The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Book Authors

A Little Rain Couldn’t Stop Our Parade

by

Authors Describe How the 10th Annual Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival Rocked their Worlds, too

Our author Zoya Nabeel (R) with the Chappaqua Library’s Cathy Paulson and ‘Bad Kitty’

The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival is a tradition that we’ve marked in our calendars for 10 years. Once back to school season starts, I know I’m going to be whisked away into its magical world once again. Since 2013, this festival has been putting books into the hands of eager readers, along with an experience they will never forget. After years of attending as an avid reader myself, I had an amazing opportunity to interview six authors who are regular attendees of the festival. The stories they shared made me laugh, cry, smile, and feel so lucky to live in a town that holds this treasured event each year.

These authors experience their fair share of interesting and intriguing encounters with readers, parents, and other authors. They have made countless memories, and they describe how they take a mental polaroid picture of every individual they speak to!

“Every time I come here it’s like I’m in a conversation for four hours with the best people, the kindest moms and dads, the most fun kids,” says author of Throwback, Peter Lerangis. That enthusiasm is reciprocated as every single kid who comes up to an author’s booth is genuinely ecstatic to be talking to the person who crafted their favorite book, or the story that made them fall in love with reading.

Leslie Kimmelman, author of Ready, Set, Run: The Amazing New York City Marathon, had a similar experience where she felt immense pride in the impact her stories have had on young kids, “I worked at Sesame Street for many years and I was one of the creators of the character Julia, who is autistic, and one year I was offering one of my books called We’re Amazing, 1,2,3 about Julia, and someone came over to me and she picked up the book and looked through it and said, “I’m a Julia”, and I thought that was so sweet. It really made my day.” It’s small but mighty moments like these all authors yearn to hear in their career, and the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival facilitates hundreds of such conversations every year.

The September 30th festival featured 180 authors, with books that highlighted BIPOC characters, characters with disabilities, mental health challenges, characters from the LGBTQ+ community, and so much more. Every kid who attended this festival could envision themselves in the cover of a book, and that is so powerful in enhancing literacy.

This festival also gives adults a chance to re-find their inner child. Author Peter Lerangis stated: “Some adult comes up to me and says with a low voice, ‘hey remember me?’ and I’m like, ‘why would I remember you?’ And the reader, now 18, recalled meeting him in the fourth grade and how that changed his life. “That’s really moving.”

In fact, every single author offered a moving encounter during the festival that they say are a reminder of why authors even wake up every morning and do what they do!  Author Artie Bennett described how one kid came up to him and shared that their book is the reason they like to read. Another reader memorized the author’s entire book!  “A small girl came up to me and began reciting Poopendous. She had taken to it so greatly that she had memorized it… that nearly brought tears to my eyes, to see that someone could enjoy something I created so much to where she had clearly read it over, and over, and over again and had committed it to memory.”

Along with the connections the authors make with their beloved readers, the connections they make with one another can be just as profound. Nick Bruel, author of the Bad Kitty series, explained: “All of us here… we live in such insular worlds where we sit in our little hobbit holes and write and illustrate books all by ourselves, we don’t actually interact often, so events like these are great opportunities to do that.” Bruel said he met author Alan Katz, one of his closest friends today, because he had been seated next to him at the event.

“The last time I saw the wonderful, great Jerry Pinkney was at my house, after I met him at this event four years ago… I miss him terribly and I knew that every year I would see him. This will be the first year that I won’t.” Pinkney, the beloved author of The Lion & the Mouse unfortunately passed away on October 20th, 2021, at 81, however his legacy lives on in the books he wrote and the lives he touched. Hearing Mr. Bruel talk about him, and their meaningful friendship, was very touching.

It may be the 10th year of this book festival, but the magic that has been with the creators, authors, and readers lives on every year. Bennett, also the author of The True Story of Zippy Chippy: The Little Horse Who Couldn’t, summed it up well: “The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival is where dreams come true, and they do the most magical job. During a monsoon, everyone was out to make sure that the authors, and all the young book lovers would have a festival – as well organized, as well put together, as if it were a 70-degree sunny day!”

On a personal note, it was a joy to talk with each of these authors and to feel their appreciation. Alan Katz, author of Got Your Nose! described “the energy, the spirit, the readers, the people who put it together. There’s no word in the dictionary to describe how awesome they are in bringing together, you know, over 150 authors, thousands of readers, and a way to celebrate literacy and a love of books.”

Jarrett Lerner, author of A Work in Progress offered: “It’s such a great literacy community.”

Leslie Kimmelman expressed her love for the festival from its very beginnings: “The volunteers are amazing. The crowds of people coming are amazing, the authors are wonderful and there are more of them every year. It’s just such a fun fair.”

