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Julia Donaldson to attend the Borders Book Festival
The prolific success of writers such as JK Rowling in encouraging both children and adults to seek out the treasures of literature is reflected in the sixth annual Borders Book Festival which takes place from June 18-21 in the idyllic setting of Harmony House in Melrose.
For the first time, the extravaganza will feature a Family Book Festival, aimed at readers of all ages, replacing the children-specific segment of festivals past.
To raise the profile of the family fest, organisers have launched a discounted day ticket to cover the Saturday and Sunday events.
For just £12, two adults and three children can get to see three special events on each of these days.
And the initiative has really taken off with all 50 of the Saturday passes selling out last week. These lucky buyers will get bargain access to Happy Birthday Gruffalo with Julia Donaldson (10am), historical humorist and creator of the And All That series Allan Burnett (1.30pm) and First Books (3pm), in which a star-studded panel comprising Vince Cable MP, Ian Rankin, James Naughtie and David Aaronovitch recall the books which first whetted their appetites for reading.
A few Sunday family day tickets are still up for grabs, giving holders the chance to see festival favourite Vivian French (1pm) and Christopher Lloyd (4pm), creator of the best-selling and leftfield chronicle of the history of the entire world, What On Earth Happened? The ticket will also give you access to hear actors Bill Paterson and Diana Quick reading nursery stories in Very First Books (2.30pm) in a session to raise funds for the Children’s Hospice Association Scotland.
Other Saturday highlights include Pooh in Scots with James Robertson (11am), Print a Bookplate (11am-4pm, free), The Sea Dancer at St Abbs (12.30pm), Storey Time (2-2.30pm, free) and Midsummer Stories for Children (4pm), which takes place in Melrose Abbey.
On Sunday, there is Make a Mini Notebook (2pm, £3), Secrets of the Smuggler’s House (11am), Storytime (12.30pm, free) and former pop star/actress Clare Grogan (4pm).
Meanwhile this year’s BBF has been selected as the festival of choice for Book Aid International, founded in 1954 and dedicated to increasing access to books in sub-Saharan Africa.
Over the four days at Harmony, the charity aims to raise in excess of £3,000 to help send 1,500 books to African libraries. Every book will be read by at least five people, meaning the cash raised in Melrose will enable 7,500 people to gain the pleasure of reading books.
It costs just £2 for BAI to send a book to their partners in the 13 countries where they operate.
Since its inception, it has sent 26 million books and its target this year is 500,000, with the aim of helping 151 million people who are illiterate in sub-Saharan Africa.
Source: Southern Reporter
Posted: June 6th, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: JK Rowling, Julia Donaldson
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