Anything that involves the work of Quentin Blake is bound to catch Londonist's eye, which is why we find ourselves telling you about the youth festival that will be taking place at the French Institute (sorry, the Institut français) over three days in the middle of next week.
It's not half-term or anything so it seems slightly strange timing for a series of events aimed directly at children, but the line-up is pretty good so we're sure there'll be more than a few adult planning to make their way over to Kensington for the event.
The idea behind the festival is to allow children to come and meet, and learn about some of the greatest French and British authors and illustrators, who will be reading from, talking about and signing their work all for free.
To give you an idea of the participating talent here's a bit of the blurb from the festival's website:
On the British side, Quentin Blake, Michael Morpurgo, Philip Ardagh, Angela Barrett, Richard Brassey and Jackie Morris; on the French side, Chen, Katy Couprie, Rébecca Dautremer, Erik L'Homme, Claire Merleau-Ponty, Jean Molla, Elodie Nouhen, François Place, Olivier Tallec and Anne Tardy.
Not bad eh? And as well as the books there's a film programme as well as a 'grown up' event where the creators of the Musée en Herbe in Paris will "discuss how to familiarise children with the arts".
Although, to be honest, laughing our arses off at Quentin Blake's drawings is about as grown up as Londonist gets.
The Youth Festival runs from 23-26 November at the Institut français, 17 Queensberry Place, SW7 2DT. Entry is free.
