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Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival

How Barbara Dee Strikes a ‘Just Right’ Note for Middle Schoolers

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Chappaqua author Barbara Dee has her finger on the pulse of older kids, and she knows what they are thinking about. For more than a decade Dee’s popular books for middle-grade students have been on the right track with topics that interest kids.

As the market for children’s books has evolved so have Dee’s books. From her debut novel, Just Another Day in My Insanely Real Life, to her latest Halfway Normal, Dee’s writing has gotten more serious, yet she has consistently maintained her trademark sense of humor.

Author Barbara Dee
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Ronni Diamondstein
“Kids want to feel like they are reading about themselves, so the voice has to be just right,” says Dee. As an adult you come to writing for young people with your own life experience: for Dee it is Mom and teacher. “I felt a strong connection to my 12-year-old self and was able to tap into those feelings easily.”

For many of Dee’s books, resilience and empathy are themes. Such is the case for Halfway Normal, a story about 12-year-old Norah Levy who returns to school after two years of treatment for leukemia. Dee wrote from her own experience as a Memorial Sloan Kettering mom whose child was undergoing treatment. She also spoke to girls who were survivors. Dee is thrilled that this book has been chosen as a Junior Library Guild title, a first for her.

“While kids today are so sophisticated and have such internet savvy, they are still kids. They can be confused, silly, anxious and testing their boundaries,” says Dee. “My books always have substance and are a great way to get kids to open up to a subject.” Dee’s idea for her book Star-Crossed came after she noted the acclaim that GEORGE, a book about a transgender child, received. She decided to dip her toe into the LGBT book pool. “I thought there are so few children’s books on this topic, why not take it down a notch.” Star-Crossed is a story of young love in middle school. “I know that kids question their orientation so this is a sweet and happy comedy about acceptance.”

Dee hears from a lot of her readers and the range of her audience has surprised her. She has discovered that teens and adults have been reading middle-grade books.

“I get a lot of letters and Star-Crossed has gotten the most response from teens and adults asking ‘where was this book when I was in middle school?’” They share their personal stories with Dee. “It’s so moving and I feel honored.”

Staying serious yet maintaining an upbeat tone and characters with spunk, her forthcoming book Everything I Know About You takes on the topic of tween eating disorders. The book deals with friendship issues. On a school trip to Washington, D.C. the main character that is fine with her large body notices that her roommate has an eating disorder, and handles it with humor. Dee says that humor is a great coping mechanism. “For kids, it is important to blend humor into the work, but it’s hard to be funny!”

In her spare time, Dee loves to read. She also visits schools and attends conferences and book festivals. She is a Founder and member of the Board of Directors of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival. Among her favorite books as a child are

A Wrinkle in Time, Island of the Blue Dolphins and Harriet the Spy. Now she reads a lot of contemporary fiction. But her readers would be most surprised to discover that she is obsessed with the English rock band Radiohead and has been to their concerts.

When she speaks to kids, Dee tells young writers to read lots of different things for pleasure, and to get used to sharing their work. “Develop a thick skin and take constructive criticism.”

Dee says of her own experience: “A rejection letter with feedback is a gift.”

When she was a child, Dee always thought of herself as a writer one day and she’s doing exactly that, although her journey began by teaching, going to law school, and reviewing books. And she never realized what a job writing was, its business aspect and all the traveling. It is less glamorous than kids think. But in the end Dee finds it a dream job. “I’m lucky to be able to do it. What a privilege to say this is my job even when I am having a hard day!”

Barbara Dee will be giving a talk and signing her books at the Chappaqua Library on Thursday, September 14 at 4 p.m. On October 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., you can also find Dee greeting young and old alike at her table at the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival.

Sweeping Sounds & an Engaging Story Line in ‘The Story Concert’

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story-concert-photoThe show “fused classic children’s literature with the wonderfully dulcet tones of the Chappaqua Orchestra.”

