The author of War Horse, Wild Things and The Butterfly Lion will be reading from a selection of his Animal Stories at the Wildlife Park as part of the Island’s big literary festival.

CBeebies presenter Jess French will be exploring the world of insects in a unique MiniBeast Adventure, one of a range of family-based events and workshops taking place at the Wildlife Park during the second Jersey Festival of Words.

Milo Parker, who plays the ‘young Gerald’ in the TV series ‘The Durrells’ will be there to meet, greet and give a reading from My Family and Other Animals, while Jersey’s Youth Theatre will be performing snippets from the book.

Other performers set to appear in the first weekend of October include home-grown literary stars John Henry Falle, aka the Storybeast, and acclaimed performance poet Christian Foley.

Festival Vice-chairman Paul Bisson said: “We’ve enjoyed working closely with Durrell for many months now.

“Durrell Wildlife Park is one of Jersey’s best-loved attractions, and we hope that locals and visitors alike will take advantage of what promises to be a truly unique weekend of events.”

Jersey Festival of Word’s Durrell programme is being sponsored by local firm Le Gallais Self Storage.

Director Robin Sappé said: “We are delighted to sponsor the Durrell Weekend children’s programme at this year’s Jersey Festival of Words, which is sure to be an exciting event for all age groups. We are looking forward to a great weekend in a perfect setting.”