Let's All Have a Reading Party!

Well I have survived, my Book Week and then post Book Week week of sorting have now passed and I think that I just about feel human again. Now I only have to plan for next year - a big one too as it will be the 10th anniversary and my 7th one!!

I was going to tell you a little about the enthusiasm generated and some of the activities we held but there is so much other news to impart that I will have to drip feed the information in over time. I do think it is quite relevant to tell you about how it all started this year though, with a Bedtime Reading Party....

Children & mummies came after school on the Friday before Book Week proper, armed with teddy bears and dressing gowns to enjoy cocoa, biscuits and of course some bedtime stories! Maverick Publishing very kindly came along with author Kimara Nye who read from her book 'The Four Little Pigs' and provided the children with some great colouring activities. We had a lovely party, were lucky enough to have a bedtime story from a real author. I also found that launching Book Week with something simple but charming was a real hit.

During Book Week there were so many activities my feet barely touched the ground, it did however mean that I missed the very wonderful Chicken House Big Breakfast - the perfect complement to my Bedtime Reading, however Armadillo reviewer Francesca Del Mese was able to attend and sent back this lovely report:

On Thursday 20th January I headed to London for the Chicken House Breakfast. Held at stylish cafe 'Le Pain Quotidien' on the Southbank, it was a gathering of authors, scouts, Chicken House staff and other professionals. An energetic and charismatic Barry Cunningham welcomed us and spoke about the successes of Chicken House this last year, mentioning it was their tenth anniversary!

Three authors gave readings from their forthcoming books: CJ Skuse, (also an employee of Chicken House and author of 'Pretty Bad Things') read from her new novel 'Rockaholic': a comedy about a girl who kidnaps a rock star (every girl's dream!).

Philip Webb read from his dystopian thriller 'Six Days', and Andrew Peters read from 'Ravenwood', a story about a world that exists in huge trees - Barry called this book a 'magnificent piece of sustained imagining.' A number of other published authors were present and / or mentioned: Lucy Christopher, Rod Gordon, Sarah Rubin, Rachel Ward (who has recently sold the film rights to her book 'Numbers'), Sophia Bennett, Di Toft and Erin Bow. It also looks like the gory trend of vampires and dead things hasn't yet left us; Barry mentioned another new author Kirsty McKay, whose book 'The Undead' about zombies has been taken on recently.

It sounds as though a feast of fun was had by all and that we can all look forward to some exciting titles from Chicken House in their 10th Year! Congratulations to them, thanks for the breakfast and thanks to Francesca for gallantly agreeing to go along.