By Matt Smith

Orchestra Photo by Carolyn Simpson

“There are a lot of personalities to deal with when you’re part of an orchestra. All the instruments are so different–strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion–but when the instruments play together, the orchestra is one big happy family.”

Such was the message emphasized to great effect at the second annual Story Concert held at Wallace Auditorium on Saturday afternoon. The event, sponsored in part by the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival, fused classic children’s literature with the wonderfully dulcet tones of the Chappaqua Orchestra, under the baton of (who else?) composer extraordinaire Michael Shapiro.

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When I attended last year’s inaugural performance, I wrote that it was a delightfully moving experience that should not have been missed!! This year was no different, offering equally dynamic performances from musicians and narrators alike.

The melodious afternoon was kicked off in style with “The Tale of Custard the Dragon,” based on the popular poem by Ogden Nash, about a cowardly dragon who eventually steps up and saves the day when pirates attack.

With the sweeping sound, particularly of the violins, the composition, a sung-through recitation of the poem–by local musician (and HGHS grad!) Brad Ross (who, it should be noted, was in attendance at the event)–truly sounded as though it was plucked straight from a Broadway musical… fitting, as it was delivered (quite exceptionally, we may add!) by Main Stem alum Roger Seyer, late of such hits as Les Miz and Miss Saigon.

Of note, to add to the excitement and further engage the young kiddies in the audience, during breaks in the narration, Seyer would bound across the stage, acting out climatic moments within the story in full–a smart move on their part, which further enlivened what was no doubt an already stellar piece.

Following a short break, Paul Shaffer (yes, that Paul Shaffer), emerged from the wings (dressed as only he can) to narrate the second selection, “A Family for Baby Grand,” another composition by Ross, with a story by Sharon Dennis Wyeth (also in attendance at the event) which centers around a baby grand piano who breaks free from the antique shop in which she’s kept (the location of which is cleverly reworked to be Chappaqua… just to keep it familiar) and ventures out into the world to play in a first-rate orchestra.

Preceding the piece, Ross and Shapiro made it a point to mention that, in an effort to educate kids on all the moving parts of an orchestra, each instrument within the piece is given its own individual chance to shine. And shine they do!! Particularly notable standouts include the flourish of the piccolo, played by Rebecca Quigley, the oom-pah-pah of the tuba by Jonathan Greenberg, and of course, the grand piano of the title, whose ivories were tickled to perfection by Cynthia Peterson.

But while these individual instruments did indeed shine in their own right, to drive home the idea that everyone sounds better when they perform in unison, each section and set of instruments built on the previous one as the story went along–that is, after they have their solo moment, they’re added to the overall group. The result, as you may have guessed, is a rousing finale with the rich, resonant sound of all the instruments playing together in perfect harmony.

Furthermore, Shaffer attributed each character with its own voice–adding quirks and inflection to sound exactly what the instrument would sound like were it humanized–which, like in Seyer’s piece, added to the overall liveliness of the composition. You simply can’t beat it!

TCO Executive Director David Restivo, for one, concurs, stating: “The concert was a huge success [and] the orchestra never sounded better.” He also wishes to extend personal thanks to Shaffer, Seyer and Ross, whose contributions were indispensable (haha) to the outcome of the afternoon.

In addition to treating the audience with wonderful music and providing an escape from the blustery November afternoon, Restivo hopes “we were able to inspire the children to think about playing an instrument in the future or at least learn a little something about the orchestra itself.”

It seems to have worked–at least for some young audience members; as Restive mentions: “One of my good friends said his nephew was skeptical about coming to the concert – but left wanting to learn an instrument.”

Goal accomplished indeed! And with recurring events like these stellar concerts, hopefully, we can continue to drive the force of the importance of music home, and peak kids’ interest in music and the world around them–instilling them with the confidence to, as Mama Grand tells her baby in the afternoon’s second selection, “Be forte! Be pianissimo! Be grand!”

