NNFN2023 One day Non-Fiction Conference

Saturday 11th November dawned bright and beautiful, if a little chilly, as we made our way to Sidcot School, ready to welcome all the delegates for our one day non-fiction conference. Months of wondering, worrying and preparing - and the day had finally arrived!

National Non-Fiction November is the perfect time to celebrate all things factual so a one day conference seemed like a really good idea. Sidcot School generously agreed to let us use their beautiful Arts Centre for the day which made a fantastic setting for our event.

Heather from Reading Rocks had arrived the night before and not being distracted by the amazing array of books she had brought with her was a real challenge, but as the publishers began to arrive and set up, there was plenty to do! Nosy Crow, Hachette, Walker, bsmall and Magic Cat were soon ready, brimming with tempting examples of the very best factual books on offer.

There was a lovely atmosphere as delegates started to arrive and enjoyed chatting to the publishers and Heather, browsing the books, having a warming cuppa and meeting up with friends old and new. Soon, 10 o’clock arrived and we were ready to begin.

The first of our fantastic speakers was Isabel Thomas, author of many books. Her passion for science and nature is inspiring and her talk was a real treat. She spoke of the importance of helping children to make connections, inspiring their imagination and developing their creativity. She talked about how the brain spikes when it encounters something new, encouraging individuals to discover and question, and how to encourage children to see science as a subject which might lead to future possibilities. We were all disappointed when her talk came to an end as she was fascinating!

After holding a two minute silence for Remembrance, it was tea break time. This was sponsored by ‘Kay’s Incredible Inventions’ and we had the most delicious cupcakes! We challenged the delegates to take the most inventive pictures they could come up with, featuring both book and cake, which caused much merriment! The winner received a signed copy of the book.

After a cuppa, a cake and plenty of book-ish chat, everyone returned to the auditorium to hear from Heather and the many ways in which Reading Rocks supports teachers, schools, children and parents in sharing the best books available.

Next, Andy Seed kept us entertained, starting with a (light-hearted!) rant about the term ‘non-fiction’ which caused plenty of discussion. He spoke passionately about the joy of ‘factual’ texts, how they engage readers and the varying styles and appeal of information books- he gave everyone plenty to think about as well as a glimpse of his latest ‘Interview with a…’ book.

Lunch followed- with another competition. Andy came with a companion- an Egyptian coffin- so we asked for selfies with two signed copies of ‘The Curse of the Tomb Robbers’ on offer!

After lunch came the publishers’ presentations. What a treat to hear about so many gorgeous information books in a mixture of in person and video presentations. The books were on available in the bookshop for everyone to have a closer look at and enjoy at their leisure.

Our final speaker of the day was Nicola Davies, who drew on her own early experiences of factual books to illustrate the importance of images and allowing children opportunities to develop their visual literacy by decoding pictures, tables, maps… She argued a strong case for not dumbing things down for children and allowing them to explore non-fiction by ‘skipping and dipping’, going back and forth in a book as a child leads and sharing a special reading experience where adult and child are co-learners, discovering things together.

Nicola kindly drew our raffle for two places on a Non-Fiction webinar, generously donated by CLPE. The winners were delighted! More books, browsing, buying, cake and chatter followed before everyone started to leave.

It was a lovely day and our wonderful publishers generously donated books which we will be taking to Charlton Farm, part of Children’s Hospice South West. A huge thank you from the Somerset CBG team to them, our amazing authors, Sidcot School, Reading Rocks, CLPE and members of other FCBG groups who came to support. See you next year..?

NNFN2023: Andy Seed

Andy Seed is a great champion of non-fiction, author of many books for children. According to his website his books include:

• Fun information books for children

• Books of things to do, again for kids

• Stories for children

• Memoirs for adults

• Non-fiction books for children

• Jokes

  His books are often humorous, lovely and engaging, making them a pleasure to share with children. Andy was involved with last year’s National Non-Fiction November with his ‘Interview with …’ books being the focus for the competition. We are thrilled that Andy is able to join us for our conference next month.

‘The Clue is in the Poo and Other Stuff Too’ is an amazing treasure trove of facts about nature! It is a fabulous blend of information, things to do and delightful illustrations, all perfect for engaging even the most reluctant reader.

