For kids who love to read and parents hoping to find a way to entice their children to pick up a book, one of the most popular events to encourage this activity is making a comeback. This Saturday is Chappaqua’s ninth Children’s Book Festival, and for the first time in three years there will be a full roster of authors and plenty of activities and food to choose from. The 2020 festival had to be canceled due to COVID-19 when last year’s event was about half the size.
“The authors are our friends now and I can’t wait to see them,” said festival general manager Dawn Greenberg. “For me, it’s all about the kids and seeing how excited the kids are makes me really happy.”
For a second year, the festival will be held in the parking lot of the Chappaqua Métro-Nord station, leaving more space for visitors, authors and food trucks. Before the pandemic, he stood across South Greeley Avenue on the grounds of Robert E. Bell Middle School.
Greenberg said the move to the station allows for a more centralized festival, which added excitement and energy last year.
This year, the festival returns with its big tent which will welcome the nearly 160 authors of children’s books who will be present this weekend. Additionally, the police department and the city now prefer him on his property, which should prevent much foot traffic from crossing South Greeley, Greenberg said.
If the priority of the festival is to ensure that the children have a good time, it is also about the authors. There are well-known returning favorites like “Pinkalicious” author Victoria Kann. But there are more than 30 new authors this year.
Among these is Dylan Dreyer, the NBC television weatherman who wrote the book “Misty the Cloud: Friends Through Rain or Shine.”
The festival will also welcome Lisa Fipps, who wrote the highly acclaimed ‘Starfish’, and Emily Isler, author of ‘Aftermath’, both of which have generated a lot of excitement among young readers. There are a number of authors coming from across the United States for the event, perhaps fueled by moves to ban books in some places, Greenberg said.
Only downside, the festival is not able to accommodate all the authors who wish to participate in the event but cannot be accommodated. Next year, Greenberg expects to be inundated with applications for the 10e birthday party.
She also tries to attract authors who offer a diverse range of books for different age groups.
“I’m thrilled with the level of people we’re attracting, and we continue to have a waiting list of around 60 authors,” Greenberg said. “It’s a good problem.”
Of course, what would a children’s book festival be without other activities as well. This year, seven authors will participate in Storytime, where writers will read excerpts from their work. This will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
There will be crafts, illustration demonstrations, eight food trucks available and the Bubble Bus.
Greenberg is also encouraging visitors coming this Saturday to stroll through the town centre, giving the town of New Castle a chance to showcase the hamlet.
“The good part of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival was bringing attention to our town,” she said.
There are plenty of parking spaces at the station on Saturdays. For those who can get to a stop on the Harlem line on Metro-North, the train brings people directly to the site.
The festival is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The rainy date is Sunday, October 16.
For more information about the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival, including a full list of authors, visit www.ccbfestival.org.
