Wisconsin Children's Book Festival

Wisconsin Authors, Illustrators Round Out Slate for Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival Oct. 12-14

The three-day festival features dozens of opportunities for book lovers of all ages to meet favorite authors and illustrators and attend readings, demonstrations, writing and poetry workshops, art-making sessions with illustrators, book signings and more.

Joining this year’s stellar slate of national and local authors and illustrators are:

• Jacqueline Houtman, author of The Reinvention of Edison Thomas, a Read On Wisconsin! pick and a book which one reviewer said “deserves a place on every elementary and middle school shelf” (Library Media Connection.) The Theater for Young Audiences in Sheboygan presented the world premiere of the stage version of The Reinvention of Edison Thomas in October, 2011. Ms. Houtman lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

• Ilsa J. Bick is a former child psychiatrist and the author of popular and award-winning novels for young adults (Draw the Dark, Ashes, Drowning Instinct) whose books have been praised for their pacing, action, and suspense and who “writes about dysfunction with a professional’s insight” (Booklist.) Ms. Bick lives in Kohler, Wisconsin.

• Lisa Albert has written biographies of Stephanie Meyer and Lois Lowry for the Authors Teens Love series and she is the author of the novel Mercy Lily, called “affecting and thought-provoking” by Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA.) Ms. Albert lives in Muskego, Wisconsin.

• Rebecca and Madelyn Spindler are the mother/daughter writing team and co-authors of the middle-grade book series, Tale of Two Sisters (Sarah Jane Is a Pain, Life According to Liz) featuring eleven-year-old Liz McCormick, a tomboy growing up on her family’s farm in the rolling hills of Wisconsin. Madelyn Spindler was eleven years old when she began writing the first book in the series with her mother, Rebecca. The Spindlers live in Madison, Wisconsin.

Previously announced authors and illustrators of acclaimed books for children and teens are Steven Kellogg (The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash, Pinkerton, Behave!), Sarah Weeks (Pie, Crocodile Smile), Nina Crews (The Neighborhood Mother Goose, One Hot Summer Day), Dan Yaccarino (Trashy Town, All the Way to America), Edward Hemingway (Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship; Bump in the Night), Brian Lies (Bats at the Beach, More), W.H. Beck (Malcolm at Midnight), Liz Garton Scanlon (All the World, A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes) and James Kennedy (The Order of Odd Fish.)

Kennedy will bring a special screening of his 90-Second Newbery Film Festival to this year’s Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival and children and teens can enter their own 90 Second-Newbery videos for a chance to see their video screened at the festival.

The theme for this year’s children’s book festival is Family, giving festival goers the opportunity to hear authors and illustrators speak about how family has played a role in their works. Authors and illustrators will sign books after their presentations and festival bookseller and sponsor Apple Blossom Books (Oshkosh) will donate a portion of book sale proceeds to support the Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival, helping keep the festival free to all.

About the Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival
The Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival is presented by community volunteers and these local organizations who believe in the transformative power of reading and the literary and visual arts: the Mead Public Library, the Eastern Shores Library System, the Sheboygan Area and Kohler school districts, the Kohler Public Library, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan, and Bookworm Gardens.

The Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival is Wisconsin’s only free, public children’s book festival. Funding support comes from the Kohler Foundation, Inc., the F.K. Bemis Family Foundation, the Garton Family Foundation, the Mead Public Library Foundation, The Friends of Mead Public Library, the Sheboygan Service Club Foundation and other donors. In-kind support is provided by Dynamic Inc. and the Family Resource Center of Sheboygan County.

LINKS:
Sheboygan Children’s Book Festival: http://sheboyganchildrensbookfestival.org
Mead Public Library: www.meadpubliclibrary.org
John Michael Kohler Arts Center: www.jmkac.org
Bookworm Gardens: http://www.bookwormgardens.org

Contact Information:

Jo Ann Dent, Co-chairSheboygan Children’s Book Festival
920-912-2309 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting FREE 920-912-2309 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
childrensbookfest@gmail.com
Karin Menzer, Co-chairSheboygan Children’s Book Festival
920-459-3400 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting FREE 920-459-3400 end_of_the_skype_highlighting ext. 3404
karin.menzer@meadpubliclibrary.org