CENTRE

THURSDAY 27th MARCH 10:00am 10:00pm 1:00pm 4:00PM

BOOKTRUST’S THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA DAY JUDITH KERR, DIGITAL EXHIBITION OPEN BOOKTRUST’S THE TIGER WHO CAME TO TEA DAY MATILDA - HUMDINGER! MOVIE CLUB

FRIDAY 28th MARCH 10:00am 10:00am 11:00am 11:00am 11:00pm 11:00am 1:00pm 1:00pm 1:00pm 2:00pm 2:00pm 4:00pm

TONY DE SAULLES - HORRIBLE ILLUSTRATION CHRIS HIGGINS - FUNNY FAMILIES EVENTS ZOE TUCKER - CREATING CHILDREN’S BOOKS IAN WHYBROW - HARRY + HIS DINOSAURS ADAM STOWER - STORIES + CHARACTERS SKILLSET TRAINING - DAY ONE TONY DE SAULLES - HORRIBLE ILLUSTRATION MIKE BROWNLOW - ARRRR! PIRATES EVENT! ZOE TUCKER - CREATING CHILDREN’S BOOKS IAN WHYBROW - CREATING STORIES LOUIE STOWELL - COMIC BOOK WORKSHOP LOST AND FOUND - HUMDINGER! MOVIE CLUB

HOLYWELL HOLYWELL HOLYWELL THE NERVE CENTRE

HOLYWELL HOLYWELL* OUTREACH HOLYWELL* HOLYWELL HOLYWELL HOLYWELL HOLYWELL* OUTREACH HOLYWELL* HOLYWELL THE NERVE CENTRE

* *

10:00am 10:00am 10:00am 11:00am 11:00am 11:00am 12noon 1:00pm 1:00pm 2:30pm 3:00pm 3:00pm 4:00pm 5:00pm

LOUIE STOWELL - COMIC BOOK WORKSHOP IAN WHYBROW - HARRY + HIS DINOSAURS INSIDE ART CRAFTS - FREE ALL DAY ACTIVITIES SKILLSET TRAINING - DAY TWO TONY DE SAULLES - HORRIBLE ILLUSTRATION ADAM STOWER - STORIES + CHARACTERS OLIVER JEFFERS - HEADLINE EVENT MIKE BROWNLOW - ARRRR! PIRATES EVENT! TRISHA DEERY - DRAWING WORKSHOP TONY ROSS - HOW TO MAKE A HORRID BOOK CHRIS HIGGINS - FUNNY FAMILIES EVENT LOUIE STOWELL - COMIC BOOK WORKSHOP MIKE BROWNLOW - ARRRR! PIRATES EVENT! THE WORLD OF OLIVER JEFFERS

ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL HOLYWELL ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL ST. COLUMB’S HALL

Book your tickets through The Playhouse. Call in, ring 028 71268027 or see derryplayhouse.co.uk to get your Humdinger! tickets. As well as the structured timetable of events on Saturday there will be rolling FREE activities for you to join in with. Bring the kids, park the pram and be prepared to get stuck in! Claire Heaney, from Inside Art, will be on hand throughout the day making Oliver Jeffers’ themed decorations. Pop in and make your very own stars and rockets, everyone welcome. Humdinger! Saturday Screenings in the Orchard Cinema Sit back and relax (your eyeballs) in our drop-in screening station and enjoy some high quality storytelling on the big screen. We’ll be showcasing some of the finest animation around and keeping all the family entertained - for free! Brought to you in association with The Nerve Centre. Our festival bookshop is being provided by Little Acorns so bring along some pocket money and buy a book to get signed! All Humdinger! events are ticketed. All * marked events are free for school groups. Places are limited and will be offered on a first come first served basis. To booking school events, please contact david@cheersdogears.com (028 71308640).

Two very special events with one of the world’s best loved children’s book authors...

Oliver JeFfers When? Saturday 29th March at 12noon Where? St. Columb’s Hall Booking: Playhouse Box Office Price: £3.50 Age range: Family Event, 4+ Dog Ears warmly welcomes this year’s headliner, Mr. Oliver Jeffers to Humdinger! We’re delighted that Oliver has agreed to take time out of his busy schedule to make his Derry debut. We’re huge fans of his work and we are really excited about these two events. Join us in St. Columb’s Hall to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of How to Catch a Star, during which Oliver will be reading from his books, drawing and talking about how he creates his characters and stories. This event will be suitable for children 4+. Oliver will be signing books following the event and copies of the special 10th anniversary edition of How to Catch a Star will be available to buy.

