2019 Schools Programme Now Available

Baillie Gifford Schools Programme 2019
19-27 August 2019

This year, the Book Festival Baillie Gifford Schools Programme explores what it means to be a ‘Citizen of the World’ and brings voices from across the globe to meet with young audiences. Well-known writers, illustrators and performers travel from far and wide to come and share their perspectives in almost 50 events for pupils of all ages. We have events to entertain, educate, enthral and inspire. Start the new school year with a fantastic day out at the Book Festival!

For younger pupils
Julian Clary and illustrator David Roberts (P2–P4) invite you to go wild with the Bolds; Horrid Henry illustrator Tony Ross teams up with Jeanne Willis (P1­–P2) for a fairy tale retold with vlogging and internet safety in #Goldilocks; and Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet (P1–P2) bring some spud-tacular silliness as they present their new all-singing, all-prancing interactive Supertato show.

For older pupils
Bestselling How To Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell (P4–S1) is back with the thrilling third instalment in her Wizards of Once series; founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, Laura Bates (S4–S6) gets you fired up about misogyny with The Burning; and critically acclaimed American writer Jason Reynolds (S1–S3) talks about how rap got him into writing.

Citizen Takeover (19-20 August)
Citizen is a new arc of Book Festival work taking place throughout the year, exploring ideas of neighbourhood and community and how these relate to identity and belonging. Writer Claire Askew has been working with students from three Edinburgh schools and, taking inspiration from their sessions, we have created two Citizen-themed days of events on 19 and 20 August, perfect for getting young people to think about society and neighbourhood.

Accessible Event for pupils with learning disabilities
On 26 August, author Philip Ardagh and illustrator Elissa Elwick host a gentle, fully interactive event with lots of sensory elements for pupils of all ages with severe learning disabilities including PMLD. You’ll find out all about the funny adventures of detectives Sally Stick and Fetch the dog.

CLPL events for teachers
Our Career-long Professional Learning events aim to give you inspiring new ideas to try out in the classroom. Take part in one of our interactive creative writing workshops, or join in discussions on hot topics in education with authors and experts in the field. This year we explore wordless stories, modern masculinity, how to encourage reluctant readers and more.

And lots more…
We have excellent debut writers like Mel Darbon and Justin Davies, Scottish voices including Lari Don, William Sutcliffe and Karine Polwart, plus a whole range of exciting spoken word and performance from Tongue Fu and more…

On Baillie Gifford Gala Day (27 Aug), we transform Charlotte Square Gardens into a magical space exclusively for primary schools. This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and embrace everything cosmic!


Booking opens on Monday 29 April so download the brochure now to discover all the great events on offer.

You can find out more about How to Book on this site, or on p.39 of the brochure.

If you would like to receive a printed copy of the brochure, please send your name and postal address to mailinglist@edbookfest.co.uk

To make your visit to the Book Festival as affordable as possible, we offer various schemes:

£3 Baillie Gifford Book Voucher for every pupil who attends
25% book discount for schools
Baillie Gifford Transport Fund

We hope you enjoy browsing the 2019 Baillie Gifford Schools Programme and we look forward to seeing you at the Book Festival in August!