In today's programme, Claire Armitstead talks to the children's authors Francesca Simon and Eoin Colfer, plus the poet and performer Lemn Sissay. We also hear what some of the youngest fans of the Hay festival like to read.
Francesca Simon is author of the top-selling Horrid Henry books, which appeal to everyone's inner child, whether they are eight or 80. She discusses the importance of being bad in children's books, and why Henry is not actually all that horrid.
Colfer is the creator of the anti-hero Artemis Fowl, who makes a keenly anticipated return in August. In the meantime, he has invented another hero, born in a hot air balloon in the late 19th century and destined for a life of thrilling fight and flight. A former teacher, Colfer introduces Conor Broekhart and explains why he's not afraid of using difficult words in his novels - while also shedding light on the meaning of 'nunga-nunga'.
Sissay believes poetry is only a problem for children if adults make it one. He demonstrates just how good it can get by reciting one of his own poems. As patron of the Letterbox club, which sends books to children in care, he also explains why books are so vital to young people and why parents in children's literature have a habit of disappearing.
We have a sneak preview of the film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, due to be released in September. And we talk to director Mark Herman and author John Boyne about telling the story of two small boys confronting the Holocaust from opposite sides of the concentration camp fence.
Plus: Julia Donaldson explains where the Gruffalo came from and Salman Rushdie confides in a young fan about the sorts of books he liked to read as a small boy.
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