About us

The Children’s Bookshow is an organisation that arranges an annual tour of children’s authors and illustrators. The tour takes place in the autumn and coincides with Children’s Book Week. We are funded by Arts Council England and private trusts, including the Unwin Charitable Trust, but also work closely with many other organisations in the children’s book world. Click here for a full list of our sponsors and collaborators.

The aim of The Children’s Bookshow is to foster a lifelong love of literature in children by bringing them the best writers and illustrators to inspire and guide them. The first Children’s Bookshow came about as a way of celebrating some of the books and authors that were featured in a book entitled Simply the Best Books for Children, published in 2003 by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education. The event was such a success that, the following year, a second tour was organised. The rest, as they say, is history.

“…The Children’s Bookshow… has become an established and much anticipated cycle of events in the children’s literature calendar…”
Ann Lazim, Librarian at the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education

This event was hosted at Seven Stories, the national centre for children’s books in Newcastle upon Tyne. www.sevenstories.org.uk