Picture Books & Design at Book Week Scotland

It’s just under a month to go until Scottish Book Trust launches Book Week Scotland, unveiling hundreds of free events across Scotland that celebrate a love for reading. As we showed in our blog post on visual literacy, picture books can play a key role in encouraging children to read, so we are pleased to see so many events dedicated to illustration and design.

Publishing Scotland will present their exhibition “Design by the Book: A Scottish Publishing Showcase” for the entire week. Every day will see a celebration of innovation in book cover design in Scottish publishing, taking place in the Castle Vaults at Edinburgh Castle. The exhibition will also mark the Year of Innovation, Architecture & Design, which highlights the achievements of Scotland’s visual artists throughout 2016.

Children in Kirkaldy will be treated to a live drawing session with Adam Murphy, the creator of Corpse Talk in which he interviews famous dead people about their history. Young audiences are invited to have a go at drawing their own reanimated corpses, or to simply watch whilst Murphy does what he knows best. Murphy will also host “read-a-licious – Comic illustrations” in Peebles, where he will give children aged 8-12 some pointers on drawing comics.

Vivian French and Lucy Juckes of Picture Hooks will be hosting two separate events this year. French, a picture book writer herself, will introduce children and parents to her own and others’ works. There will also be a prizegiving for the Made in Scotland reading challenge, where children spent October completing a list of books set in Scotland and by Scottish writers. Juckes and fellow literary agent Jenny Brown are hosting “Pitch Your Book to Agents”. They will offer advice to writers and picture book illustrators on what steps to take next having completed their initial manuscript.

Wee bookworms can finish their week off at “Party Time With Katie Morag”. The beloved picture book’s creator Mairi Hedderwick will open the Children’s Book Festival in Helensburgh, a special add-on to Cove Book Festival for 2016.