Children's Book Festival 2021 at Offaly Libraries

Children’s Book Festival (CBF) 2021 runs nationally this October and is a great opportunity for young people, parents, teachers and libraries to celebrate books and reading! Offaly Libraries is celebrating CBF with an array of events and activities, part funded by Creative Ireland. The festival aims to encourage children to enjoy the experience of reading and support their reading development; provide activities and events in collaboration with writers / illustrators / storytellers and promote children’s books and stories.

Many events will be online again this year but there will still be plenty of reasons to visit one of your local libraries. School Zoom events will feature authors Derek Landy, Judi Curtin, Oisín McGann, Jackie Burke, E.R. Murray and former rugby international Gordon D’arcy with author Paul Howard. Author Debbie Thomas will host online writing workshops and artist Marta Boniakowska will present Comic Character Design workshops.

Online family events are scheduled throughout the month, so why not join award-winning author Dave Rudden for an online family writing workshop where parents and kids team up to create their own stories.

Gordon D’Arcy and Paul Howard’s interactive event for sports-mad kids will be jam-packed with hilarious live readings, jokes and a Q&A session. Story-teller Niall de Búrca will perform his World Tales and take you on a rollercoaster ride of the imagination. Enjoy ‘Family Fun Quizzes’ and virtual story-time fun; Wednesday Wobblers for 2-4 year olds and a selection of pre-recorded stories on Facebook. CBF Fun Packs; Crafty Takeaway bags and the new Children's Books Ireland reading guide will be available for free to collect from your local library and library users will welcome the return of The Shocktober Colouring Competition and Children’s Book Festival Costume Competition.

Full details of all events are available in the CBF Programme HERE and places may be booked for many of the online family events HERE