Events for Children and Young People

Journey around the planet with the author and illustrator of If the World Were 100 People, shortlisted for the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize 2022. Learn about all kinds of cultures in this globe-trotting experience for younger readers. It can be hard to get your head around the scale of our world full of 8 billion people. Imagining the world as a global village of just 100 people makes it much easier to understand all the different aspects of life in our society.

The small-scale world that Jackie McCann and Aaron Cushley have created in their vibrant picture book offers answers to questions such as: are there more males or females? What languages do they speak? Who can read and write? How many have access to the internet or have enough food to eat? Does everyone have access to electricity or clean water? Finding out the answers will help you become a global citizen.

Hay! It’s Ask the Nincompoops! Who invented cheese? What’s the opposite of a kettle? Why do giraffes have eyes? Whatever your question, the Nincompoops will answer it… very badly indeed. Join Andy ‘Mr Gum’ Stanton and Carrie ‘actor and comedian’ Quinlan for a hilarious, interactive event full of rumours, wild flights of fancy and downright lies. Huzzah!

Can you imagine making friends with a grey whale? Are you passionate about protecting our planet? Prepare to be inspired by Hannah Gold’s unforgettable adventure novel The Lost Whale. Hannah’s stories celebrate the love between children and nature and show that no one is too young or insignificant to make a difference. She’ll share the real-life whale watching experience which inspired her book and you can test your knowledge in her wild animals quiz too!

Hannah’s books share her passion for protecting our planet. Her debut, The Last Bear, was an international bestseller, winning the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize as well as being nominated for the Carnegie Medal.

Wowza! The nation’s favourite rapping teacher and the star of the Sky Kids’ smash Wonder Raps is back. So grab your hats, shades, chains and raps and get ready to read and rhyme with MC Grammar LIVE!

MC Grammar uses rap to teach kids cool facts about the world. Set to earworm tunes, his fun, comedic raps help kids learn by stealth.

Saving a friend from falling in with the wrong crowd; the importance of friendship, care and community; and the need for urban green spaces. Sita Brahmachari will talk about her powerful YA novel When Shadows Fall, a timely, lyrical and impactful story of disaffected youth and the vulnerability of teenage years. The book mixes forms, including verse, prose and illustrations from Natalie Sirett, exploring themes that will open wide-ranging conversations.

Sita Bramachari won the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize with her debut Artichoke Hearts and is Writer in Residence at Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants. Natalie Sirett is a multimedia artist whose work explores issues of body image and the growing pains of adolescence.