BENTONVILLE -- The Youth Literature Festival has grown to two days and to two venues this year.
Saturday marks the Bentonville Public Library's fourth festival, which features 14 authors and illustrators.
Presenters
The annual Youth Literature Festival will feature 14 authors and illustrators. Of those, 10 have presented at the festival in past years and four are new presenters. There will be eight national authors and illustrators and six from the region.
Those participating include:
• Janet Wong
• Kazu Kibuishi
• Mary Casanova
• Evin Demirel
• Alan Gratz
• James Babb
• Caroline Tung Richmond
• Karen Akins
• Rich Davis
• Kristin Gray
• Ellen Airgood
• Thomas Cochran
• Roland Smith
• Ard Hoyt
Source: Staff report
Web Watch
For a full schedule or more information, visit: bentonvillelibrary.….
Participating authors and illustrators kicked off this year's festival by visiting 11,000 students in 26 schools today. The event was limited to one day at the library in past years.
The school visits connect authors to students, some of who may not be able to attend Saturday's activities, said Hadi Dudley, library director.
"Our goal is to provide broad-reaching access where young learners can be inspired by the stories behind the books," she said.
Connections to school reading initiatives were a consideration in presenter selection, she added. For instance, the middle schools' Battle of the Books list authors and Arkansas State Charlie May Simon Award reading list authors are featured presenters.
Saturday's activities start at 10 a.m. at Old High Middle School where author and poet Janet Wong and graphic artist Kazu Kibuishi are expected to draw large crowds, especially from English as a Second Language students, Dudly said.
Wong, an award-winning author of children's books and poetry, will lead A Festival of Family Stories to celebrate "Dia" also known as Children's Day, Book Day.
It is a celebration of poems and stories from a variety of cultures and observed throughout the country typically the last weekend in April, Wong said.
The days will also include local teenagers and parents reading poems in a variety of languages. There will also be some audience participation in learning some words in different languages.
"By celebrating diversity and engaging multicultural families in our community, the festival emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds," Wong said.
Festivities will move to the Public Library at 405 S. Main St. from noon to 3 p.m. for author and illustrator sessions, book sales and signings.
Wong will also lead The Poet and The Pooch at noon.
"Reading to an animal, like a therapy dog, boots a child's confidence because that child can read without fear of being judged," she said.
This will be Wong's fourth year to participate in the festival, as will it be for local author Karen Akins. Akins won the 2016 Arkansas Teen Book Award for her young adult time travel novel Loop.
Akins will lead a breakout session about the publishing process at 1 p.m.
"Hopefully, after my session, students will be able to identify a goal they have in their live and come up with some concrete, doable action steps to achieve it," she said.
The festival is free and open to people of all ages.
The festival's presenters are "excellent examples of working hard to achieve your dreams," said Bethany Culpepper, festival co-founder and chair. "It in inspiring for everyone."
NW News on 04/27/2018