Collas Crill is sponsoring Book Week in Guernsey, in conjunction with the Guille-Allès Library, for the second year running.
The popular annual event, running w/c 12 October this year, will once again welcome acclaimed children's authors to the island, including an award-winning manga artist and a former stand-up comedian.
Authors Sonia Leong, Ben Davis and Zehra Hicks will tour primary and secondary schools across the island. Throughout the week, every student from Reception through to year 8 - more than 5,000 in total - will have the chance to meet an author and hear them talk about their books. Each author will also host a free public event at the Library, including a manga workshop designed for both children and adults.
Collas Crill staff helped judge a series of art competitions that have been running in schools in the lead-up to the event. Children were invited to create their own monster, draw a postman space helper or create a manga version of themselves. The winners will be announced by the authors during Book Week.
Gareth Bell, Guernsey Managing Partner at Collas Crill said: 'Book Week is a fantastic opportunity to encourage children to discover the joy of reading and to meet the authors and illustrators behind some of their favourite books. Our staff really enjoyed being part of the initiative last year and we’re delighted to be able to once again support the Library in bringing these authors into schools across Guernsey.
'It’s also been great to see the creativity and enthusiasm of the children taking part in the competitions - there have been some brilliant entries once again this year.'
Jodie Hearn, the Library’s Head of Children & Young People’s Services, said: 'We’re extremely excited to be welcoming three fantastic authors to the island for this year’s Book Week. 2026 is the National Year of Reading, encouraging people of all ages to read more – and there’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ thing to read. Manga, picture books, funny books, it all counts!
'Meeting authors can have a lasting impact on children – it can help to inspire a love of reading and writing, and above all it encourages them to read for pleasure, which is so important for both their education and their wellbeing. We can’t wait to introduce the island’s schoolchildren to these three brilliant authors next week.'
For more information about the after-school events, please visit the Library website.
More about the authors
Sonia Leong is a comic book artist, illustrator and author specialising in anime and manga. Sonia’s extensive body of work spans everything from Titan Comics to Doctor Who books to the Netflix series Flowers, and her artwork has been exhibited in London and Kyoto. Sonia will be giving a range of manga-focused talks for Years 7 and 8, plus lunchtime workshops for budding manga artists across the island’s secondary schools.
Ben Davis is a former stand-up comedian turned children’s author and was described by fellow writer Emily-Jane Clark as “one of the funniest voices in children’s fiction”. Ben’s humorous stories include The Soup Movement, The Private Blog of Joe Cowley and My Embarrassing Dad’s Gone Viral, while his latest book, The Big Stink, was recently named a Times Children’s Book of the Week.
Author and illustrator Zehra Hicks has written several picture books including Giraffe and Frog, Pug Hug, and Cheeky Monkey. She’s also illustrated books by other authors including When Dinosaurs Walked the Earth by Sean Taylor, winner of the prestigious Oscar’s Book Prize in 2024.
