Events for Children and Young People

Meet Cressida Cowell, creator of the How to Train Your Dragon and Wizards of Once series (and Children’s Laureate 2019–22), as she talks about inspiration, daring rescue missions, terrible beasts and robot assassins – with live drawing.

If you’re a fan of this fantastically inventive author, don’t miss this introduction to her new book Which Way to Anywhere, the first in a thrilling new series about a group of children who find the crossing points to other dimensions. Discover a family with a magical secret; a child with a powerful gift and a story that is out of this world…

Travel through the natural world with amazing animals on epic adventures accompanied by wildlife expert and BBC Radio 4 World on the Move presenter Philippa Forrester.

Discover the wondrous journeys that animals make every day, no matter how big or small, and why they make them. From the record-breaking flight of the Arctic tern that travel from the Arctic to the Antarctic and back every year, to the plankton that rise and descend enormous distances from the ocean depths to the surface from night to day, and the fascinating migration of two grey wolves that take remarkably similar journeys despite being in different parts of the world, you’ll be awed by these surprising stories of migration in the animal kingdom.

An expert on natural history and author of On the Trail of Wolves, The River and The Halcyon River Diaries, Forrester is a presenter on the BBC’s Tomorrow’s World, Robot Wars and CBBC.

It’s time for Oti’s dance class! You’ll move to the beat and learn some steps with Strictly Come Dancing champion and CBeebies Boogie Beebies host Oti Mabuse. Her lively, participatory event will explore rhythm and dance, inspired by her books Dance with Oti: The Bird Jive and The Lion Samba. Bring your grown-ups and shake a tail feather.

Get your pencils at the ready! It’s doodling time. You can learn how to draw Tom Gates and a host of other characters with author and illustrator Liz Pichon. She’ll answer your questions about her books, doodling and more. You can also find out everything about the newest Tom Gates book, Happy to Help (Eventually)! The Brilliant World of Tom Gates is an award-winning series on Sky Kids.

Don’t stand us up for this very special in conversation event with Alice Oseman, creator of global smash-hit coming-of-age romance Heartstopper. We follow the story of Nick and Charlie, two teenage boys who meet at grammar school, quickly become friends and fall in love. The book navigates the ups and downs of first loves, friendships, coming out and mental health, beautifully framed by a warm cast of supporting characters.

Heartstopper started life as a webcomic, quickly becoming an online sensation with over 100 million views. The #1 Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling graphic novels that followed have brought this charming love story to even more readers. Now it’s a critically acclaimed major Netflix series, written by Oseman herself.

So come along to hear her talk about the incredible journey so far and maybe even get a special sneak peek at what’s to come in Heartstopper volume five…