A seven-day online festival in partnership with Waterstones from 8 - 14 June for families to celebrate the power of imagination and Puffin's 80th birthday – watch on Puffin Facebook and YouTube channels.
Join authors, illustrators and real Puffins for a week of events, travel through Puffin’s 80 year history and get oodles of ideas to keep children dreaming after screen-time. Illustrator in Residence Nick Sharratt will be drawing your dreams all week. Send in your kids' most wild and extraordinary dreams using the hashtag #PuffinDreamer, in the video comments or via email PuffinDreamer@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk until Friday 12 June. Terms and conditions can be found here.
Let us know you will be attending by clicking going on the Facebook event page here. Then, watch with your kids, twice a day at 10.30am and 3.30pm for a 15 - 20-minute video which will include a creative activity that you can try at home. The festival will culminate in a live weekend extravaganza at 11am on 13 and 14 June. Watch here on either Puffin books Facebook or YouTube.
Sign up for your Puffin Festival of Big Dreams kit
Get ready for the Puffin Festival of Big Dreams event kit, there's everything you need to start dreaming at home, including the show schedule, Puffin templates and a guide to finding your official big dreamer name.
The line-up
See which dreams Nick Sharratt’s been drawing every weekday in the 3.30pm show.
Monday – Dream Big
10.30am – Creative Writing Challenge
Bring your incredible imagination and get those creative juices flowing with Yassmin Abdel-Magied’s Creative Writing Challenges, inspired by her short story Kandaka from The Puffin Book of Big Dreams. Yassmin is the author of You Must Be Layla.
3.30pm – Mix-Up a Fairy Tale
Dream big and get ready to mix-up some fairy tales with Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart, there’ll be a special reading from You Choose Fairy Tales and a draw-along with Nick Sharratt at the end.
Tuesday – Dream Wild
The Puffin Festival of Big Dreams events will not be streamed on Tuesday 9 June out of respect for George Floyd’s funeral. Events will be rescheduled to Wednesday when we hope that you can join us. To find out more about how to support black independent bookshops, publishers and writers please click here.
Wednesday – Dream Extraordinary
10.30am – Build An Adventure Workshop
Join this extraordinary workshop to create a wild and mind-blowing adventure story from scratch and join in a draw-along with Frostheart author and illustrator Jamie Littler.
11am – Animal Quiz
Play along and test your knowledge with Sam Copeland's paw-some Animal Quiz, featuring Charlie Changes Into A Chicken.
3.30pm – Very Hungry Caterpillar Craft-Along
For a very special, Very Hungry Caterpillar craft-along, you will need paper, paint, a paintbrush or sponge, scissors, pencil and glue. Join Lucy Walters and get colourfully creative making a beautiful butterfly inspired by Eric Carle’s famous collage illustration technique!
4pm – Great Illustrators Draw-Off
Get ready to dream wild and see some drawing tips, as Nadia Shireen and Ed Vere battle it out in the Great Illustrators Draw-Off! Featuring doodles from How to be a Lion and Billy and the Dragon.
Thursday – Dream Magic
10.30am – Puppet Theatre Workshop
Grab a cardboard box and join Hana Tooke for a brilliantly magical and giggle-filled puppet theatre workshop inspired by The Unadoptables.
3.30pm – Magic Pony Draw-Along
Get your pens and paper ready and your magic dreaming hats on for a draw-along of Jonathan the Magic Pony with Stuart Heritage and Nicola Slater.
Friday – Dream Bold
10.30am – Storytime with Jacqueline Wilson
Settle down for a superb storytime with Jacqueline Wilson as she reads the winning story from the public vote!
3.30pm – Amazing Alphabets
Grab your festival kit and be inspired to dream bold and write your own A-Z of Amazing poem, as Rashmi Sirdeshpande explores Amazing Alphabets from The Puffin Book of Big Dreams. Rashmi is the author of Never Show A T-Rex A Book!
WEEKEND LIVE CREATIVE EXTRAVAGANZA at 11AM, 50 minutes
Puffin presenter Radzi will be reading out dreams and shout-outs throughout the show, so send them in using #PuffinDreamer or email PuffinDreamer@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk
Saturday – Dream Curious
Get ready for a LIVE show where anything could happen! Puffin presenter Radzi will once again be joined by Nick Sharratt, who’ll be sharing his dream drawings. Then the exceptional Robin Stevens will be kicking off Saturday's show with a mystery-making workshop – grown-ups, you can vote for your kids' picks in the comments if you watch together on Facebook or watch on YouTube without comments. After that, hop aboard a boat and take a trip to meet real Puffins with the RSPB before going on an exclusive tour of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid studio with Jeff Kinney.
During Robin Stevens’ event, she’ll be showing viewers how to write a murder mystery story by voting A or B. Robin’s books are recommended for children 9+. If you have younger children, you may want to join at 11:15 to meet the Puffins at Coquet Island.
Sunday - Dream Forever
Get your pen and paper ready for a draw-along of Rocket, the hero of Look Up!, with illustrator Dapo Adeola. Then author Nathan Bryon will give you a sneak peek of their brand new story Clean Up! After that, its time for some backstage secrets from Carrie Hope Fletcher, who’ll be reading from Ballet Shoes, before Lucy Hawking beams in with an intergalactically awesome space quiz. Illustrator in Residence, Nick Sharratt, will be back to share his collage of big dreams inspired by all the dreams you’ve been sending in. Plus, the winners of the National Book Tokens and Puffin Big Dreamers Writing competition will be announced.
The Puffin Collage of Big Dreams
Thank you Puffin Dreamers for sharing hundreds upon hundreds of dreams throughout the festival. We are delighted to present the Puffin Collage of Big Dreams, illustrated by Nick Sharratt and created with the power of your imagination. See if you can spot your dream...