Northern Dreaming is a unique gift of stories for the young, produced by LEEDS 2023 and the British Library as part of the LEEDS 2023 artistic programme. It is a collection of poetry and stories by 18 emerging and published writers. Each author shares their unique perspective and imagination, inspiring the next generation of dreamers.
Throughout November and December 2023, LEEDS 203 produced Northern Dreaming Storytime, a performance of Part 1 of the book by performer Kathleen Yore, which toured round to 30 schools and 10 community venues. This performance brought five of the stories and poems to life in a magical, interactive, laugh out loud storytelling performance, which was enjoyed by over 2600 babies and children!
A copy of the Northern Dreaming book has been gifted to babies and children all over Leeds, through children’s centres, community groups and libraries, and a copy has been donated to every school library in Leeds. To accompany this, LEEDS 2023 have also produced a story writing resource, aimed at EYFS-KS1 packed full of activities to support learning in creative writing, themed around the first 5 stories and poems in the book. Although this is primarily aimed at under 7’s, children of all ages can access the activities and they could be adapted for older year groups.
