Blanksy the Street Cat

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Jim said: “I am thrilled to be coming to the Big DoG festival. I have a big dog and will be bringing him along as well! Looking forward to playing with clay with everyone in Dumfries.” Vivian French, a wonderful storyteller who has published more than 300 titles, will be there with illustrator Ross Collins, for an interactive event The Newest Story in the Whole Wide World. Vivian said: “ Big DoG is one of the highlights of my year. I’ve never not had a fabulous time.”

Activities will take place during the four days at Moat Brae, which is Scotland’s National Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling in George Street, and other venues in Dumfries – The Jolly Roger, 115 High Street; Ewart Library, Catherine Street; and The Stove Network, 100 High Street. Read More Related Articles Big DoG and Hooked will bring a bumper weekend of children and young people’s books, storytelling and other activities to Dumfries this month. I think this book is really funny because it says ‘I will put ants in your pants that will make you want to dance’ and it says ‘poopy doopy’. I liked singing the songs out loud. My favourite part is where Blanksy finds some paint and paint brushes. The Hooked events for young people include an introduction to theatre design from Scottish Opera, offering the behind-the-scenes magic of theatre with set and costume designer Finlay McLay. Record-holding Paralympian swimming champion Ellie Robinson will read from her forthcoming book The Gold Medal Mysteries. This is especially exciting as audiences for Ellie’s event can buy exclusive advance copies of the book – meaning they will be some of the first people anywhere to read it.There’s also a free family garden party in the gardens at Moat Brae from noon on 1 April with storytelling, puppet theatre, music and face painting. Refreshments and a barbecue will be available. Alex is well-known to youngsters in the region having been part of the Big DoG Schools Tour which brought authors to over 2,500 pupils in 53 Schools from Gretna to Stranraer. There’s also a free family garden party in the gardens at Moat Brae from noon on April 1, with storytelling, puppet theatre, music and face painting. Refreshments and a barbecue will be available.

It’s such a fun line-up including storytelling by some of the country’s best authors, model-making, drawing and lots more. Blanksy the Street Cat is a wonderfully playful, heart-warming and humorous story of friendship and the arts that completely charmed me. When Blanksy the cat discovers a talent for painting murals he uses it to draw bigger and bigger crowds to help his friend Pete the busker become rich. But will money really make Pete happy? In this fun, interactive workshop, Finlay will share his wealth of experience from an exciting career, with recent credits including Scottish Opera Young Company, Outlander and Indiana Jones.Hooked is for 14 to 26 year olds and focuses on professional development in the arts sector, alongside author talks and entertainment.

Named in honour of Nana – the big dog who looks after the Darling children in Peter Pan – Big DoG is the annual family festival for Dumfries, while, Hooked is a weekend festival for 16 to 26-year-olds and, through workshops and events, provides a gateway for the next generation of authors and artists. Jim said: “I am thrilled to be coming to the Big DoG festival. I have a big dog and will be bringing him along as well. Looking forward to playing with clay with everyone in Dumfries.” I love how colourful the front cover of this book is, it made me to want to read it. The size of the book is a perfect to put in my bag to take on holiday. Gavin lives in South Wales with his wife, his young son and their cat, George. He spends his days working as a school liaison officer with the police and won the Greenhouse Funny Prize in 2013 with his debut book, Murray the Horse.Big DoG will also feature an amazing chocolatey strand marking 21 years of Scots language publisher Itchy Coo by celebrating Chairlie and the Chocolate Works by Roald Dahl, translated by Matthew Fitt.