I distinctly remember the moment that I fell in love with the Rochester Children’s Book Festival. Standing in the back of a crowded room, I watched as Vivian Vande Velde read her picture book, Troll Teacher. The Festival provides the rare opportunity to enjoy that delightful synchronicity of an author who can read aloud, a book worth reading aloud, and an enthralled audience.

The 9th Annual Rochester Children’s Book Festival falls on November 5th in the R. Thomas Flynn Campus Center at Monroe Community College (10 a.m. – 4 p.m.). The event is geared to the entire family, but it definitely emphasizes the children of its title.

The pre-reader in your family can enjoy continuous picture book readings by the likes of Robin Pulver (Axle Annie and the Speed Grump, Author Day for Room 3T), Cat Bowman Smith (Auction!), Will Hubbell (Snow Day Dance), Daniel Mahoney (A Really Good Snowman), Stu Smith (My School’s a Zoo!), and Michelle Knudsen (Carl the Complainer). Members of the Blackstorytelling League of Rochester will tell African folktales, legends and more. When the listeners get the fidgets, crafts, puppets, and other artsy pursuits will be available. Or head to Presentation Place, which will feature digital photography, sculpted chicken models, tall tales, a poetry slam, horse bartering, and life in a lighthouse, presumably not all at the same time. From 1:00 pm to 3:15 pm, your the Young Adult readers in your clan can consult with Vivian Vande Velde (Now You See It…, Witch Dreams), Chris Crutcher (The Sledding Hill, Whale Talk), Mary Beth Miller (Aimee), Laurie Halse Anderson (Prom, Speak) and Linda Sue Park (Project Mulberry, A Single Shard).

October, 2005