About

This year is the 29th year of the festival and it promises to be the biggest and best one yet!

The Northern Children's Book Festival brings together the 12 Local Authorities in the North East and is a partnership between all the library services in the region.

The two-week festival is the largest and best-value annual reading celebration for children and young people in Europe and takes place in the North-East of England every November.

NCBF is a unique opportunity for children to meet their favourite authors and talk about the books they love. Over 40 well-known writers, poets and illustrators will be performing book readings, leading workshops and taking part in signings at schools and libraries throughout the festival period.

The festival then culminates in a Gala Weekend, where, for the first time ever, we’re holding the festival finale over a two-day period. This allows children, parents, carers and families to enjoy all that the festival has to offer.

NCBF encourages children to enjoy reading and develop an appreciation of high-quality literature. It highlights the many free services available in libraries across the region.

The NCBF aims to:

• bring books to life
• promote reading as an enjoyable activity
• provide children with exciting opportunities to meet and work with authors and illustrators
• introduce children to the wide range of books available to them
• create awareness of quality children's books amongst parents and carers
• give children's authors the chance to talk to their audience
• encourage book borrowing and book ownership from local libraries
• emphasise the value of books and libraries in children's development
• contribute in a special way to the needs of the National Curriculum