What is the Children's Book Festival, when is it and who can attend?
JOHNSTOWN ― Children from pre-K through sixth grade, and their families, are invited this weekend to “Bark, Roar and Explore” at the 15th annual Children’s Book Festival, the region’s annual celebration of books and reading just for youngsters.
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The festival takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, 411 Third Ave. in Johnstown’s Cambria City neighborhood. Admission to the festival is free, and each child who attends will receive a free book.
This year’s theme, “Bark, Roar and Explore,” reflects the work of three renowned children’s book authors who are scheduled to attend the festival: Alyssa Capucilli, Bob Shea and Alicia Salazar.
Alyssa Capucilli
Capucilli is the author of the Biscuit book series, about a mischievous yellow puppy whose adventures young readers have loved to read for the past 28 years. Her latest book in the series, "Biscuit Visits the Firehouse," is to be released in August.
She has also written Tulip and Rex, the Katy Duck series, the Library Fish and other titles.
“I am so looking forward to coming to this year's festival,” Capucilli said in an email to the Daily American. “I do travel a great deal and I'm always excited to meet young readers, no matter where I go. I love to hear if there's one book in particular that someone likes and why. My readers always have great ideas for new stories so that's a lot of fun to hear as well. Much like Biscuit, I enjoy making new friends wherever I go.
“I'll be speaking about several of my books at the festival including Biscuit, of course! I'm also excited to share how I get my ideas, how my illustrator works and how a book is published.”
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Bob Shea
Shea is the author and illustrator of the Dinosaur Vs. book series, including "Dinosaur Vs. the Library."
He’s also written and illustrated the Ballet Cat book series, "Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great," "New Socks" and "Don’t Play With Your Food," among other titles.
Alicia Salazar
Salazar is the author of the Camila the Star book series, about a young Mexican-American girl who explores her love of acting, singing and dancing and is loved by children of all ethnicities.
Local and regional children’s book authors are also going to attend the book festival, and storyteller and comedian Brian Richards will entertain and encourage children to love reading using music, magic, juggling, puppets and more.
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More things to do
The two-day festival is packed with other activities and events for kids to enjoy, including arts and crafts projects, writing and illustration workshops and the opportunity for families to shop for affordable new and used books to start or add to their own home libraries.
The Children’s Book Festival is sponsored by The Learning Lamp and 1st Summit Bank, with support from other sponsors and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
For more information on what’s happening at the festival, visit thelearninglamp.org or follow the Children’s Book Festival on Facebook at facebook.com/CBFJohnstown/.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: The 15th annual Children's Book Festival is on April 13 and 14 in Johnstown, PA
