Category: events

Exciting news! The website for the Brentwood Children’s Literary Festival is now live!

There will be regular updates, so keep your eyes on it.

We would like to say a very big thank-you to Laurie at Local by Social for her amazing work creating just what we wanted.

Also thanks to Sharon at Bee Spotted for the logo.

What with the summer holidays, we haven’t taken an author into a school for a couple of months. And then, two came along at once!

On Wednesday 16th the rather brilliant Mac Barnett visited Doddinghurst Infant School for an hour or so. We were delighted when Walker Books contacted us to ask if we would like to work with Mac during his UK book tour. So, we thought about it for about a nano-second, before we jumped up and down (very professionally) with excitement and set a date before he could change his mind.

Mac’s books are full of humour, with plots that make children ask questions, often whilst roaring with laughter. A personal favourite of ours is Battle Bunny – it is a product of genius between Mac and Jon Scieszka. Battle Bunny is on a mission and it’s not all happily ever after.

Mac wasn’t really scared…

We have signed copies of Mac’s books in store.

There was much laughter, followed by book signing and posing for photographs. All in all, a great time was had by all.

On Friday, we shifted gear to welcome newly published author, Tasha O’Neill, to Brentwood. We hadn’t met before; as booksellers taking an unknown into schools can be a little daunting. We knew that Tasha’s book, Charlotte Stone and the Children of the Nymet was a worthy read, but that doesn’t guarantee a successful event.

However, there was no need for trepidation, as Tasha’s natural way with the children and endless knowledge of the worlds she has created, made the sessions interesting for all. We are planning to work with Tasha again in the near future and can’t wait to find out what’s in store for Charlotte Stone as her adventure continues.

Next week, Faustin Charles will be spending the afternoon at Larchwood Primary School, so watch this space for an update.

What does that mean? It means that James Patterson loves bookshops! And one of the bookshops he loves is Chicken and Frog.

Bestselling author and bookshop devotee James Patterson has announced 69 successful independent bookshops across the UK and Ireland to be allocated a share of £110,000 in grants, following his latest pledge in April 2015 to donate £250,000 over the next year.

Since the first round of applications in September 2014, this third announcement takes the total allocated by James to over £360,000 across 210 independent bookshops to date. £140,000 is still left to allocate in the next round of applications with the successful bookshops announced by James Patterson next year.

Any independent bookshop with a dedicated children’s book section was eligible for a grant of between £250 and £5,000.  Patterson is committed to bringing attention to the important contributions of independent bookshops and he is especially concerned with inspiring children to become lifelong readers.

We will be putting our grant to very good use, as it will go towards costs for the Brentwood Children’s Literary Festival, meaning that tickets can be sold for just £3 each, with under 3s attending events for free.

Our thanks go to James Patterson and the Booksellers Association, for their tireless support of bookshops.

Hello all, sorry it’s been quiet on the festival front. We’ve been very busy, just behind the scenes. Firstly, we’d like to give a heartfelt public thank-you to the following organisations for their kind support:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following sponsorship packages are available to businesses and organisations who would like to get involved.

£150 : All companies who support us will have their logo included in all of the festival literature, which will be sent out borough wide (schools, libraries, children’s centres etc), as well as further afield, to neighbouring boroughs and beyond. In addition, your logo will be on the website, linking to your site.

£300:  Your literature will be made available at all of our events, as well as the above.

£450: Each company will receive a free family pass, plus a signed book from their chosen event, as well as all of the above.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the festival further, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Yesterday we had a roaringly great afternoon with new author Naomi Burman-Shine. Naomi’s award-winning book Stonely’s Pet Dinosaur is a boldly illustrated picture book (illustrations from Callum Grant), following the tale of Stonely on his quest for the perfect pet dino.

The mix of a fast paced rhythm, simple rhymes and humour, makes this book a pleasure to share with children – either one to one or a whole class.

Naomi’s book is available right now at Chicken and Frog!

Does this image look familiar to you? I’m hoping that it does. The iconic Toad from Kenneth Graham’s ‘The Wind in the Willows’ is difficult to miss, especially whilst driving his outrageous red motor car. Poop poop! And if you live or work in Brentwood, you have probably seen tis very image on posters and banners, as it is being used by the Brentwood Theatre to advertise the family friendly production for this Christmas season.

The artist, Jonathan Barry, hails from Ireland. However, we were lucky enough to be visited this week by Jonathan, when he visited Brentwood for a few days. Jonathan’s art work adorns many front covers for the Wordsworth Classics, including Dracula, Wuthering Heights and eight Sherlock Holmes titles. He has also illustrated for The Chronicles of Narnia, War of the Worlds…the list goes on and on.

If you missed Jonathan, never fear, as we have a folder of Jonathan’s signed prints available, for just £14.99, including a poster tube to protect your newly purchased art.

Our thanks goes to the team at Brentwood Theatre for finding Jonathan and for taking some great photographs too:

Roll up, roll up, enter our ‘Bookish Quiz’! It’s Independent Booksellers Week and to celebrate, we have lots of fun stuff happening in-store, as well as this quiz. You have until 17:30 on Saturday 27th June, to either drop in or email us your entries. Each entry must include your full name, age and contact details. The first 5 correct entries will be rewarded with booky prizes.

Here are the questions:

1. Who was the first children’s laureate?

2. In which book did Roald Dahl’s BFG first appear?

3. Name all of the Famous Five gang.

4. When is Harry Potter’s birthday? (the character)

5. Who originally published Alice in Wonderland?

6. In which magical place would you find Bilbo Baggins’ home?

7. Name the author of the Edwin Spencer trilogy.

8. Whose sidekick is a huge Polar Bear named Total?

9. How many syllables are in a Haiku?

10. Name all of The Chronicles of Narnia titles.

11. Who won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 2014?

12. Which feisty little boy tamed the Wild Things?

13. Who wrote Talking Turkeys?

14. What creature is Holly Short?

15. Which book award did The Amazing World of Tom Gates win?