Every child attending this performance will receive a FREE copy of My Baba's Garden to take home and keep!
Autumn performances 2024 › London
Sydney Smith London performance
In partnership with the Southbank Centre we are proud to present author and illustrator Sydney Smith, winner of the 2024 Hans Christian Andersen Award. He is coming all the way from Canada to London to talk to us about his life and work. Find out how Sydney creates his pictures, listen to him read his books and look at his exquisite illustrations on a large screen as he tells you the stories. Watch Sydney paint live on stage: it’s an immersive and unforgettable experience to see an artist’s effortless brushstrokes develop into a beautiful scene right before your very eyes! There will be the opportunity to ask questions, and every child will receive a free copy of My Baba’s Garden to take home and keep. Join us and inspire children to read, write and draw!
"The children really loved Sydney's performance and they very much enjoyed their afternoon with Sydney working with them in the classroom."
Teacher, primary school in Exeter
- Venue:
- Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX
- Date:
- Friday 25th October
- Time:
- 11:00 am
- Duration:
- Approx. 1 hour
- Age range:
- Years 2, 3 and 4
- Tickets:
- £7
Sydney Smith
Sydney Smith is an award-winning Canadian illustrator and author. He was born in rural Nova Scotia and started drawing at an early age. Since graduating from NSCAD University, he has illustrated multiple children’s books, including Town Is by the Sea, and Small in the City, which have both won the Kate Greenaway Medal. He was awarded the extremely prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration in 2024.
Praise for My Baba's Garden
It’s an extraordinary book about love and family, full of lyrical writing, and Smith’s illustrations are sublime. An original, heart-squeezing hug of a book.
Watch:
Take a little tour of Sydney's studio, and watch him paint a picture
Book tickets for an event and receive two free books for your classroom
Free Workshops!
The Children’s Bookshow will allocate four free in-classroom workshops to schools attending this performance with 30 or more children. Book tickets for this event to have a chance of being chosen to receive this fantastic opportunity.
Find out more:
We feel it is so beneficial for our children to have the opportunity to meet authors and to hear them talk about their work. The children themselves are so enthusiastic about reading after these events that we feel they are an invaluable contribution towards our children becoming both skilled readers and lovers of reading.
The details
- Please arrive at the venue at least 20 minutes before the start of the performance, so that you have enough time to find your seats and and use the bathroom. Our start times are strictly governed by the theatres that we work with and by the start and end times of the school day. If you are unavoidably delayed, please get in touch with your Children’s Bookshow contact as soon as possible.
- Depending on the time of the performance, you may want your children to bring a packed lunch. (Please contact the theatre directly to check if there is a suitable space.)
- Parking facilities vary from theatre to theatre; please check the theatre website for details.
- Please contact the theatre directly for risk assessment information.
- Please ensure your children have visited the bathroom before the show starts, or ask them to wait until after the performance ends. A constant stream of children getting up to go to the toilet is very distracting for our performers and other members of the audience.
Still have questions? You can find our FAQs here.
Have any questions? Get in touch
Your contact for this performance is Liz Neville, she will be happy to answer any queries you have:
- liz@thechildrensbookshow.com
- Phone
- 07866 311486