The book starts with information about being a ‘nature detective’, with rules of tracking and the tools needed explained. There is a lot about poo as might be expected from the title- how to use it to identify which creatures have been around, for example- as well as plenty of ‘toilet trivia’.

However, the book is about ‘other stuff too’ and the reader is shown different animal and bird tracks and given advice for what to look for when spotting possible animal homes. Throughout the book, there are quizzes to keep the reader on their toes and test their new found knowledge. Presented with the light, humorous touch which Andy is so well-loved for, ‘The Clue is in the Poo and Other Stuff Too’ is both fascinating and informative- the perfect accompaniment for getting a class outside and seeking out the creatures which inhabit their local environment.

‘A Giant Dose of Gross’ is in the same vein, full of the world’s most disgusting animals- and some are really disgusting! From parasites to creatures that produce revolting amounts of gas, there is certainly something to amuse, entertain and educate the most curious between these covers.

The illustrations are just as entertaining with little speech bubbles adding humorous comments. Fact boxes add more details about yet more revolting animals and their habits. It is a cornucopia of things that some children will love!

There are two quizzes at the end of the book and a comprehensive index which help you locate the animals and the disgusting stuff! Try page 46 for the top piddle fact…

Completely absorbing, 'Wild Facts about Nature' offers page after page of fascinating facts about nature. Published in partnership with the RSPB, the book offers all the fun facts, jokes, quizzes, things to do, puzzles and so on you might expect from the one and only, Andy Seed!

Organised into clear sections with headings like 'Places with Tales to Tell', 'Peculiar Plants' and 'Nutty Nature', the book is crammed with information, brilliantly presented in bite sized chunks. Each page is carefully laid out to allow the maximum information to be as easily accessible as possible. And there is so much to learn...

Can you say 'otter' in Maori? Or any of the other 14 languages featured on page 83? Did you know that three new types of hairy spiders that feast on birds and bats were reported by Brazilian researchers in 2017? Do you know what a 'caracal', a 'kodkod' or a 'serval' is? And what about an 'axolotl'? Find out all about them on page 76.

There are jokes, riddles and puzzles...

Why are rhinos wrinkly?

They don't like being ironed.

Brilliantly illustrated by Scott Garrett, 'Wild Facts about Nature' is an absolute must have for anyone who is nuts about nature, fascinated by facts or likes a laugh!

The ‘Interview with…’ series of books is on its fourth title, with ‘Interview with a Panda and Other Endangered Animals Too’ being published today. You can talk to Andy about any of his books at the Conference as well as listening to him speak. Make sure you book your ticket here!

Save the Date!

Somerset CBG are delighted to announce that we will be hosting You Couldn’t Make it Up! a one-day non-fiction conference on Saturday 11th November as part of the celebrations for National Non-Fiction November 2023.

Sidcot School have kindly agreed to let us use their Arts’ Centre for this event, giving us a lovely location for the day. Sidcot is easy to find and there is plenty of parking on site for those coming by car.

Doors will open at 9am, allowing an hour before our first speaker for delegates to browse the bookshop which will be provided by Heather from Reading Rocks and we are very excited to have the opportunity to work with her! She will be offering some amazing deals on selected books, highlighted in the publishers’ presentations. There will also be a Publishers’ Exhibition for delegates to explore, offering a wonderful opportunity to find out about their books and discuss them. Tea and coffee will be available at this time as well and both the Exhibition and the bookshop will be available all day!

We have an incredible line up of speakers. Isabel Thomas is the author of many non-fiction titles including ‘Moth’, ‘The Bedtime Book of Impossible Questions’ and ‘Thirty Trillion Cells’. Andy Seed’s books are full of humour and include the ‘Interview with a…’ series and ‘The Clue is in the Poo’. Famous for her time as a presenter on ‘The Really Wild Show’, Nicola Davies is now equally well-known for her writing, both fiction and non-fiction. Her books include ‘Tiny: The Invisible World of Microbes’, ‘Lots’ and ‘One World’. There will also be presentations from publishers, highlighting some of their non-fiction titles.