Following the success of How to Catch a Star, Oliver Jeffers has gone on to create a number of highly acclaimed books including: Lost and Found (which was made into a BAFTAwinning animated film), The Way Back Home, The Incredible Book Eating Boy, The Great Paper Caper, The Heart and the Bottle, Up and Down, Stuck and This Moose Belongs to Me. He has also illustrated The Day The Crayons Quit, a #1 New York Times bestseller. He has exhibited art all over the world, is highly sought after as a commercial artist, and has recently directed the video for the BAFTA- winning song from U2, Ordinary Love. Born in Australia and raised in Belfast, Oliver now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

The World of Oliver Jeffers When? Saturday 29th March at 5pm Where? St. Columb’s Hall Booking: Search Eventbrite.com Price: FREE Age range: 14+ Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear Oliver discuss his work - offering a unique insight into the creative journey behind his varied and prolific career. Sponsored by Honeycomb Creative Works The European Union’s INTERREG IVA Cross Border programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body are funding a tri-regional sectoral enhancement programme for the Creative Industries sector, named the Honeycomb Creative Works programme.’

Illustrator of the super successful Horrid Henry series and creator of one of our personal heroes Little Princess.

Tony ross When? Saturday 29th March at 2.30pm Where? St. Columb’s Hall Booking: Playhouse Box Office Price: £3.50 Age range: 5+ Tony Ross is a legend. He’s worked with the biggest and best names in children’s books. Come along with the kids and take advantage of this very special opportunity to hear Tony talking about his work. Join in as Tony shows how to draw his most popular characters, find out where he gets his ideas and get your book signed.

Born in London in 1938, Tony never thought he’d be an artist, but he says he ‘fell in to it’ when his dreams of being a cowboy fell through after John Wayne failed to answer his letter of application! His first book was published in 1976. Since then he has illustrated more than 800 books, and, as well as drawing all of the fantastic pictures for the Horrid Henry story books, he has illustrated for many other authors, including Roald Dahl, Michael Palin, Paula Danziger and David Walliams. He also finds time to write and illustrate his own books! Tony will be available to sign books after the session.

Creator of Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs...

Illustrator of the wonderfully gruesome Horrible Science series...

IAn whybrow

Tony de saulles

When? Saturday 29th, 10am Where? St. Columb’s Hall Booking: Playhouse Box Office Price: £2.50 Age range: 4+

When? Saturday 29th, 11am Where? St. Columb’s Hall Booking: Playhouse Box Office Price: £2.50 Age range: 4+

Ian Whybrow is a bestselling author of over a hundred books and is proud to have been listed as one of the top ten most-read writers in UK libraries. Among his most popular characters are the hugely successful Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs, the barking mad Sniff and the much-loved Little Wolf. Harry and the Bucketful of Dinosaurs series has also been adapted into a 104 episode animated television series.

Best known for his whacky and original humour, he is a fine observer of children’s language and behaviour and always writes with adult readers as well as youngsters in mind. He has a brilliant ear for voices and takes pride in the fact that his work reads aloud very well. “I loved being read to as a child,” he says, “and I loved the sense that my mother and father were enjoying themselves too. For me, that’s the acid test for any good book - that there’s something in it for everyone to enjoy”. Ian will be hosting an interactive Harry + His Dinosaurs event on Saturday morning in St. Columb’s Hall, where he will be revealing the secrets behind his most popular book. Two special Ian Whybrow events for school groups will take place in Holywell on Friday 28th. Booking strongly recommended!

Join Horrible Science illustrator Tony De Saulles for a horribly enjoyable cartoon-illustration workshop. Discover how to draw things that look smelly, cut in half, exploding or even dead. And you’ll learn stacks of horrible facts, too. All artists will return home with a handful of masterpieces and a headful of horrible ideas! The best-selling multi award-winning Horrible Science series has kept Tony busy since Ugly Bugs, his first title, was published in 1996. The Horrible Science series has won lots of awards; the most recent, won earlier this year, was The Blue Peter Prize For Best Book With Facts. Millions of Horrible Science books have sold in countries all around the world. The series has helped make science accessible and fun for kids by concentrating on the trivial, unusual, gory, or unpleasant. Tony De Saulles spent much of his childhood doodling puddles of sick, severed arms and festering cowpats. However, it took 30 years to find a publisher that required such horrible skills!

