It’s Literally Wednesday: The AJC Decatur Book Festival News for Kids!
Dave | July 25, 2012If you are a kid, have a kid, were a kid, or know of any kids, then you’ll definitely want to check out some of the great children’s authors and illustrators coming to Decatur. Here are just some of the highlights.
The Saturday parade is being lead by the great Caldecott Medal, Caldecott Honor, and Newbery Honor winning Kevin Henkes, who will also be batting leadoff at the Children’s Stage. (Due to work on the Square, this stage will be located on the grassy area just south of the Courtyard Inn.) Also appearing on the Children’s Stage on Saturday are Mutts creator and Caldecott Honor winner Patrick McDonnell, Newbery Honor winner Shannon Hale, and Newbery Medal winner Rebecca Stead. It’s really an honor to be hosting all of these honorable people who show their medal. Nick Bruel and his Bad Kitty lead Sunday’s parade. Origami Yoda’s Tom Angleberger will be on stage that day, as is Deron Hicks, Inspector General for the State of Georgia. (I kid you not!) Dav Pilkey, author/illustrator of the Captain Underpants books, Super Diaper Baby books, Dragon books, Ricky Ricotta books, Dumb Bunnies books, and Ook and Gluk books will be here on Sunday for a signing only.
Highlights on The Escape (YA) stage include David Levithan, Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl, Neal Shusterman, Nancy Holder, Maureen Johnson, and Melissa Walker. In addition, there is a lot of buzz over many first-time published authors who are coming, which is truly exciting.
Have you heard the rumor about the demise of the picture book? Well, the reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated, and a very special panel of really smart people will tell you why. Leonard Marcus, the nation’s foremost authority of children’s literature and author of Show Me A Story: Why Picture Books Matter (2012) will be moderating a discussion with two-time(!!!) Caldecott Medal winner Chris Raschka, the great Mac Barnett (who will also be on the Children’s Stage), and local author-who-we-love-a-lot Laurel Snyder at the Decatur Presbyterian Sanctuary Stage on Saturday.
Are you as excited about all of these authors as I am???
This Week
Gerald Chertavian, author of A Year Up: The Pioneering Program That Teaches Young Adults Real Skills for Real Jobs-With Real Success, Thursday, July 26rd, 7:15pm, Decatur Library, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.
Chris Bohjalian, author of The Sandcastle Girls, Monday, July 30th, 7:15pm, Decatur Library, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.
Latest from Decaturish
I love the Kevin Henkes character, Lily. How she deals with her teacher not selecting her as flower girl for his wedding is classic and hysterically funny. There’s adults who need to read it. On the other end of the personality scale, “Wemberly Worried” is one of the best books ever for timid little ones starting school.
Sure hope all the CSD schools will have some involvement with this year’s festival. There’s authors for each level from preK to high school.
Through the efforts of the Decatur Education Foundation, most Decatur students will be visiting with an author on Friday. I don’t know if the list of presenters is official as of yet, but I can tell you that it is impressive.
This has been done for about five years now and is one of the highlights of DBF, even though it is one of the festival’s benefits that isn’t widely publicized.
It is one of the things we look forward to every year – despite the walk from the schools to the square! My child has come away with new favorites after the school visits, and an excitement unmatched at the Book Festival itself when it is realized THAT is the person they JUST met.
We love it and want to thank DBF, et al, for making it possible.
I think a cool thing is that the kids CAN walk to the Square for the event. Couldn’t do that anywhere else I can think of.
Me too! They just get cranky in the heat
Sounds like the Sunday line-up was made just for my 5th grader. We can’t wait!
Monica Pearson nee Kaufman is doing her last broadcast as I type this. It’s a stretch to put this under Literally Wednesday, but she does plan to write a book about her mother after her retirement, so maybe we will see her at the book festival one day. She’s a pioneering woman who will always be the Queen of TV news in Atlanta. Good luck, Monica.
There’s no question that she is a pioneer and well respected for her work on and off the air, but she should have retired a couple of years ago. Watching her phasing and pronunciation get worse and worse was painful and detracted from her legacy, IMO.
The square will be under construction during the book festival????
I believe so. Look for a booth/tent layout similar to the Arts Fest.