Delegates will also have the chance to win one of two free places at a CLPE Non-Fiction webinar. It will be a wonderful opportunity to meet like-minded lovers of information books and tickets are only £10 for FCBG members and £20 for non-members. Lunch on the day is NOT included; however, there is plenty of space for everyone to bring their own sandwiches and there is a Co-op and a Spar in the nearby village of Winscombe, a fifteen minute walk from the school. The day will end at about 4pm.

Members of the Federation of Children’s Book Groups can find out how to book their tickets by emailing somersetcbg@gmail.com . Non-members can book tickets via Eventbrite.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

Somerset CBG Launch

Yesterday, we were thrilled to welcome everyone to the launch of our new Somerset Children’s Book Group. After months of planning, it was wonderful to see everything coming together on the day and we couldn’t have done it without the support we received.

Children’s publisher, Nosy Crow, provided us with these gorgeous goodie bags, full of treats. Each included Fleur’s latest book, ‘Murder at Snowfall’, the new Frank and Bert story, ‘The One Where Bert Learns to Ride a Bike’ and a proof copy of either, ‘The Nowhere Thief’ by Alice M Ross or ‘My Life on Fire’ by Cath Howe, as well as the lovely Pip and Posy bags, bookmarks and postcards. It was incredibly generous of them and there were many ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ as people peeked inside! Sîan was particularly helpful and supportive and we are so grateful.

Sidcot School kindly allowed us to use their Meeting House to host the event. Their housekeeping and catering departments were brilliant, making sure we had everything we needed. We were also pleased to be joined by some students from the school who ran the raffle and helped with the teas and coffees. Thank you to all involved.

The Somerset CBG is one of the many children’s book groups up and down the country that collectively form the Federation of Children’s Book Groups. Each group is unique in its approach, but we are all united by our commitment to sharing the love of books and reading to everyone, everywhere. There has been a huge wave of support from our fellow groups and we were delighted that members from several other groups were able to join us for our launch. Book-ish people are lovely people!

Alistair (and his lovely dad!) from Books on the Hill in Clevedon came to set up a bookshop for the event. Once people had registered and gathered their goodie bag, they were quick to grab a cup of tea and spend some time browsing the wonderful range of books on offer, including a couple of exclusives. ‘Nell and the Cave Bear: The Journey Home’ by Martin Brown and ‘Winter’s Keep’ by Tamsin Mori are not available yet, but if you know the right people..!

Well known and much loved as the illustrator of the incredibly popular ‘Horrible Histories’ series, Martin Brown was our first speaker of the day. He had the audience completely enthralled as he talked his books and about the importance of drawing and teaching people the skills they need. He firmly believes that everyone has the ability to draw and his inspiring enthusiasm was infectious.

On arrival, everyone had been given a pink raffle ticket and there was a great ‘oooh’ of excitement as we announced that the winning number would receive this lovely picture (above) of Cave Bear which Martin signed and dedicated.

During the tea break, plenty of cake and biscuits were available and it was wonderful to see so many people getting their books signed and chatting to old friends and new. If any evidence was ever needed about how supportive the children’s book community is then the number of authors who attended our launch surely proves it. Anthony Burt, J M Joseph, Shauna Darling Robertson, Tamsin Mori, Rachel Delahaye, Emma Perry, Andy Seed, Anne Parsons, Laura Mucha and Cathy Faulkner plus a couple of authors who are not-yet-to-be-named all came along to offer their support as did Roy Johnson of Troika Books. Our lucky attendees were able to chat to these lovely people and get their books signed.

After the break, Fleur Hitchcock told a captivated audience about her childhood and other inspirations for writing, including a mysterious abandoned cabinet and a visit to Longleat. It was fascinating to hear about everything from the cover designs to the edits and alterations which contribute to the magic of creating a book. There were so many questions..!

Our event closed with a selection of poems performed by the joyful and exuberant Laura Mucha whose energy and enthusiasm had everyone joining in. It was the perfect way to close the perfect session.

Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped to make our launch so special. We look forward to holding more events very soon and hope to welcome many new members to the group. If you are interested in finding out more about membership, please email us somersetcbg@gmail.com