Adam Stower When? Saturday 29th at 11am Where? St. Columb’s Hall Booking: Playhouse Box Office Price: £2.50 Age range: 5-7 A fantastic opportunity to meet Adam Stower, hear him talk about his work and characters, watch him draw and bring ideas to life. Make sure to bring your sketchpad and join in... Adam has been illustrating for over 20 years. He studied art at college, gaining a first class BAHons degree in Illustration at the Norwich School of Art and a Masters degree in Narrative Illustration at Brighton University. Adam has illustrated fifteen picture books to date, six of which he wrote himself. He illustrates work by a great variety of authors, the most recent being Troll and the Oliver. He wrote and illustrated SLAM! - A Tale of Consequences, which won the Norfolk Library Silver Award for Children’s Books. Recent picture book projects include an exciting collaboration with renowned children’s book author, Jeanne Willis: Bottoms Up (winner of the Red House Children’s Book Award 2010) and the sequel, Sing a Song of Bottoms (shortlisted for the BookTrust Early Years Award 2010). He also illustrated the popular Mungo series by Timothy Knapman.

Chris higgins When? Saturday 28th at 3pm Where? St. Columb’s Hall Booking: Playhouse Box Office Price: £2.50 Age range: 5-9 Chris Higgins is a super talented author who has published a wide range of books and is well known for her fantastic events. She has published My Funny Family and My Funny Family’s Got Talent for newly independent readers (age 7-9). She’s also published 13 books for teenagers and 8 stand alone books. During her events Chris will explore the best and funniest bits about being part of a family.

mike brownlow When? Saturday 29th at 1pm Where? St. Columb’s Hall Price: £2.50 Age Range: 3+ Mike Brownlow writes and illustrates picture books for children, as well as working as an illustrator in areas such as advertising and design. Mike is the creator of Little Robots, which was made into a stop-motion animated TV show shown on CBeebies and in over 70 countries all over the world.

Mike’s new book, Ten Little Pirates has been shortlisted for the Nottingham Children’s Book Awards and the Sheffield Children’s Book Awards. Explaining the story behind the book, Mike says “Ten Little Pirates charts the nautical doings of ten hapless pirates as they encounter all manner of seagoing calamities. But there is a happy ending!” Mike’s Pirates events will feature interactive drawing and reading, with great games and activities. Come along and join Mike for some swashbuckling Pirate fun me hearties, Aaarrrr!

louie stowell When? Saturday, 28th at 10am and 3pm Where? St. Columb’s Hall Booking: Price: £2.50 Age range: 8+ Louie Stowell writes books about all kinds of things, from fantastical stories about talking trees and enchanted castles to books about astronomy and space. She lives – and always has lived – in London and likes to draw cartoons in her spare time. She believes that television doesn’t actually rot your brain, just bad television, and that the next Doctor Who should be a woman. She likes reading comics and thinks Asterix has the best puns of any book ever (especially the two Roman soldiers called “Sendervictorius and Appianglorius”).

carlo gebler + Paul howard When and where? Thanks to Libraries NI, a library van will be making a few special deliveries to lucky local schools on Monday 24th, Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th of March. Well-known author Carlo Gebler and illustrator, Paul Howard, are taking Humdinger! on tour for a few days… Carlo will tell magical tales of kings and paupers, heroes and villains as he brings life to Italo Calvino’s Italian fairytales, and Paul will deliver magical story time and drawing sessions. Carlo Gébler was born in Dublin in 1954. He is the author of several novels including A Good Day for A Dog and The Dead Eight (shortlisted for the Kerry Irish Fiction Prize), the short story collection W.9. & Other Lives, along with works of non-fiction including the memoir Father & I and the narrative history, The Siege of Derry. He has also written novels for children as well as plays for both radio and the stage, including 10 Rounds, which was short-listed for the Ewart-Biggs Prize. Carlo is currently writer-in-residence in HMP Maghaberry and is the Arts Council Visiting Fellow at University College Dublin. Paul Howard is an illustrator from Belfast whose charming illustrations have won him acclaim from both the publishing industry and children across the world. After studying a Graphic Design course that specialized in illustration, Paul worked for a time at the Natural History museum, mainly wheeling stuffed crocodiles around on a trolley, giving a lift to the odd school-child or pensioner. Oh, and he even broke some dinosaur bones by accident (ssshhh that’s a secret!) Paul left the museum to pursue a full-time career in illustration and has since won numerous awards, including ‘The Best Book to Read Aloud’ Blue Peter Award for The Bravest Ever Bear.

Paul Howard is an illustrator from

Humdinger! Film Club Dog Ears and The Nerve Centre have joined forces to create a screening element to this year’s festival. We have chosen some of our favourite children’s books which have been made into films for you to enjoy. All films will be shown at the Nerve Centre Cinema at 4pm each day, and will be free!

