Apart from its full education programme in schools, the Guernsey Literary Festival hosts plenty of exciting family events. It all starts on Thursday 2 May with popular writer and illustrator Sophy Henn. On Thursday 2 May, at the Guille Alles Library, Sophy will twice hostTed Time: Where will his Imagination Take Him Today? (age 2+) and Bad Nana (5+). At the time of writing, there are tickets still available for two of her three events.

Ross Collins is the author and illustrator of 130 books for children, including There’s a Bear on my Chair.  Ross and Sophy’s events are sponsored by Rothschild & Co. Ross’s event on 4 May has already sold out.

Children will be able to see the artwork and hear extracts fromInvasion of the Wavelets, the latest book by talented local couple Charlie (artist) and Magnus (writer) Buchanan. A must for anyone who loves illustrated books and tales of magic and the sea. Guille Alles Library, Saturday 4 May at 16.00. Age 7-11.

The Write Stuff presentation of awards on Saturday 4 May at 17.30 in the Festival Hub showcases some of the young writing talent in this island. The successful competition, this year with a record entry of 800, is sponsored by Julius Baer.

Matt Haig’s The Truth Pixie has sold out.

Author Steven Butler and illustrator Steven Lenton welcome you to the Nothing to See Here Hotel, a place for magical creatures where weird is normal. See how it’s done; for all budding authors, illustrators, bookworms and reluctant readers. Age 6+. Festival Hub, Sunday 5 May, 10 am.

Both performances of Venture Quest Productions’ new interactive family tea party event, inspired by Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile and sponsored by Specsavers on Monday 6 May have already sold out.

Education and Outreach Programme

The festival hosts a full educational programme in schools which is sponsored by Rothschild & Co and supported by the Schools Library Service. This year we have 18 talks in 15 schools taking place during the festival as well as a number of free events at the Guille-Alles Library.  Authors taking part in the educational programme include Ross Collins. Sophy Henn, Sophie Anderson, Piers Torday, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Joelle Taylor and Lucy Christopher.

Rothschild & Co also support our outreach programme which this year includes a talk in Guernsey Prison with Erwin James and a talk at the Princes Elizabeth Hospital with Terry Waite.