TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR or can be reserved by e-mailing info@islaybookfestival.org or using the form on our contact page

Tickets are £4.00 per session. Concessions £2.00

PLEASE NOTE THAT SESSIONS START PROMPTLY AND THERE WILL BE NO LATE ADMISSIONS

For For P1 – P4, and 4-year olds with parents. Parents of older children are also welcome.Come along for an hour of family fun with the author of Britain’s best-loved bedtime story. Julia and her husband Malcolm, who will be acting out some of Julia’s stories and singing some of her songs – with quite a lot of help from you.This features a different selection of stories from those heard in school on Friday – so join us for another treat. www.juliadonaldson.co.uk  www.gruffalo.com

Ian Cameron, author of “I have not yet begun to fight!”will tell you all you want to know about Scottish-born hero/villain John Paul Jones. Covering all aspects of his life, Ian will answer such questions as – Why did he go to the American colonies? Was he immediately successful in the new American Continental navy? How did he frighten the British Government and cause havoc among Royal Navy ships? What prompted his famous declaration, “I have not yet begun to fight!”? How did he become Rear Admiral in the navy of Catherine the Great in Russia? And what did he do when he stopped sailing?

Margaret will read from her latest novel ‘The Gathering Night’, which is set among Mesolithic hunter-gatherers living among the islands of the Inner Hebrides 8000 years ago. These people left no records and (unlike our present-day society) made little impact on the environment. Margaret will discuss the challenge of imagining how these people lived in physical and spiritual harmony with their environment.www.margaretelphinstone.co.uk

Julia is the author of over a hundred books for children, including popular rhyming tales such as The Gruffalo (recently voted the nation’s favourite bedtime story), and the award winning teenage novel Running on the Cracks. Julia has also written many plays and songs, as well as turning her hand to a phonic reading scheme. Julia will tell her own story – how her career took off from her student busking days, and what is involved in the making of a children’s book.www.juliadonaldson.co.uk

All over the world there are people who know Jimmy Shand’s name. A few will bundle him in with a preconceived idea of Scotland – of heather, haggis and kilts; but for millions his name means a guarantee of excellence in a special blend. A gleam will come to the eye and a lump will gather in the throat. A tune will come into the head and feet will tap on the floor. Everyone, it seems, knew Jimmy Shand and his Band, but very few knew the man. Ian Cameron not only knew him, but wrote The Jimmy Shand Story to commemorate Jimmy’s ninetieth birthday.

David will blether and entertain about his many years of script writing. He has written many of The Broons titles, including The Broon’s Day Out, and The Broon’s Gardening Wisdom. For many years he was managing editor for D C Thomson, as well as creating one of the Sunday Post’s major attractions.www.thatsbraw.co.ukwww.aboutaberdeen.com/thebroons

Joseph will tell the story of his 1500 kilometre walk from the southwest corner of Ireland to the northwest corner of Scotland. By following the Atlantic coast all the way, he linked the most vibrant Gaelic communities. He will reflect on identity, culture, sustainability and the use of Gaelic. Together with anecdotes of the people he met and the places he visited, this will be an interesting and informative talk.www.see.leeds.ac.uk/people/j.murphy

Margaret is well known for the historical accuracy of her gripping stories, but research takes her far beyond libraries and archives. Her characters are vivid and engaging because she makes the journeys they make – canoeing down the Ottawa River, sailing to remote Greenland settlements or wild camping on the Iceland tundra. She learns about the skills needed for survival – making her own coracle, shooting with Michigan bear hunters, and making stone-age tools by flint knapping. She will describe how she generates ideas for her novels, and how she chooses places and characters to create convincing worlds which really could have existed.www.margaret elphinstone.co.uk