How Do You Write Funny Books For Children?

Aptly, festival director and acclaimed children’s author Michael Rosen hosted this talk, welcoming the three award-winning funny children’s authors Liz Pichon, Jamie Thompson and Philip Ardagh as if old and affectionate friends. Each presented a short piece on their own diverse comic creations and then the floor was then opened to questions. The main message seemed to be to ‘keep one foot on the floor’, meaning to make sure elements of real life were present and accounted for. Other themes such as fish out of water laughs, gathering inspiration from real life and an integrity to your own ‘voice’ developed, however the main ingredient to writing funny books soon became unspokenly evident as all four displayed themselves to simply be funny people. An enjoyable truth simply realised.

Sallis Benny Theatre, 11 May 2013

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