What happens when children don’t just listen to stories, but step into them, change them, and continue telling them? Together with ZULA Tribe, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) dedicates a day to stories that move through spaces and among people. A story might spark a reading, it could find a quiet home in the pop-up library, or perhaps take an unexpected turn in the comic workshop. 

Authors and illustrators offer insights into how their books are created and engage families in conversations about characters, images, and ways of telling stories. The stories children encounter also shape which experiences they perceive as worth telling and whether they find themselves reflected in the worlds that books create. I’ll Tell You About My World therefore offers a space for stories that bring different realities of life to light and give voice to perspectives that are rarely heard elsewhere. 

Rather than seeing children simply as an audience to whom finished stories are presented, the festival takes them seriously as active storytellers. Drawing on their own experiences and perspectives, they are invited to pick up on what they hear, adapt it, and carry it forward. In this way, the young audience shapes not only the stories they encounter, but the festival day itself.

Programme 
 

12:00
Opening Speech and Programme Overview

12:15
Pop-Up Library

Workshop: The Storytelling Coat with 100 Secret Pockets
with Sofia Burchardi und Claudia Frickemeier, Blue Boat Books
In English and German
Recommended for ages 6 and up
The Storytelling Coat is filled with mysterious objects that invite participants to invent stories of their own. Using playful writing and design techniques, they turn these ideas into small handmade storybooks.

Workshop: Street Art
with Magdalena Wiegner
In English and German
Recommended for ages 5 and up
Random scribbles become monster characters of their own, which are then drawn on sticker paper and brought to life through googly eyes.

13:20
Book Reading: So sind wir
followed by a meet & greet
with Josephine Apraku
In German
Recommended for ages 3 and up

14:00
Pop-Up Library

Workshop: Street Art
with Magdalena Wiegner
In English and German
Recommended for ages 5 and up
Random scribbles become monster characters of their own, which are then drawn on sticker paper and brought to life through googly eyes.

Workshop: The Storytelling Coat with 100 Secret Pockets
with Sofia Burchardi und Claudia Frickemeier, Blue Boat Books
In English and German
Recommended for ages 6 and up
The Storytelling Coat is filled with mysterious objects that invite participants to invent stories of their own. Using playful writing and design techniques, they turn these ideas into small handmade storybooks.

15:10
Book Reading: Amma kann nicht einschlafen and Teryam, ich find dich
followed by a meet & greet
with Regina Feldmann and Yama Tessa Hart
In German
Recommended for ages 3 / 5 and up

16:00
Pop-Up Library

Workshop: Street Art
with Magdalena Wiegner
In English and German
Recommended for ages 5 and up
Random scribbles become monster characters of their own, which are then drawn on sticker paper and brought to life through googly eyes.

Workshop: The Storytelling Coat with 100 Secret Pockets
with Sofia Burchardi und Claudia Frickemeier, Blue Boats Books
In English and German
Recommended for ages 6 and up
The Storytelling Coat is filled with mysterious objects that invite participants to invent stories of their own. Using playful writing and design techniques, they turn these ideas into small handmade storybooks.

Workshop: Comic
with Cannaday Chapman
In English and German
Recommended for ages 6 and up
From the initial sketch to the final ink drawing, children and families will develop their own comic panel while exploring the basics of visual storytelling.

17:15
Musical Storytime
with Lindiwe Suttle Müller-Westernhagen

17:45
Workshop: Beatboxing
with Marvelin
In German
Recommended for ages 5 and up
Through collaborative soundexperiments, participants create their own beats and collective sonic experiences, with no instruments or prior experience required.

18:30
Concert
Julie Pascale