The girls and I were invited to celebrate Little Tiger Press Books 30th birthday on Saturday, at Discover in Stratford – London. Eva was especially excited at the idea of getting to meet authors and illustrators as she has become a total bookworm. So excited she woke us at 6am that day!
When we arrived Author Tracey Corderoy read her book Fairytale Pets, an absolutely fantastic story full of fun characters. As Tracey read illustrator Jorge Martin drew the characters which was amazing to watch! Eva sat mesmerized listening to the story whilst Izzy was… well Izzy haha! She spent half the time listening and half trying to ‘pop’ balloons.
After Tracey read the story to us Beth from Little Tiger Press ran through what we would be doing. There were 4 tables where we would spend 15 minutes at each. Authors and illustrators had crafts laid out based on their book. They all looked fantastic but biscuits definitely lured all the children in!
I managed to coax the girls away from the biscuits and we sat with Jonny Lambert, Author & illustrator of An Only Lonely Panda. Jonny had Tiger masks to cut out and wear. He was brilliant with the girls, chatting away with us all and helping Eva whilst I helped Izzy.
The girls loved acting like tigers with their masks, getting out their claws and growling!
At the next table we met Caroline Crowe, author of Tiny Tantrums. Tiny Tantrum monsters had been cut out ready for decorating. Again the girls happily chatted away whilst making their monsters, adding googly eyes & colouring them.
As always Eva made her’s extra colourful whilst Izzy enjoyed giving her monster 4 eyes. They both brought home their monsters to finish off too.
We then moved on to the table the girls had their eye on at the start, Tracey Corderoy had delicious biscuits for them to decorate with icing and a range of sprinkles. The girls loved chatting to Tracey and covering their biscuits. They also made a paper bag grumpy bear from the story!
Izzy concentrated so much making her biscuit, no surprise there. She loves her food haha!
When the final bell rang Eva ran over to the final table. ‘That is Actually MY blanket, Baby!’ author Angie Morgan and illustrator Kate Alizadeh helped the children decorate their own blanket.
Whilst Eva was busy glittering, Jorge Martin sat with Izzy drawing a tiger. Izzy of course took over! Between them they made this cute tiger with a basket of fruit for him to eat.
Eva loved making her blanket and getting glitter everywhere. Izzy did get round to making her own blanket too but I accidentally left it behind. Oops.. bad mummy!
At the end Caroline Crowe read Tiny Tantrums and the girls had lots of fun joining in and stamping their feet. Izzy tried getting a little too involved . She loved the story and had to be pulled back. She was over the moon to discover she had a copy to take home at the end.
To finish celebrating Little Tiger Press Books 30th Birthday there was a buffet. Of course this made Izzy extremely happy! A Little Tiger tote was handed out too. Inside were the 4 books from each table. The girls were able to get them signed by the authors and illustrators too which of course made Eva ecstatic. A beautiful selection of books to add to their ever growing book case!
It was lovely being invited to Little Tiger Press Books 30th Birthday party. It was a brilliant afternoon & I got to meet another blogger too, Bell From Bow who surprised me by recognising me. Pretty cool but so unexpected I probably went bright red!
After the party we were able to explore Discover and it’s fantastic play areas. You may have seen from My Sunday Photo’s. The girls were amazed by it and I can’t deny I was too! The magical tree with it’s musical notes & hidey holes for the kids to play in, Hootahs flying observatory & the outside play area have to be our favourite parts. We spent well over an hour there before having to head back for the train. We will be going back there in the summer to play as it is so cool!
Did you know it was Little Tiger Press Books 30th Birthday? Do you have any of the books mentioned here?