School bookings open for The Children's Bookshow 2025 autumn tour

The Children's Bookshow brings children's authors and illustrators from the UK and abroad to local theatre venues, giving teachers and primary school children the opportunity to hear world-class artists talk about their work, and helping to inspire a love of reading, writing and drawing in young children.

The 2025 autumn tour for The Children's Bookshow which this year will feature theatre performances by authors including Katherine Rundell, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Michael Rosen, Matt Goodfellow and Catherine Johnson. 

This year the tour will travel to cities including Newcastle, Hull, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Bristol, Exeter, Blackpool and London. See the full tour for details.

During The Children's Bookshow events, authors and illustrators introduce their work, talk about their working lives, show children the paint brushes and notebooks that they use, and talk about the tools and tricks of their trade. In doing this, they offer children a real insight into what it means to work creatively.

SF Said performing at The Children's Bookshow in Warwick, 2024

Performances are ticketed at £7 per child, and every child who attends a performance will go home with a free copy of a book. Titles that will be given away this year include Matt Goodfellows' bestseller The Final Year; 2023 Children's Fiction Book of the Year, Tyger by SF Said; Rebecca Cobb and Mariesa Dulak's Oscar's Book Prize-shortlisted picture book, There's a Tiger on the Train; and hardback copies of Frank Cottrell-Boyce's The Blockbusters. Last year, The Children's Bookshow put over 7,600 free books into the hands of primary school children. 

Kate Arafa, co-director of The Children's Bookshow, said, "The exceptional authors, poets and illustrators who we work with bring the joy of reading alive for children. I am proud to announce such an inspiring line-up of events that will delight children and teachers alike, and spark enthusiasm for reading that lasts well beyond the theatre performances and creative workshops."

This year will mark the 23rd Children's Bookshow tour, and the 23rd year that Michael Rosen has joined the programme. Michael is one of the UK's finest childrenʼs poets and authors. He is a patron of The Children's Bookshow and has been a part of the charity's programme of live literature events every year since they began. Michael's performance at Belgrade Theatre in Coventry will be an inspiring and exhilarating hour of poetry in performance.

Teacher feedback reported pupils' excitement in attending Children's Bookshow events, as well as increased engagement with books and reading within their schools as a direct result of attendance. All the teachers who responded to an evaluation survey said they would bring their class to an event again, with many highlighting the positive impact of putting enjoyment at the heart of literacy, particularly for pupils who struggle to meet the demands of the curriculum.

Bookings are now open for individual events. All the events take place during the school day and schools can book on behalf of their pupils. Detailed information is available on The Children's Bookshow website.

In addition to the theatre performances, The Children's Bookshow has several free in-school workshops available, run by the artists performing on the tour. Schools can express their interest in these workshops at the time of booking to attend an event. Workshops will be allocated by The Children's Bookshow.

Autumn Tour Dates for The Children's Bookshow:

Katherine Rundell performance, Blackpool, Friday 19th September
Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson performance, Wolverhampton, Monday 29th September
Michael Rosen performance, Coventry, Monday 6th October
Matt Goodfellow performance, Bristol, Wednesday 8th October
Owen Sheers and Helen Stephens performance, Hull, Tuesday 14th October
Rebecca Cobb and Mariesa Dulak performance, Milton Keynes, Monday 20th October
Frank Cottrell-Boyce performance, London, Wednesday 22nd October
Catherine Rayner performance, Newcastle, Monday 3rd November
Yasmeen Ismail performance, Portsmouth, Wednesday 5th November
Catherine Johnson performance, Ipswich, Thursday 6th November
Alom Shaha and Sarthak Sinha performance, Exeter, Tuesday 11th November
SF Said performance, Peterborough, Monday 17th November