Scottish Friendly Children's Book Tour

We invite authors, poets, spoken-word artists, illustrators and other creative practitioners to visit your school, library, or public venue and engage with your learners through a range of creative activities.

Sessions usually last 1 hour, with additional time for book sales/signing. Timings can be adjusted to suit your timetable. Activities include inspiring talks for large audiences, readings, Q&A sessions and book signings. For smaller groups, we provide tailored creative writing and illustration workshops and discussions.

We strive to collaborate with authors whose books explore relevant and timely themes. We feature a diverse range of authors on our tours, from household names to exciting debut writers – all renowned for delivering engaging, high-quality events for children and young people.

We aim to inspire children and young people to discover the joy of reading for pleasure, recognising its many benefits such as enhancing learners' attainment across the curriculum, supporting wellbeing, critical thinking, creativity, empathy and resilience.

An author visit offers a wonderful opportunity to connect young people with writers and illustrators, inspiring them to engage in reading and writing for pleasure.

The application process consists of just three questions to help us learn more about your setting and audience. Please note spaces for the tour are limited, so we would encourage you to send in your application as early as possible. If your application is successful, we will notify you well in advance to give you plenty of time to plan the visit.

Please provide as much detail as possible. You will be asked to select a range of dates and times, so please choose all suitable slots. While times and dates may be subject to change, our staff will work closely with you to ensure the event fits your timetable.

If you need any information before applying, please contact a staff member using the link provided on the application form.

Thanks to our tour sponsor, Scottish Friendly, hosting an author at your school is completely free of charge.

• We’ve prepared a resource for making the most of author visits, which offers useful tips and activity suggestions to get you ready for your event.
• Explore the learning resources on the Scottish Book Trust website. Use the filter options to find the most relevant materials for the type of visit you’ll be receiving. Additionally, the author and their publisher's website can be excellent sources for resources.
• Consider follow-up activities or classroom projects. The resources mentioned above can provide you with plenty of ideas.
• Encourage learners to read the author's book(s) so they can familiarise themselves with their work.
• Organise a classroom project to research the author. This will help learners become more familiar with them and discover common interests.
• Have learners prepare thoughtful questions in advance to ask the author.
• Prepare the space in advance for the author’s arrival by setting up items such as a large screen for slides, a microphone and seating. Scottish Book Trust will work closely with you to ensure the event will run smoothly.
• Decorate the classroom, school library or venue to warmly welcome the author on arrival.

We carefully choose regions to ensure our tour visits each local authority in Scotland, covering 3–4 local authorities per tour. Additionally, we offer virtual events accessible to schools and other settings nationwide.

Yes, we provide live interactive virtual events featuring authors and illustrators from across the country.

Similar to our in-person school visits, the author will engage students with an inspiring talk, a reading and a Q&A session.

We conduct these sessions on Microsoft Teams, ensuring a dynamic and interactive experience. Typically lasting 45 minutes, these events are conducted live and are not recorded.

Sign up for our Schools newsletter to stay updated. You can also find information about our upcoming events on our Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour homepage and on our social media channels.

We will send you a survey where you can provide feedback about the visit.

Yes, they are! Books will be available for purchase at the end of the session, and the author will sign and dedicate each one. We offer discounts whenever possible and accept both cash and card payments. Schools are also welcome to purchase books for their libraries. Please note that there is no obligation to make a purchase.

We would like to take photos and videos during the session, whenever possible. We understand that some children do not have media consent, and we will ensure their images are not captured. The images may be featured on the social media channels and websites of the Scottish Book Trust and Scottish Friendly.

Upon submitting your application, you should receive confirmation on-screen. If the screen is blank, it may indicate that your session has timed out. To ensure you have a copy, we recommend completing your application in a Word document and saving it.

For assistance, please email the contact listed on the tour webpage – they will be happy to help you.

In the unlikely event that you need to cancel the visit, you can contact the member of staff from Scottish Book Trust who you will have been corresponding with. We ask that you provide as much notice as possible.