ruffalo artist Axel Scheffler has put out a free new picture book explaining the coronavirus to children, Marian Keyes has invited readers to sit down with her for a virtual cup of tea, and Cressida Cowell is reading How to Train Your Dragon aloud for confined children. For the book industry is pulling out all the stops to help keep Britain’s locked down masses entertained, whether that’s expert librarians – now unable to work at their branches – offering reading tips, JK Rowling launching Harry Potter at Home, or Kit de Waal putting together a Big Book Weekend bringing together the best of the British book festivals cancelled due to coronavirus. Here are some of the best free activities now available for the bookishly minded, which we’ll continue to update during the lockdown: Harry Potter at Home: “Bringing Hogwarts to you,” the new website offers stir-crazy children a mix of craft videos, puzzles and quizzes. Drawing a niffler, knitting a Weasley-inspired scarf and discovering your Hogwarts house are all on offer. BookTrust: There’s a plethora of activities at the reading charity’s website. Children’s laureate Cowell is reading a chapter a day from How to Train Your Dragon, illustrators including Rob Biddulph are showing us how to draw their characters, and Andy Stanton has tips on how to write a funny story. They have also kindly rounded up the wealth of activities out there for children. Authorfy: The website is offering daily 10-minute creative challenges for children from writers including Abi Elphinstone, Anna James and Lucy Worsley. At Home With Penguin: On Tuesdays at 5pm BST, authors including Marian Keyes, Richard Osman and Caroline Criado-Perez are streaming live from their homes, where they’ll reveal how they’re coping with life indoors, and what they’re reading and watching to get through confinement. Faber: Over on Twitter, the publisher has launched an online programme, including poet laureate Simon Armitage reading and reflecting on his Marsden poems each Monday, picture-book readings on Friday afternoons and lunchtime shortstories from writers including Sebastian Barry and Edna O’Brien. National Shelf Service: UK librarians have launched a live daily YouTube broadcast at 11am BST featuring book recommendations for children and families, at a time when some library services are reporting increases in online book lending of up to 700%. Emily Haire, a school librarian from Belfast, was up first and plumped for Lisa Williamson’s Carnegie-longlisted young adult novel Paper Avalanche, about a teenager whose mother is a hoarder. Axel Scheffler’s free picture book: The Gruffalo illustrator lays out the coronavirus and the measures being taken to control it in a way that is comprehensible to children. “I asked myself what I could do as an children’s illustrator to inform, as well as entertain, my readers here and abroad,” said Scheffler. “I think it is extremely important for children and families to have access to good and reliable information in this unprecedented crisis, and I hope that the popularity of the books I’ve done with Julia Donaldson will ensure that this digital book will reach many children who are now slightly older, but might still remember our picture books.” The Big Book Weekend: Co-founded by authors Kit de Waal and Molly Flatt, this virtual festival is taking place from 8-10 May and will feature appearances from big names such as Robert Webb and Maggie O’Farrell, as well as the debut authors who might feel they have missed their moment in the sun during lockdown. With book festivals from Hay to Edinburgh to Harrogate now on ice, it will host events “sponsored” by the relevant festival, featuring the authors and other artists that would have appeared. Hay literary festival: With this year’s festival in May now postponed, Hay is planning the “first fully digital” version with webinars, workshops and live social media Q&As planned for the entire month of May. It’s also already launched a Hay festival podcast, giving free access to past events including Stephen Fry with East West Street author Philippe Sands. Forthcoming guests include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Hilary Mantel, Naomi Klein and Caitlin Moran. The Aitken Alexander Isolation Series: Authors at the literary agency including Mark Haddon and Diana Evans have been responding creatively to the lockdown with essays and short fiction, which are free to read online. Puffin Storytime: children’s publisher Puffin is offering regular readings and draw-alongs from its list of authors on Mondays and Fridays at 3.30pm BST. It is also launching a Puffin podcast with comedian and children’s author Humza Arshad on 19 April, packed with “laugh-out-loud stories, games and jokes guaranteed to give you the giggles”. The Bookshop Band: the literary musical act formerly of Mr B’s Book Emporium in Bath will play a live concert on Friday 10 April at 8.30pm BST, with songs “inspired by five books we absolutely love that you may enjoy during lockdown”. The performance will be streamed across multiple Facebook pages – check the list here. Lynda La Plante Q&A: Gin and tonic in hand, the legendary crime author will be answering reader questions every Thursday at 6pm on her Facebook page, and reading excerpts from her new book, Buried.