10:00- James Carter 10:30 RBS Story Box, Free: Book in Advance All Ages Join acclaimed poet James Carter as he performs from his new collection of poems, Hey, Little Bug! This is a perfect introduction for very young children to the delights of poetry. James writes with great humour, tenderness and fun and his lively event offers plenty of opportunities for all to join in. 13:30 The Brain of James Carter RBS Imagination Lab, £4.50 Age 6 - 10 Have a peak into the mind of poet, James Carter. There's everything from woolly mammoths to tigers, bugs to books, stars to dinosaurs. James skilfully turns anything into verse, playing with words to transform a single idea into clever, funny, engaging poems. See him perform his latest collection and find out why you shouldn't ever attempt to do a jigsaw in space! 15:00 Kamishibai Tales with Fergus McNicol RBS Imagination Lab, £4.50 Families & 6+ Storyteller Fergus McNicol introduces the traditional Japanese Kamishibai bike, a bicycle with a small wooden stage, which is used to tell tales using different picture cards. The enchanting stories he tells come from around the world from Japan to Scotland and back again. 16:00 Final Whistle with Dan Freedman Peppers Theatre, £4.50 Age 9 - 12 After leading Scotland to near-victory in the World Cup, Jamie Johnson has landed the dream job: playing football for one of the best teams in the world, Barcelona. Dan Freedman is one of the UK's leading football fiction writers and has worked at the top level of football, writing for the FA and the Premier League as well as attending two World Cups. Join him as he talks about the last book in his hugely popular Jamie Johnson series, Final Whistle. 16:30 Donut Diaries with Anthony McGowan RBS Imagination Lab, £4.50 Age 9 - 11 Dermot Milligan's got problems. He's overweight and hooked on donuts. Sent to a nutritionist, he's been encouraged to keep a diary of all the donuts he eats. Anthony McGowan's new series is a funny, irreverent take on the life of an overweight, sister-pestered eleven year old boy. The books have been described by Andy Stanton as being, 'like a donut, both sweet and disgusting at the same time'. The perfect treat for a Friday afternoon? Of course it is! 17:00 Katie Dale & Jennifer E Smith RBS Corner Theatre, £4.50 Age 14 - 16 In The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight Jennifer E Smith asks whether a string of seemingly insignificant moments can amount to something life changing, such as meeting your soul mate. Katie Dale's novel, Someone Else's Life, tells of a young girl who discovers she has been living a lie, exploring how she copes with rebuilding her life. Join them to talk secrets, love and life-changing moments. 19:00 THE WELLCOME TRUST EVENT What Comes Next? RBS Corner Theatre, £4.50 Age 12+ Acclaimed author Keith Gray has edited an anthology of stories by leading writers looking at where we go when we die, entitled Next. Each short story examines the idea in different ways. Kate Harrison's trilogy Soul Beach is about a girl whose sister is murdered and trapped in a kind of limbo website for young people but can communicate with a chosen loved one through the site. Join Keith, Kate and Iona Heath, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners and author of Matters of Life and Death, to explore the idea of afterlife, why some believe there is such a thing and what makes death such fertile territory for writers. 10:00- Are You Sitting Comfortably? 10:30 RBS Story Box, Free: Book in Advance All Ages Join us for a quick, magical dip into the world of words with our free morning events for children of all ages. It might be a story, a poem, songs and rhymes or a reading with one of our Festival authors. Appearing today: Kathryn Erskine. 10:00 The Etherington Brothers' Comic Making Workshop RBS Imagination Lab, £4.50 Age 7 - 11 After their storming performance last year, Lorenzo and Robin Etherington return with a new comic-making workshop extravaganza based around their critically acclaimed book Baggage. You'll discover all the secrets you need to create your own adventures in words and pictures, plus you'll receive a free copy of the Etherington Brothers' Go Nuts comic-making activity book! 10:30 Sally Magnusson & Norman Stone ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £4.50 Age 6 - 9 Join writer and broadcaster Sally Magnusson to hear all about her first children's book, Horace and the Haggis Hunter. The book, illustrated by TV producer husband Norman Stone, is a tale of a refugee haggis running from an evil haggis-hunter and finding safety among the kind animals of Acre Valley. It's a charming story of adventure, secrets and unforgettable characters. 10:30 Gods and Warriors with Michelle Paver RBS Corner Theatre, £4.50 Age 10+ Following the conclusion of her Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series, Michelle Paver is here to introduce you to her thrilling new series Gods and Warriors. Set during the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean it promises exciting adventures against the backdrop of a vividly-imagined prehistoric setting. Come and hear all about Michelle's inspiration for the books and her extensive research, including dolphin watching. 11:30 Rosie Rushton RBS Imagination Lab, £4.50 Age 10 - 14 The highly acclaimed author of more than forty novels for teenagers, Rosie Rushton is passionate about the challenges facing young people and her writing is both humorous and insightful. Now, she has brought the novels of Jane Austen bang up-to-date and asks, when we set aside the polite tea parties and conventions of 18th century etiquette, are teenagers today really so different from their 18th century counterparts? Fri 24 AugustSat 25 AugustANOBII FIRST BOOK AWARD NOMINEE76Katie Dale, 17:00.any plan which doesn't end in the bad guy getting a face-full of monkey poo should consider itself a failure.Anthony McGowan,The Donut Diaries of Dermot Milligan, 16:30

