NNFN2023 One day Non-Fiction Conference

Saturday 11th November dawned bright and beautiful, if a little chilly, as we made our way to Sidcot School, ready to welcome all the delegates for our one day non-fiction conference. Months of wondering, worrying and preparing - and the day had finally arrived!

National Non-Fiction November is the perfect time to celebrate all things factual so a one day conference seemed like a really good idea. Sidcot School generously agreed to let us use their beautiful Arts Centre for the day which made a fantastic setting for our event.

Heather from Reading Rocks had arrived the night before and not being distracted by the amazing array of books she had brought with her was a real challenge, but as the publishers began to arrive and set up, there was plenty to do! Nosy Crow, Hachette, Walker, bsmall and Magic Cat were soon ready, brimming with tempting examples of the very best factual books on offer.

There was a lovely atmosphere as delegates started to arrive and enjoyed chatting to the publishers and Heather, browsing the books, having a warming cuppa and meeting up with friends old and new. Soon, 10 o’clock arrived and we were ready to begin.

The first of our fantastic speakers was Isabel Thomas, author of many books. Her passion for science and nature is inspiring and her talk was a real treat. She spoke of the importance of helping children to make connections, inspiring their imagination and developing their creativity. She talked about how the brain spikes when it encounters something new, encouraging individuals to discover and question, and how to encourage children to see science as a subject which might lead to future possibilities. We were all disappointed when her talk came to an end as she was fascinating!

After holding a two minute silence for Remembrance, it was tea break time. This was sponsored by ‘Kay’s Incredible Inventions’ and we had the most delicious cupcakes! We challenged the delegates to take the most inventive pictures they could come up with, featuring both book and cake, which caused much merriment! The winner received a signed copy of the book.

After a cuppa, a cake and plenty of book-ish chat, everyone returned to the auditorium to hear from Heather and the many ways in which Reading Rocks supports teachers, schools, children and parents in sharing the best books available.

Next, Andy Seed kept us entertained, starting with a (light-hearted!) rant about the term ‘non-fiction’ which caused plenty of discussion. He spoke passionately about the joy of ‘factual’ texts, how they engage readers and the varying styles and appeal of information books- he gave everyone plenty to think about as well as a glimpse of his latest ‘Interview with a…’ book.

Lunch followed- with another competition. Andy came with a companion- an Egyptian coffin- so we asked for selfies with two signed copies of ‘The Curse of the Tomb Robbers’ on offer!

After lunch came the publishers’ presentations. What a treat to hear about so many gorgeous information books in a mixture of in person and video presentations. The books were on available in the bookshop for everyone to have a closer look at and enjoy at their leisure.

Our final speaker of the day was Nicola Davies, who drew on her own early experiences of factual books to illustrate the importance of images and allowing children opportunities to develop their visual literacy by decoding pictures, tables, maps… She argued a strong case for not dumbing things down for children and allowing them to explore non-fiction by ‘skipping and dipping’, going back and forth in a book as a child leads and sharing a special reading experience where adult and child are co-learners, discovering things together.

Nicola kindly drew our raffle for two places on a Non-Fiction webinar, generously donated by CLPE. The winners were delighted! More books, browsing, buying, cake and chatter followed before everyone started to leave.

It was a lovely day and our wonderful publishers generously donated books which we will be taking to Charlton Farm, part of Children’s Hospice South West. A huge thank you from the Somerset CBG team to them, our amazing authors, Sidcot School, Reading Rocks, CLPE and members of other FCBG groups who came to support. See you next year..?

Save the Date!

Somerset CBG are delighted to announce that we will be hosting You Couldn’t Make it Up! a one-day non-fiction conference on Saturday 11th November as part of the celebrations for National Non-Fiction November 2023.

Sidcot School have kindly agreed to let us use their Arts’ Centre for this event, giving us a lovely location for the day. Sidcot is easy to find and there is plenty of parking on site for those coming by car.

Doors will open at 9am, allowing an hour before our first speaker for delegates to browse the bookshop which will be provided by Heather from Reading Rocks and we are very excited to have the opportunity to work with her! She will be offering some amazing deals on selected books, highlighted in the publishers’ presentations. There will also be a Publishers’ Exhibition for delegates to explore, offering a wonderful opportunity to find out about their books and discuss them. Tea and coffee will be available at this time as well and both the Exhibition and the bookshop will be available all day!

We have an incredible line up of speakers. Isabel Thomas is the author of many non-fiction titles including ‘Moth’, ‘The Bedtime Book of Impossible Questions’ and ‘Thirty Trillion Cells’. Andy Seed’s books are full of humour and include the ‘Interview with a…’ series and ‘The Clue is in the Poo’. Famous for her time as a presenter on ‘The Really Wild Show’, Nicola Davies is now equally well-known for her writing, both fiction and non-fiction. Her books include ‘Tiny: The Invisible World of Microbes’, ‘Lots’ and ‘One World’. There will also be presentations from publishers, highlighting some of their non-fiction titles.

Delegates will also have the chance to win one of two free places at a CLPE Non-Fiction webinar. It will be a wonderful opportunity to meet like-minded lovers of information books and tickets are only £10 for FCBG members and £20 for non-members. Lunch on the day is NOT included; however, there is plenty of space for everyone to bring their own sandwiches and there is a Co-op and a Spar in the nearby village of Winscombe, a fifteen minute walk from the school. The day will end at about 4pm.

Members of the Federation of Children’s Book Groups can find out how to book their tickets by emailing somersetcbg@gmail.com . Non-members can book tickets via Eventbrite.

We look forward to seeing you all there!