Book-mad children — and those who need a bit of encouragement — will find plenty to interest them at the festival.

Top billing goes to Philip Pullman, who will host two events where young readers can ask him about Lyra and Will, Yorek Byrnisson, Lee Scoresby, Serafina Pekkala and their daemons. A 16-year-old school student, Anouchka Harris, will interview him about the His Dark Materials trilogy, and he joins a panel discussion about fantasy.

Children who need to be dragged away from the TV can be lured with the chance to meet all three authors who were shortlisted this year in Blue Peter's "Book I Couldn't Put Down" category.

The event in Christ Church hall, famously used as Hogwarts dining room in the Harry Potter films, features Frank Cottrell Boyce, author of the laugh-out-loud space adventure Cosmic; professional singer Harriet Goodwin, author of The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43; and the Blue Peter winner, Ali Sparkes, whose tale of two cryogenically frozen children from the 1950s, brought back to life in 2009, is called Frozen in Time. All three are pictured right, clockwise from top, Cottrell Boyce, Goodwin, Sparkes.

Screenwriter and best-selling novelist Anthony Horowitz will talk about his writing for film and television, including Stormbreaker, about teenage superspy Alex Rider. He will offer behind-the-scenes insights into the ITV mini-series Collision, and into his writing for the wartime detective series Foyle's War, explaining why he names his villains after his schoolteachers.

An event with author Cressida Cowell on the eve of the animated film of her book How to Train Your Dragon had sold out, but organisers have moved to a bigger venue to accommodate more young people. She will introduce her hero, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, a very small Viking with a very big name, and will talk about the inspiration for her stories, draw and answer questions.

Another must-see for young audiences is Steve Cole, who will talk about the dino-tastic Astrosaurs, the udderly moo-vellous Cows in Action and his new book Z-Rex. Expect heaps of energy.