12:00 Fishy Tails with Liz Kessler RBS Corner Theatre, £4.50 Age 9 - 12 Emily Windsnap lives on a boat, but her mum doesn't want her to go swimming. She soon learns why: as soon as she gets into water, she grows a tail! Join Liz Kessler as she divulges all about her Emily Windsnap stories - magical adventures, centred around mermaids, friendship and family. 13:30 The Sleeping Army with Francesca Simon RBS Main Theatre, £4.50 Age 9 - 12 Join Horrid Henry creator Francesca Simon to hear about her new book for older readers, The Sleeping Army, a fast-paced adventure set in an alternative world where people still worship the Norse Gods. Francesca introduces her young heroine Freya, who embarks on a terrific journey through the Norse myths. There are encounters with wolves, giantesses and ghosts, the Lewis Chessmen and a chilling visit to Hel, the Norse underworld.13:30 Paul Dowswell RBS Imagination Lab, £4.50 Age 11 - 16 Award-winning author Paul Dowswell writes about the lives of ordinary people facing political extremism. His compelling historical fiction novels, Ausländer and Sektion 20 examine life for teenagers, in both Nazi and then communist Berlin. Who can you trust? What are you expected to say? What kind of music are you allowed to listen to? How would you behave? 14:00 Jonathan Meres RBS Corner Theatre, £4.50 Age 8 - 13 Former stand-up comedian, Jonathan Meres is back and this time beware because he may cause irritation and he may produce gas! Yes, he'll tell you about the next two books in what is proving to be a laugh-out-loud series about hapless Norm, who struggles to understand just why EVERYTHING is always so unfair. So far he's been forced to move house and then his awful cousins arrive to stay. Come and find out what's in store in books three and four. 14:30 Celebrating 75 Years of the Hobbit Peppers Theatre, £4.50 Families & 8+ Join Lynn Whitaker, Chair of the Tolkien Society, as she embarks on a journey to The Shire. Come along as she takes you through all things Hobbit, blending the literary with movie speculation, trivia and quizzes, as well as anecdotal and biographical elements from Tolkien's life. This will be a fascinating event for Tolkien fans both young and old.15:00 Caroline Lawrence RBS Imagination Lab, £4.50 Age 8 - 11 At the end of book seventeen of The Roman Mysteries, Caroline Lawrence introduced us to Threptus, a young beggar boy. In her fun new mystery series, Threptus starts work with his mentor, the soothsayer Floridius, and together they must solve their first case. Come and meet the author and hear more about her brave and funny new hero and his adventures in ancient Rome.15:30 Carol Ann Duffy ScottishPower Studio Theatre, £4.50 Families & 7+ Carol Ann Duffy has been acclaimed as the first Poet Laureate for the whole family with her brilliant poems for children as well as adults. Join her with musician John Sampson for an hour of beautiful words, accompanied by masterfully performed melodies from an array of exotic wind instruments such as a crumhorn and hilusi. 15:30 Anthony McGowan RBS Corner Theatre, £4.50 Age 10 - 14 Willard Price's Adventure series has transported legions of youngsters to the wildest places on earth to encounter cannibals and crocodiles, trapping snakes and riding on the backs of whales. Now, children's author Anthony McGowan has been commissioned by the Willard Price estate to write four new books, starring the children of the original characters. Hear how great new stories can be created from popular classics to capture the hearts of a new generation of readers. 16:30 CRYPT with Andrew Hammond RBS Imagination Lab, £4.50 Age 11 - 14 Andrew Hammond made his first foray into fiction last year with The Gallows Curse, the smart, fast-paced first book in his new teen horror series CRYPT, which we launched at last year's Book Festival. Join him for a roller-coaster ride through the grim and gruesome history of the world's most famous cities with Traitor's Revenge, the much-anticipated second in the series. Ghosts and ghouls guaranteed! 17:00 Kathryn Erskine & Sally Nicholls RBS Corner Theatre, £4.50 Age 14 - 16 How do you get inside the mind of a girl with Asperger's or a 12th century teenager struggling to cope as plague sweeps the country? Kathryn Erskine's striking debut novel, Mockingbird, is the story of a girl dealing with the violent death of her brother; Sally Nicholls follows up her contemporary novels, Ways to Live Forever and Season of Secrets with the historical, All Fall Down. Join them as they talk character, voice and authenticity. 18:30 Lian Hearn RBS Imagination Lab, £4.50 Age 14 - 16 Australian author Lian Hearn joins us to discuss her brilliant fantasy series Tales of the Otori. Beginning with Across the Nightingale Floor, the books transport the reader to a world very much like feudal, samurai Japan but with elements of magic and mystery. With beautifully drawn characters and incredibly evocative descriptions of the land, the stories are full of battles, betrayals, adventure and love. 20:00- Night Owl 20:45 RBS Imagination Lab, Free: Book in Advance Age 0 - 3 Are you the parents of a small person who is a night owl and becomes more active as an evening wears on? If so, this new event is for you. Join us for some gentle stories and rhymes from our storyteller and let your little one be taken on a journey to the land of nod.Michelle Paver, 10:30Anthony McGowan, 15:30See page 83 for booking detailsBook now: www.edbookfest.co.uk 0845 373 588877full failure.