The Edinburgh International Book Festival is being extended by a day this year in order to stage a dedicated schools’ gala day. The expansion of the festival demonstrates the importance Marc Lambert, the children’s and education director, places on the schools programme.

This summer the festival will run in Charlotte Square Gardens from August 10-26, with the schools’ gala day on August 27. Other schools’

events are running on August 22, 23 and 26.

The gala will feature events with 20 children’s story writers, including Terence Blacker, Catherine MacPhail, Mary Hooper and Brian Moses, and a variety of activities, from a recording studio and printmakers workshops to treasure hunts.

“I hope it’s going to be a huge day where we’ll have more than 3,000 schoolchildren on the site,” says Mr Lambert.

Another of the highlights will be the opportunity for upper secondary pupils to meet the charismatic speaker Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, who will talk on a range of modern issues. “Basically, he’s going to be addressing what moral values we cling to in an age where those values seem to be constantly shifting. I think it’s a very stimulating discussion to have with young people,” says Mr Lambert.

The education director is committed to turning the schools programme into a truly national event. Each year 70-80 schools take part in the programme, with 85 per cent of them coming from the Edinburgh area. This year, a grant from the Arts and Business New Partners Fund means there will be a bus fund available for schools travelling from anywhere in Scotland outwith the city area.

Packages were introduced last year which allowed schools to get more out of their visit by combining a number of activities, including workshops, author events and an exhibition visit. This proved successful, with schools travelling from as far as Dundee. A similar package this year includes a visit to a print studio and, again, an illustrators’ exhibition. Also, this year the Schools Gala Day should make it even easier for schools to spend longer at the festival because the day is tailored for them and the bus fund should provide a financial cushion, Mr Lambert points out.

He emphasises that the festival is not just about bringing on the big stars - although of course they will be there - it’s about spotting ascendant stars, such as Sally Prue, who already has people talking about her debut novel, Cold Tom, for 10 to14 year olds.

“It’s an absolutely brilliant book,” enthuses Mr Lambert, “so she’s in the programme.

“But we also try to feature all the best writers for children who are Scottish and living in Scotland, so there’s that focus as well.”

Evening events for teachers include a talk by motivation and learning expert Alistair Smith of Accelerated Learning in Training and Education, an organisation devoted to practical approaches to support learning and help people reach a level of attainment that may seem beyond them. (To find out more, visit www.alite.co.uk) “Provocations” is the title of a series of events run in conjunction with the British Council, which crosses from the main festival into the schools programme. Targetting teenagers, one evening session will feature Theresa Breslin, Irene Watts and Kevin Crossley-Holland, and look at how these writers have tackled writing history for a younger audience.

“Theresa Breslin has just published her First World War novel, Remembrance,” explains Mr Lambert, “and Irene Watts’s novels are strongly autobiographical and look at the expulsion of Jewish children from Germany at the outbreak of war.”

Kevin Crossley-Holland, in his books dealing with the legends of King Arthur, looks at where myth and history coincide. “What’s interesting about the third volume of his trilogy is that it takes in the main protagonists of the Crusades, so there’s a historical underpinning as well as the Arthurian myth.

“From very different perspectives, they’re going to look at how you reinterpret history for a younger age group and why that’s important,” says Mr Lambert.

The teachers’ guide to the festival, sponsored by TES Scotland, directs teachers to the festival website, where information about the authors, teachers’ tips and web links are available. The guide itself can also be downloaded.

“We’re doing this because although the guide goes out to every school in Scotland and TES Scotland has also distributed 10,000 copies with the paper, getting one copy into schools isn’t enough,” says Mr Lambert.

So, teachers do not need to have the printed guide to find out what is going on or to make use of the resources it represents.

“We’re trying to democratise it, if you like.

“There are a lot of resources on the web, whether they’re the authors’ own websites or book-related sites that teachers can really use in very imaginative ways in the classroom.”

For details on book events or the bus fund, call Marc Lambert, tel 0131 228 5444. www.edbookfest.co.uk