(c) Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival
Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival
As we enjoy these waning days of summer, some of us might be looking forward to the less hectic and cooler months ahead when it’s more acceptable to curl up inside with a good book. While preparing for this shift in seasons and planning Fall activities, you should consider taking your book-loving kids to the 2018 Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival taking place on Saturday, September 29th (10 AM-4 PM) in Chappaqua, New York.
The festival bills itself as “the most exciting day for young readers across New York City, Brooklyn, Westchester, and Connecticut,” and after reviewing the impressive list of more than 90 popular children’s authors attending the event, that sounds about right. Along with many authors coming from across the country to read and sign books, we are excited to see several wonderful Brooklyn authors on the list of attendees, including Melissa Walker, Artie Bennett, Melissa Iwai, Denis Markell, and Lori Richmond.
Brooklyn Authors Attending Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival
Picture book author Artie Bennett (The Butt Book; Poopendous!; Peter Panda Melts Down!; and Belches, Burps, and Farts—Oh My!) is a book festival veteran. “Since the publication of my first ‘mature’ work, The Butt Book, back in January 2010, I’ve shared my superfun books at scores of children’s book festivals, both near and far. And I have to say, without hesitation, that the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival is the finest one that I’ve attended, bar none.”
Brooklyn author Melissa Walker has published eight novels in the young adult genre. A former editor at ELLEgirl and Seventeen magazines, Walker received praise for her “Violet on the Runway” trilogy, which NPR called “a realistic portrait of the fashion industry” and Teen Book Review described as a coming-of-age tale that weaves in important contemporary themes like body image and self-esteem. Her latest book is a middle grade novel entitled Let’s Pretend We Never Met.
Melissa Iwai is a children’s book author and illustrator who makes beautiful artwork. Iwai has illustrated more than 30 children’s books including Pizza Day, Soup Day, I’ll Hug You More, Truck Stop, My Snow Globe, and many more. She also happens to be married to children’s author Denis Markell, who will join her at the festival. Markell is known for his first Middle Grade novel Click Here to Start, and recently published a second novel based on his tween son’s Dungeons and Dragons game called The Game Masters of Garden Place. He has also written two picture books, Hush Little Monster and The Great Stroller Adventure, which were both illustrated by Melissa Iwai.
Lori Richmond is another wonderful children’s author, illustrator, and picture book maker. Previously a corporate creative director and contributing editor at The Bump, Richmond became an author-illustrator with her first picture book Pax and Blue (called a “sprightly debut” by The New York Times) as well as the more recent Bunny’s Staycation (Mama’s Business Trip). She has also illustrated several other picture books.
It’s worth going to the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival just to meet these great Brooklyn authors, not to mention the many other wonderful writers and illustrators who will be at the event. It’s also a great opportunity for kids to meet their literary idols, discover new authors, and further encourage their love of reading.
Moreover, it’s a chance to get out of the city and check out the beautiful fall foliage (there are these things called trees!), and an occasion for New York writers and readers to come out of our tiny apartments and connect with each other for a day. “As authors, we often work in isolation,” Artie Bennett says, “which makes it such a heady thrill for me to meet legions of fans, who can sometimes even recite my rhyming picture books back to me, with nary a stumble.” It is always a thrill for fans to meet their authors and authors to meet their fans—and for all book-lovers to unite and celebrate books together.
In addition to book signings and readings, the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival offers great food, fun family activities, and entertainment. So put that book down for a day and check it out!
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By Margel Nusbaumer