Every year a big part of the Children’s Book Festival are the various competitions run to keep young readers and creatives across the country very busy indeed! And this year is no exception with four competitions taking place!

2012 will again see the return of the incredibly popular O’Brien Press Cover Design Competition, which gives budding designers the opportunity to have their artwork featured on the cover of a professionally published book. To celebrate the fifth year of the O’Brien Press competition, Gillian Perdue’s title Adam’s Starling, first published in 2002, has been chosen for re-jacketing. The lucky winner will not only see their design gracing the shelves in their local library or bookshop, but will have their entire class invited to a glitzy awards ceremony and will win five sets of all Gillian Perdue’s O’Brien Press titles for their school! Click here for the entry form.

Aspiring writers will also have the chance to enter a writing competition in association with Little Island. Veronica Bennett’s book The Broomstick Bike has been chosen for this competition, which asks young readers and budding writers everywhere to find a copy of The Broomstick Bike at their local library and write a short story inspired by the title and cover. The lucky overall winner will receive a book token for €50 and a bundle of books for his or her class library from Little Island. Click here for the entry form.

This year CBI are asking young readers to come up with a book title that perfectly encapsulates the poster image created by Steve McCarthy. The lucky winner will receive goodies for themselves and their school or library! Entry form this way!

**UPDATE: THE CRESSIDA COWELL COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED- MANY THANKS FOR YOUR ENTRIES!**

You need to get your skates on for competition number 4 as the closing date is looming! This CBF Cressida Cowell is visiting Dublin to meet 25 of her biggest fans! On Wednesday October 17th you could meet Cressida and join her on a Splash Viking Tour discovering more about Dublin’s Viking past, with some dragonese thrown in for good measure! To be in with a chance of winning this amazing competition, please email aoife@childrensbooksireland.ie with your name, age, phone number, address and answer to the following question: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is the main character in the How to Train Your Dragon series of books, but what are the names of his two dragons? The closing date for entries is Monday 1st October so get going and good luck!

**UPDATE: THE CRESSIDA COWELL COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED- MANY THANKS FOR YOUR ENTRIES!**