Celebrate reading at the 13th “Plant the Seed to Read” Children’s Book Festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 27, at Mill Creek MetroParks Fellows Riverside Gardens. This year’s event - “Reading’s My Superpower” - promises to be fun with authors and illustrators, storytellers and readers, giveaways and more.
Children can see PBS character, Alpha Pig! from Super Why! Parents and caregivers can take photos of their children with Alpha Pig the day of the event.
Events include:
- Author/Illustrator Lindsay Ward
- Author/Illustrator/Paper Engineer Keith Allen
- Storyteller Michael Perry
- Storyteller/Author Nancy K. Wallace
- Storyteller/Actor Tim Hartman
- Storyteller/Author Jocelyn Dabney
- Movement/Music Zumbini with Heather Kovac
- The Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County’s librarians will present, and mascot, Booker Bear, will make an appearance. The PLYMC Pop-Up Library will be at the event.
The “Plant the Seed to Read” Book Festival was started with an idea by Altrusa International of Youngstown, Ohio, Inc. The event was built on a partnership with the local Altrusa, the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Mill Creek MetroParks and Western Reserve PBS. Admission to this family-friendly event is free. Sign Language Interpreting available. Stroller parking available, however, due to limited space, strollers are not permitted in the Davis Center during the event.
The Book Festival Committee appreciates the generous sponsors for this event: Friends of Fellows Riverside Gardens, The Schwebel Family Foundation, Altrusa International Foundation, Inc., Altrusa International Foundation of Youngstown Ohio, Thomases Family Endowment of the Youngstown Area Jewish Foundation, Poland Rotary and The Vindicator.
LINDSAY WARD (http://lindsaymward.com/books/)
“Lindsay Ward has a BFA in Illustration from Syracuse University. Her most recent books include It’s Show and Tell, Dexter! and Don’t Forget Dexter!, books 1 and 2 in the Dexter T. Rexter Series with Two Lions. She is also the author and illustrator of Brobarians (Two Lions, 2017), The Importance of Being 3 (Dial, 2016), Rosco vs. the Baby (S&S, 2016), Henry Finds His Word (Dial, 2015), a Choose to Read Ohio Book, When Blue Met Egg (Dial, 2012), and Please Bring Balloons (Dial, 2013), which was produced into a play by the New York City Children’s Theater in 2017. Her work has been reviewed in Kirkus Reviews, Publisher’s Weekly, and the New York Times. Lindsay is the founder of Critter Lit, a free picture book manuscript and illustration critique service for up-and-coming authors and illustrators. Lindsay lives in Peninsula, Ohio with her husband, author Frank Tupta, two sons, and dog. Visit her online at lindsaymward.com or follow her on twitter @lindsaymward.”
KEITH ALLEN (https://www.messypopup.com/author)
Keith Allen is a Senior Designer, Illustrator, and Paper-Engineer at American Greetings in Cleveland, Ohio, where he creates greeting cards and social expression product. After work Keith manages his own independent publishing company specializing in children's pop-up books. His latest book, “What a Mess! A Pop-Up Misadventure” was successfully funded on KickStarter and won Silver at the MoonBeam Children’s Book Awards.
