Children’s author Chae Strathie will be one of the main attractions when Killearn hosts its first Book Festival in the Village Hall this weekend.
The artist and writer has grown a dedicated following through his wacky stories and fun-filled talks for children and will be at the Village Hall on Sunday, September 2 to discuss one of his most recent works, ‘Gorilla Loves Vanilla.’
The brightly-coloured book follows a young ice cream parlour owner, Sam, who encounters a unique array of customers with even stranger requests for flavours of ice cream.
Chae will be delivering one of his typically engaging talks about the book at the Festival from 11am and here he tells the Stirling Council website what visitors can expect.
Chae said: “The main thing is that it’s about entertainment. It’s not just about the books, it’s about giving excitement and joy to the children and connecting those feelings with the books themselves.
“The shows have a mixture of songs about the book, I tend to bring out the guitar and play (badly), and there’s generally a puppet and just all sorts of stuff. Everything’s interactive.
“After the talks I sometimes get the children to make their own drawings as well based on their ideas of how the story will look.”
With such a varied approach to getting children to engage with his work, it’s no wonder that most audiences leave Chae’s talks with a sense of inspiration and excitement.
But it’s not just the readers and listeners who go home happy.
Chae said: “One of the things about being an author is that it’s mostly about writing and you’re generally locked away in some cupboard for months at a time and you don’t get to see the fruits of your labours.
“So to get to see the reaction from children and get the work in front of an audience is great. They love it and it doesn’t seem to matter where they’re from. Children love being told stories so that’s central to it but they love the other bits as well.”
Chae’s work focuses mostly on picture books for ages 3-7, but he has also recently launched a new series of non-fiction books in conjunction with the British Museum.
These historical books are a way to engage slightly older children with history, but still feature his trademark style of giving the reader something to laugh at while learning at the same time.
However, whether it’s fact or fiction he’s working on, Chae is simply happy to be getting young people into reading.
The decline in use of libraries and the explosion of access to social media through the internet and mobile devices means many children aren’t getting the chance to discover the magic of books – whether picture, written word or both.
“Having author talks wasn’t a thing in my day but I remember my mum taking me to the library,” he explained. “It was a huge part of my life, being surrounded by books and getting to choose for myself what ones I wanted to read set me on this course.
“I also liked going to see plays or things like that so the combo of both gave me a love for what I do.”
And Chae’s passion for his work comes back 10-fold in the feedback he receives from parents and children.
“Most events I do I’ll get parents saying they loved it. I even had a video from a mum recently telling me she reads to her son every night and he just loves it.
“A lot of people have a preconception that it’ll be someone just standing there reading from their book and think it’ll be a bit dry but parents are pleasantly surprised and if their kids are obviously enjoying it and taking part it means a lot to the parents. Getting that feedback is great.
“Children’s picture books for the young age group aren’t regarded the same way as adult literature but an adult’s love of reading was sparked by what they read when younger. Picture books are the key that opens the door to a lifetime of reading.”
Chae will be at the Killearn Children’s Book Festival from 11am to 12noon on Sunday, September 2.
Entry to the festival is free but registration is necessary. Submit your details at culturestirling.org to make sure you can be involved.
His next book is due out in spring next year, entitled ‘So you think you’ve got it bad,’ and is another collaboration with the British Museum about growing up in ancient Greece.