Wee Write! Family Day bringing joy to hundreds of young library visitors

Wee Write! Glasgow's Book Festival for Children & Young People is bringing dozens of writers, authors, thinkers and book lovers to the Mitchell Library for an unforgettable family day!

Article Source: Wee Write
Last Updated: 4 February 2019 12:56

The Wee Write! Family Day is on Saturday 2 March and features appearances from London 2012 Opening Ceremony writer Frank Cottrell Boyce, best-selling and multi award-winning author/illustrator Rob Biddulph and author/illustrator of Bad Nana, Sophy Henn who was World Book Day Illustrator in 2015 and 2016.

Joining them are author and translator Thomas Clark who takes Greg Heffley, the hero from Jeff Kinney's best-selling book Diary of a Wimpy Kid, on his most daring and daunting adventure yet - to a high school classroom in Scotland! Diary of a Wimpy Wean is not to be missed by fans of the original.

Gareth P. Jones stars in How to Be Hilarious, Marie Louise Cochrane brings the Mrs Mash Cookbook, Coo Clayton and Alison Soye are bringing Maggie’s Monster, Emily MacKenzie reads her book Eric Makes a Splash, Meg McLaren joins us with Miniature Mysteries (Pigeon PI and the Station Mouse).

There’s also A Children’s Yoga Session with Claire Bradley while Susie Hooper and Phil Blackburn will conduct Pause and Breathe, a children’s mindfulness session, Mary Contini and Pru Irvine take us through Easy Peasy Real Cooking for Kids, Becky Goddard-Hill and Penny Alexander host Create your own Happy.

Singer and musician Karine Polwart and illustrator Kate Leiper read their new book, A Wee Bird was Watching, Paul Bristow hosts a Comic Making Workshop, Ross Collins returns to Wee Write! and brings What Does an Anteater Eat?

As well as these ticketed sessions, there is plenty to see and do at The Mitchell Library that is free of charge including the Play, Talk, Read bus, Bookbug, Fitlab with the Glasgow Science Centre, an Infant Massage Taster, Gaelic Reading and Singing events, Secret Seven and Very Hungry Caterpillar activities.

Fiona Haddow, Wee Write! Programmer said: “The festival exists to foster a love of reading in young people and start them on a life of engagement with Libraries. We have an extraordinary line-up of events, authors, illustrators, books and entertainment across the family day which will feed the imaginations of young people of all ages. It’s a brilliant chance for families to celebrate books and meet and engage with the talent behind them.”

The family day sits in the middle of a week of sessions designed exclusively for schools and teachers. You can find full details of the entire public programme and information on how to book tickets at www.weewrite.co.uk or you can book tickets by calling 0141 353 8000 or in person at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and City Halls.

Reading well, and with enjoyment, is a skill that unlocks opportunities for children both academically and throughout life. However, studies suggest that one in five children from poor families in Scotland leaves primary school unable to read well, a level four times as high as that of pupils from better off households, and one in seven children do not have a book of their own at home.

Whilst there is a direct link between low literacy levels and poor health, poverty and deprivation, Glasgow Libraries hopes to buck this trend through the Wee Write! Reading and Literacy Fund. You can donate to the fund while buying tickets for Wee Write!

With reading vital to improving literacy levels, Glasgow Libraries hopes the new Wee Write! fund will open up a number of opportunities for young people across the city to develop of love of reading; supporting the development of valuable life-skills, signposting them on to education and employment pathways and enabling future generations to grow and prosper as active citizens.