Pop Up Festival of Stories

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind !!! No time for blogging, too busy being totally immersed in the world of the  Pop Up Festival of Children's Stories ..... have you heard of this amazing event ? Well, take a look at the website Pop Up Festival of Stories  and see all the exciting things that are happening

It all started off a year ago with the director,Dylan Calder, a man with seemingly limitless energy and vision, and several other interested authors and illustrators in a back garden in 

East London.

His idea for a festival of stories was too exciting to not want to be involved, and I went away buzzing with thoughts and ideas......One thing lead to another and I was asked to be one of the Curators, along with Michael Rosen, Catherine Johnson,Philip Ardagh amongst others.... and what a line up!!! I'm so intrigued to see how their ideas have been transformed into reality too  

It began like this- my initial vision for Immi's Igloo 

And has grown and grown....dancers from The Place,the London Contemporary Dance School, perform 'Immi's World', a piece choreographed by Eithne Kane.Live music  performed  and composed by Ben Graves of the Guildhall School of Music.... Illustrator friends are holding workshops and generally inspiring everyone, children are decorating Immi's Igloo (the dome space where the events are being held )Margaret Bateson - Hill will be holding everyone spellbound with her stories of faraway lands.It should be a very magical place to be !

I've had fun designing the set and being very hands on, as you can see from the hive of activity outside the studio( that's me and Ivan making icy pools!) It's just like illustrating a bigger book really! Students Previn and Darunee from St Martins are involved,and right now are constructing ice blocks and paper snowflakes and icicles ...and an igloo will be appearing pretty soon.Mike Bishop has composed the music. Izzy Simmonds has worked her magic again with the costume design - and without giving too much away, there will be a very special guest! On the day it's the children's turn to become illusrators and they'll be covering Immi's Igloo with their own drawings, which should all be very exciting! 

Nearly there ... it's all happening on Sunday July 10th in Coram's Fields,London WC1,11am-5.30pm. Come and say hello if you can, join in the fun and see if it has turned out just like I imagined !