Within the pages of this book festival lies the lessons, the shared experiences, the sacred places that exist in the hearts of every individual who steps foot under the tents or on the fair grounds. The smiles we leave with, the ones that have lasted 10 years, will hopefully last for countless more.

Save the Date for the next Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival: September 28, 2024. Follow ccbfestival.org.

The Magic of Mary Pope Osborne: The Beginning of Our Love of Reading

by

 

“The tree house started to spin. It spun faster and faster. Then everything was still. Absolutely still.”

Mary Pope Osborne’s timeless words are the start of a thrilling adventure. For countless children – including the two of us – these words were the entryway to the wonders of literature and a lifelong love of reading. And this year, book lovers of all ages will have the opportunity to meet Osborne herself at the Tenth Annual Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival on September 30, 2023.

The Magic Tree House books were a staple of our childhoods. We eagerly awaited the release of the latest book in the series and the thrill of exploring the Osborne display at the Roaring Brook School Scholastic Book Fair every year. Osborne’s stories not only took us on incredible adventures – from a 19th century twister in the United States to ancient Greece and beyond – but showed us what was possible in the world of books.

Words As a Window to the World

The Magic Tree House series launched our journey towards becoming voracious readers. For our young minds, it was incredible to travel to far-off places and times with our friends Annie and Jack–and learn a few things along the way. As noted by The New York Times in 2008, Osborne’s writing is simple and direct – modeled after Ernest Hemingway – and allows readers to lose themselves in a captivating exploration of time and space. With the intrepid siblings leading the way, young readers like us could travel to the ends of the earth, meet historical figures, and expand our minds and imaginations with each turn of a page.

Osborne’s work is as undeniably magical as Jack and Annie’s tree house, and its power grows from the author’s own philosophy that “writing is a miracle.” Her enduring success has been driven by her deep love for the craft and fundamental understanding of the magic that words can hold, especially for children. As her remarkable storytelling ability makes reading accessible for new readers, Osborne’s stories continue to touch the imaginations of so many, generation after generation.

Over 30 years after the first installment in the series, Dinosaurs Before Dark, was published, her astoundingly prolific career–as author of over 100 children’s and young adult books–continues to be bolstered by her deep commitment to literacy, getting books in the hands of underserved students, and speaking and meeting with her readers.

An Eagerly Awaited CCBF Debut

This year will mark the first time that Osborne joins thousands of readers and fans at the beloved Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival – ccbfestival.org – celebrating its tenth anniversary.

“I am so thrilled to be participating in the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival this year,” Osborne shared. “Books play such an important part in a child’s development, and the festival’s mission to connect kids with authors will do wonders for helping them develop a lifelong love for reading.”

We know that we are not the only ones who are excited for Osborne to be a part of this year’s CCBF, which did not exist when we were discovering the world of books. We have no doubt that we would have spent the entire day hitting every table, meeting our favorite authors – our heroes – and begging our parents to buy every book available for our shelves that had long since run out of room. CCBF is a Town gem, made all the more special by the participation of authors like Osborne whose work has been transformative for so many young readers. We are thrilled to witness Chappaqua’s commitment to fostering imagination in the next generation.

Though we 20-something sisters have grown up, graduated from college, and moved away to start our adult lives, we will remember and cherish Osborne’s world for the rest of our lives. It was a privilege to grow up alongside Annie and Jack, exploring the many faces of the world and its history through the worn, re-read pages of the Magic Tree House books. Though we may never journey through the Egyptian pyramids, walk on the moon, or fight alongside Washington in the Revolutionary War, the Magic Tree House will always be home to us.

Discovering the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival

by

The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival (CCBF) takes place annually in downtown Chappaqua on a Saturday in the fall. Over 140 prominent and beloved children’s book authors and illustrators come from all over the United States to attend and meet fans, sign books and participate in panel discussions and story time. Visitors arrive from throughout the tristate area. Sponsors providing literacy-themed children’s activities fill the blacktop and church field at Church of St. Mary, the Virgin. Five different food trucks offer snacks and lunch. The Great Chappaqua Bake Sale provides sweet treats for a good cause.

CCBF, which turned seven in 2019, is a purely volunteer effort and requires hundreds of volunteers during the festival and on the days beforehand. Local scout troops, community organizations and individuals are encouraged to get involved.

More information about CCFB can be found at ccbfestival.org and on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. No admission charge. Books are available for purchase. A list of its annual sponsors and information about becoming a sponsor are available at the website or by calling 914 263-5566.

 

Courtesy of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival