CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Nationally known and emerging authors, illustrators, poets and storytellers will engage with their young readers and readers young at heart during the second Youth Literature Festival. The festival, to take place Oct. 9 at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Illinois campus, celebrates the ways in which written works enrich the lives of young people and promotes reading as a fun activity.
The day’s events, which begin at 10 a.m., will include author readings, Spanish/English bilingual stories, live music and dance, puppetry and ventriloquism. Throughout the day, festival-goers will have opportunities to engage in a variety of reading-related hands-on activities and workshops, including bookmaking, graphic illustration, folding origami puppets and using puppets to tell stories for television.
The Cat in the Hat, the mischievous feline character created by children’s author Dr. Seuss, will be on hand to greet visitors at Illinois Public Media’s activity table in the Krannert Center lobby.
Award-winning local author, teacher, journalist and National Public Radio commentator Beth Finke.
Among the authors participating in this year’s festival are Debbi Chocolate, who has written more than 20 picture books, some of which have been featured on the television shows “Reading Rainbow” and “Sesame Street”; award-winning local author, teacher, journalist and National Public Radio commentator Beth Finke; and Will Hobbs, the author of 17 outdoor, adventure and mystery novels, seven of which were named Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association.
Also taking part is internationally acclaimed storyteller and columnist Dan Keding, whose writings and recordings have garnered numerous Storyteller World Winner Awards and a Circle of Excellence Award from the National Storytelling Network in 2000.
During the two days preceding the festival, Oct. 7-8, the authors and illustrators will visit and give readings at 49 schools in Champaign, Urbana and surrounding communities and at the Champaign Public Library and the Urbana Free Library.
The inaugural festival, held in October 2008, incorporated elements of various literary and cultural festivals from around the country.
“There’s a direct correlation to reading and success in life,” said Mary Kalantzis, the dean of the College of Education, which is sponsoring the festival. “The kids and the adults that read have better well-being, financial success and success in academics and in other areas of their lives.”
The challenge for educators and families is encouraging young people to read without making it seem like work, Kalantzis said. The festival promotes reading as an enjoyable practice that people can share.
Local librarians reported that circulation spiked immediately after Illinois’ first Youth Literature Festival in 2008, Kalantzis added. “Readers and writers came together in a vibrant way,” Kalantzis said. “I sat in on some of the sessions when the writers and illustrators visited the schools and came back excited, thinking ‘I want to write poems’ or ‘I want to write short stories.'”The U. of I. Library is home to one of the most comprehensive children’s literature collections in the U.S. With more than 152,000 volumes, the university’s children’s literature collection, also known as the S-Collection, is surpassed only by the Library of Congress, according to Nancy O’Brien, the head of the Education and Social Science Library.
O’Brien is co-chairing the 2010 festival with Joan Tousey, associate director of advancement in the College of Education.Patrons of the 2010 festival are Brenda Edgar, former first lady of Illinois and wife of former Gov. Jim Edgar; Judy Fraser, formerly of WCIA-Channel 3; and Carol Scharlau, the director of planned giving for the United Way of Champaign County.
The 49 schools that will be hosting readings and author visits Oct. 7-8 include elementary, middle and high schools in Champaign, Fisher, Gibson City, Gifford, Gilman, Mahomet, Monticello, Oakwood, Paxton, Philo, Rantoul, Tolono, Urbana and Villa Grove.
A reading for homeschoolers will be held at the Champaign Public Library on Oct. 8 at 10:30 a.m. and a reading for students of Canaan Academy will be held at the Urbana Free Library on Oct. 9 at 10:30 a.m.
All events on the day of the festival, Oct. 9, are free and open to the public and will be held at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana. Free parking will be available in the center’s garage.
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