THE IRON GIANT

Monday 24th, 4pm A boy’s best friend is his robot in this fantastic animated adventure about an imaginative nine-year-old boy who daydreams of alien invasions and discovers a fifty-foot robot that fell from the sky!

CHARLOTTE’S WEB Tuesday 25th, 4pm Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season, because he knows that come that time, he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen.

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: DOG DAYS

Wednesday 26th, 4pm School is out and Greg is ready for the days of summer, when all his plans go wrong. What on earth is he going to do all summer?

MATILDA

Thursday 27th, 4pm The story of a wonderful little girl, who happens to be a genius, and her wonderful teacher vs. the worst parents ever and the worst school principal imaginable.

LOST AND FOUND Friday 28th, 4pm Lost and Found is a beautiful story based on Oliver Jeffers award-winning children’s picture book, adapted into a half hour film featuring narration by the great Jim Broadbent, and a beautiful score by composer Max Richter.

Attention Grown-Ups! DEVELOPING CHARACTERS AND STORIES FOR CHILDREN’S BOOKS AND ANIMATION.

FRIDAY 28TH MARCH 2014 10:00 – 13:00

Dog Ears Team: Puffin Rock Case Study

Dog Ears is currently producing an animated pre-school series in Derry. The show is a co-production with Cartoon Saloon and Penguin Books. Learn about the development process from early character and story ideas to pitch materials, including a picture book, and the production process. 14:00 – 16:00

Sara Daddy: Character and Story Development

Sara will outline her top tips for creating pre-school characters and storylines that resonate with a young audience. Sara is a Scriptwriter/Development Producer with over 13 years experience in children’s television, working for 8 years in the BBC’s children’s department, covering both CBeebies and CBBC.

SATURDAY 28TH MARCH 2014 10:00 – 12:00

Adrienne Geoghegan: Picture Book Creation

How do you go about writing and creating a picture book? Turning an idea into a strong concept – an overview of writing, editing, illustrating and submitting your ideas to publishers. 14:00 – 16:00

Zoe Tucker (Art Director, Alison Green Books)

The process of making a picture book from an Art Director’s perspective: roughs, thumbnails, pacing, page turns, enhancing the text. How to make a strong submission and get published. COST: £50 PER PARTICIPANT Course subsidised by Creative Industries Innovation Fund through Creative Skillset. THE COURSE IS AIMED AT: Illustrators and Writers aged 16+ (beginners, students or those with some experience) keen to develop characters for children’s Books and Animation. The course will be delivered by highly-experienced, creative practitioners who will share their advice on working in this competitive field. LIMITED TO 10 PLACES - TO RESERVE A PLACE: please contact Laura Campbell, Editorial Director, Dog Ears Ltd: laura @cheersdogears.com

booktrust day

The tiger who came to tea

Exhibitions

When? 24th - 29th March Where? Holywell Building (Free)

judith Kerr With thanks to Seven Stories, we are delighted to present a digital exhibition of Judith Kerr’s work. This special exhibition was collated to celebrate Judith Kerr’s 90th birthday and showcases almost 80 years of artwork. It includes pieces created in Judith’s childhood, and as a refugee, in her early career as a illustrator in war-torn London, and her family life; which inspired the books that are still loved by children today.

When? Thursday the 27th March at 10am and 1pm Where? Holywell Booking: Contact your local Surestart Price: Free Age range: 2-4 “Once there was a little girl called Sophie, and she was having tea with her mummy in the kitchen. Suddenly there was a ring at the door. Sophie’s mummy said, ‘I wonder who that could be?’” A very special, invitation-only event for two year-olds attending the city’s four Surestart centres. What would you do if a tiger knocked at your door? Invite him in for tea, of course! We’re throwing a tea party to celebrate Judith Kerr’s much-loved book ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea’ which was published in 1964 and continues to delight parents and young readers. With a tiger-themed craft session, sing-along music jam and a beautiful ‘twinkly toddler room’ for a nice rest after all that tiger fun. Mary Elizabeth Hagenson, Project Lead for Speech, Language and Communication, Health and Social Care Board will present some practical tips to make reading with your child a fun and positive experience.

clive mcFarland Clive is an illustrator from Northern Ireland whose debut picture book A Bed For Bear will be published in 2014 by Harper Collins. His work has featured in several exhibitions and last year he contributed to the Bear With Me travelling sketchbook, a charity project for Great Ormond Street Hospital. Clive is a great friend of Dog Ears and responsible for our festival logo, illustrations, little creatures and good vibes. www.clivemcfarland.com

WE THANK YOU