Blanksy the Street Cat

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An Introduction to Theatre Design from Scottish Opera: Experience the behind-the-scenes magic of theatre with set and costume designer Finlay McLay. In this fun, interactive workshop, Finlay shares his wealth of experience from an exciting career, with recent credits including Scottish Opera Young Company, Outlander and Indiana Jones. Andy Stewart, Big DoG’s executive producer, said: “It’s going to be a great weekend. Moat Brae is such a great place to hold a festival celebrating literature for children and young adults. The festival is named in honour of Nana, the big dog who looks after the Darling children in Peter Pan, Big DoG is the annual family festival for Dumfries.

There’s also a free family garden party in the gardens at Moat Brae from noon on 1 April with storytelling, puppet theatre, music and face painting. Refreshments and a barbecue will be available.

Book Review

Andy Stewart, Big DoG’s Executive Producer, said : “It’s such a fun line-up – including storytelling by some of the country’s best authors, model-making, drawing and lots more. Everything’s designed to fire young imaginations and help share our love of children’s literature. “Some events are free – like our garden party – and we are trying to keep prices affordable because we want as many people as possible to join us for the weekend.”

There will also be the chance for youngsters to make their own Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and other much-loved animated TV and movie characters at a special workshop run by top Aardman model-maker Jim Parkyn.Meet the very WORST Vikings in the village! Prepare yourself for anarchy, mischief and total chaos as Francesca Simon and Steve May introduce the third instalment in their Two Terrible Vikings series. Through workshops and events with leading writers and practitioners, it provides a gateway for the next generation of authors and artists. The Hooked events for young people include an introduction to theatre design from Scottish Opera, offering the behind-the-scenes magic of theatre with set and costume designer Finlay McLay. Cardiff Children’s Literature Festival is returning after a two-year break, with a range of presentations from some of the UK’s best-loved children’s authors.

Named in honour of Nana – the big dog who looks after the Darling children in Peter Pan – Big DoG is the annual family festival for Dumfries, while, Hooked is a weekend festival for 16 to 26-year-olds and, through workshops and events, provides a gateway for the next generation of authors and artists. There’s also a free family garden party in the gardens at Moat Brae from noon on April 1, with storytelling, puppet theatre, music and face painting. Refreshments and a barbecue will be available. Big DoG and Hooked will bring a bumper weekend of children and young people’s books, storytelling and other activities to Dumfries this month. This is a gorgeous, fun-filled story that is perfect for younger readers. It has a dyslexia-friendly font and use of bold text and capitalisation which will encourage reading with expression. I loved the use of internal rhyme which makes it a joy to read aloud and is one younger children will want to read again and again. There will definitely be giggles at the warm humour and a real delight in the friendship between Pete and Blanksy.Gavin lives in South Wales with his wife, his young son and their cat, George. He spends his days working as a school liaison officer with the police and won the Greenhouse Funny Prize in 2013 with his debut book, Murray the Horse.