Crowds gather to see Children’s Laureate open new Children’s Bookshop in Bedford
Hundreds of booklovers came to see the UK Children’s Laureate open Rogan’s Books, a brand new children’s bookshop on Castle Road on Saturday 24 October 2015.
Speaking of the opening UK Children’s Laureate, Chris Riddell, said Rogan’s Books was his new favourite shop: “Bookshops are brilliant places where we discover books that will stay with us forever. Bedford is very lucky to have a new bookshop brimming with beautiful books just waiting to be discovered and I was thrilled to be asked to open it.”
Owner of Rogan’s Books, Rachael Rogan, says the turnout on Saturday to see Chris and other favourite children’s authors open the shop shows that children really love reading: “I am so humbled by how many people came to Rogan’s Books on its opening day. Now we’re open we’ll give children and parents a chance to enter a world of unknown adventure and wild creativity. They’ll be able to visit much-loved characters in new adventures and be introduced to new friends from their best loved authors. The number of booklovers coming along today shows that reading rocks.”
Helping to open the new book shop were other children’s authors who stayed to sign their books and take pictures with fans. Including:
- Steve Cole (Stop Those Monsters!, Young Bond)
- David Litchfield (The Bear and the Piano)
- Katharine James and Katy Dynes (Archie’s Rugby Dream)
- Lloyd Lugsden (The Noisiest Band in the Land)
Also at the opening was Ian Henderson from Forest School who brought along Indiana the Barn Owl to entertain visitors and show that Rogan’s Books will be much more than your average bookshop: “As well as stocking children’s books for all tastes, we’ll also be a center for activities such as after school readings, holiday workshops, baby and toddler reading groups and even some reading events for mums and dads too. We’ll also be a venue for other children’s groups and will be welcoming Tatty Bumpkin’s Yoga inspired activity classes for babies and kids in our opening week.”
