A roaring, soaring musical for brave little dragons everywhere!

I’m not braggin’ but I’m a dragon’

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s classic, feel-good story is brought to roaring, soaring life in this delightful musical for children.

Zog is the keenest dragon in Madam Dragon’s school. He’s also the most accident-prone, flying into trees and even setting his own wing alight. Thankfully, a kind girl comes along to patch up his scratches and scrapes – but can she help him with his biggest challenge yet, so that he can finally win a golden star?

This charming smash-hit show, from the producers of Stick Man and Zog and the Flying Doctors, features joyful songs by Joe Stilgoe and beautiful puppets by Little Angel. It’s a treat for children and adults alike!

Tickets: £19.50 (includes £2.50 ticket levy)

Tuesday 28 July

Wednesday 29 July

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Thursday 03 September 2026, 12.00pm – 5.00pm
St Leonard-at-the-Hythe, Hythe Hill, Colchester, Essex, CO1 2NP.

Stories in Transit is an ongoing workshop series, inviting participants who have lived experience of migration to imagine and create fantastical stories together. Together with artists, musicians, animators and writers, stories that emerge through play, games and walks are developed and performed.

Tickets: Free, places limited, booking essential. Reserve a spot here..
Some participants will be invited to attend via a number of local organisations who we are partnering with on this event.

This event is kindly funded by The Bean Trust.

Photo of workshop by Lee Shearman.

The post Stories in Transit appeared first on Essex Book Festival.

Thursday 08 October 2026, 7.00pm
Rayleigh Library, 132/4 High Street, Rayleigh, SS6 7BX

Celebrate the joy of reclaiming our stories with best-selling author, journalist and broadcaster Sally Magnusson. The Shapeshifter’s Daughter is a spellbinding feminist retelling of the Norse myth of Hel, the Goddess of the Underworld, set in the magical landscape of Orkney.

** Note: This event was originally booked for Thursday 18 June. Now rescheduled to Thursday 08 October.**

Photo of Sally Magnusson © Derek Prescott

Bestselling author, journalist and broadcaster Sally Magnusson has written several books for adults and children, most recently her Sunday Times bestseller Where Memories Go (2014) about her mother’s dementia, The Sealwoman’s Gift (2018), her acclaimed debut novel, The Ninth Child (2020) and Music in the Dark (2022). Sally lives outside Glasgow.

Selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club Autumn Season 2025.

The spellbinding feminist retelling of the Norse myth of Hel, the Goddess of the Underworld, set in the magical landscape of Orkney, from the Sunday Times bestselling author Sally Magnusson.

Nothing, on earth or below it, freezes faster than the worthless heart.

Before she was a hideous monster, the queen of the underworld was simply Hel. But cast as a girl out of lofty Asgard, realm of the gods, by Odin the Allfather, Hel’s fate as the terrible goddess of death is sealed. Half beauty, half crone, she has reigned for aeons in the starless darkness of Niflheim, grimly welcoming the most pitiful of death’s travellers to her ice-locked prison. Until one day a memory shifts, and she is forced to seek out the sun in Midgard, where humans have made their home.

Faced with a terminal cancer diagnosis, Helen Firth makes the impulsive decision to return to Orkney after forty years to make peace with her past. Under the wintering solstice sun, she reconnects with the ungainly but affable Thorfinn Coffin, who helps her address the real reason she has returned to the islands to die.

As Helen draws closer to death and ever closer to Thorfinn, Hel in turn is intrigued by Helen. She, too, has a past to confront and a lesson to learn: that perhaps who she thinks she is isn’t who she is really meant to be.

A powerful reimagining of the Norse myth of Hel, The Shapeshifter’s Daughter celebrates the joy of reclaiming our stories.

Order a hardback copy of the book from bookshop.org.

Pre-order a paperback copy of the book from bookshop.org – released 04 June 2026.

Chris Penhall

Sally Magnusson will be in conversation with Chris Penhall.

Chris Penhall writes uplifting stories set in gorgeous places.

A member of The Society of Authors and the Romantic Novelists Association, she has written six books, the first of which, The House That Alice Built won the Choc-Lit Search for a Star Competition in 2019. She is currently working on her 7th book.

A freelance radio and podcast producer, Chris worked for BBC Essex for many years and was an Associate Producer for the Richard and Judy Podcast for Jibba Jabba Pods for 9 years. She presents and produces a community radio show called Books and Tunes, a podcast called Chris and Lizzie’s Random Bookish Chats with fellow author Lizzie Chantree, and also runs writing workshops.

You can find more information about her on her website www.chrispenhall.co.uk
Instagram: christinepenhall
or Facebook as ChrisPenhallWriter
https://linktr.ee/chrispenhall

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