Treat Yo’ Shelf at the Rhode Island Festival of Children’s Books & Authors

Author Chris Van Allsburg signs copies of The Polar Express during a past Rhode Island Festival of Children’s Books & Authors. Photograph courtesy of the Rhode Island Festival of Children’s Books & Authors

Thousands of enthusiastic readers will gather at the Rhode Island Festival of Children’s Books & Authors next month to celebrate books, authors and the magic of storytelling.

Held Oct. 16–17 at the Lincoln School in Providence, this year’s event celebrates the twentieth anniversary of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Newbery Medal winner Kate DiCamillo. DiCamillo will be on hand for the festivities, which kick off Oct. 16 with a theatrical performance of the book performed by the Academy Players of Rhode Island.

The event continues Oct. 17, with talks and book signings with fifteen children’s book authors and illustrators, workshops, crafts, food trucks, face painting and a concert by Rock-A-Baby.

This year’s featured attendees include Alyssa Satin Capucilli, the award-winning author of the Biscuit series, which has sold more than fifty-four million copies worldwide; Rhode Island School of Design alum Carter Goodrich, who was the lead character designer for movies like Brave, Ratatouille and Despicable Me; and writers and illustrators Sophie Blackall, Molly Idle, Juana Martinez-Neal, Jason Reynolds, Philip Stead and many more.

Past attendees eagerly dig into their books. Photograph courtesy of the Rhode Island Festival of Children’s Books & Authors

Each author and illustrator will deliver a thirty-minute presentation, all of which are sure to delight the younger set.

“You could attend a presentation where you learn how to draw,” says Meagan Lenihan, a librarian at Lincoln School who organizes the festival. “We had another presenter who put on theater right on the spot. It’s all wonderful and also different, which is really fun.

“These authors and illustrators are rock stars to children, librarians, teachers and anybody who loves literature,” she says. “They get to meet their heroes, who they have been reading.”

Community partners such as Reading Across Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Children’s Book Award and Teen Book Award Committee will also have tables to share their mission, while local libraries will help attendees register for a library card in hopes of encouraging young readers to continue their imaginative journeys.

“Books are so important,” Lenihan says. “This is about getting people excited. My most favorite thing is watching my students share their love of reading, their love of a book, and wanting somebody else to read it so they can talk to them about it.”

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The Rhode Island Festival of Children’s Books & Authors kicks off at 4 p.m. Oct. 16 and continues from 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Oct. 17 at Lincoln School, 301 Butler Ave., Providence. Tickets are $5, with a maximum charge of $20 per family. Visit lincolnschool.org for more information.