 The Wallace Auditorium is located within Chappaqua Crossing, at 480 Bedford Road in Chappaqua, just off of RT-117. Of note, the Story Concert will return in April 2017, with a performance of Peter and the Wolf, narrated by WQXR’s Elliott Forrest, and an original composition by Shapiro, featuring his “Babbling Orchestra.” For more information on these events and the orchestra itself, please visit www.chappaquaorchestra.org.

Matt Smith is a freelance writer based in Chappaqua. For further information or inquiry, visit www.mattsmiththeatre.com.

The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival Story Concert: TICKETS ON SALE!

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***This Saturday – 4 p.m.– Get Tickets Now ***

Purchase Tickets here: http://tcochildrensconcert2016.brownpapertickets.com!!!

The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival Story Concert – Presented by The Chappaqua Orchestra 

Saturday, November 19, 2016 at 4 pm

Wallace Auditorium

480 Bedford Rd, Chappaqua, NY

FREE PARKING!!!

Michael Shapiro conducts music by Chappaqua composer Brad Ross for narrator and orchestra. Paul Shaffer (SNL and Late Show with David Letterman) narrates “A Family for Baby Grand” Story by Sharon Dennis Wyeth, preceded by Ogden Nash’s “The Tale of Custard the Dragon” sung by Broadway star Roger Seyer. story-concert

Where Reading Rocked

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PHOTOS BY LESLIE REGAN

The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival was as always, and in its fourth year, an amazing way to get kids excited about reading. Children and adults from in town or out of town all took pleasure in meeting authors and finding new reading material. There were plenty of exciting booths to peruse, a dazzling array of genres to pick from, and a variety of fun arts and crafts to enjoy!

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Highlights for the 2016 Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival: “Be a Part of Our Story”

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By Dana Y. Wu

Our bucolic suburban hamlet with its excellent schools and vibrant community support for literacy is the perfect setting for the 4th annual Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival (CCBF) on September 24. This free, day-long event attracts thousands of families from Westchester and beyond to meet 90 authors and illustrators including award-winners Chris Raschka, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Jane Yolen.

Children’s authors and illustrators share a similar hope–to imagine a better world through images and ideas in books. Book lovers know the particular joy of putting a book into young hands and seeing curiosity greatly inspired by imagination.

Eric Velasquez says his book, Liberty Street, a story of a slave girl’s escape, is one of his favorites, “because the closer the little girl in the story gets to being free, the closer she gets to literacy.”

Writing as Activism

At a master class hosted at the Library of Congress, Kwame Alexander, the 2015 Newberry Award winner for The Crossover, said that “writing children’s books is activism.” Given recent events that signal a more polarized world, the CCBF is our community’s way to acknowledge, appreciate and celebrate both differences and commonalities in our increasingly multicultural and multilingual society.

Velasquez continues, “When I was a child, very few children’s books had characters that looked like me. I remember feeling left out and uninterested in reading.”

Today, his deeply moving drawings are rendered with realistic details so children see themselves, their friends and their families in his books, but also see outside themselves.\“Children need both windows and mirrors. Too much of one and not enough of the other can seriously impair the intellectual growth of a child, especially their sense of empathy,” says Velasquez.

Author/illustrator Nick Bruel, creator of this year’s CCBF poster “Be Part of Our Story” makes a conscious effort to be inclusive and authentic in his laugh out loud books which are about a cantankerous cat.

Bruel says, “In A Bad Kitty Christmas,” I needed to depict generations within the same family. I made several characters, Black, Asian and Hispanic, and I included a LGBT couple. I debated with myself–do I write a book that could potentially speak to that kid who actually has two Mommies? I recognized that there would be people who would be offended. Like it or not, that kid exists and deserves to see his/her world represented in a book. Over the years, I received many, many angry missives over the very brief mention of Nan and Pam and even a school in Houston banned my book.”

Shared Priorities

The CCBF is our community’s way to promote reading, freedom and the power of discernment–keys to our children’s success in the 21st century world. Our town’s recent capital bond vote enables our schools and the Chappaqua Library to be “active and dynamic learning environments where students engage in meaningful inquiry, invention, interaction, hypothesizing, collaboration, and personal reflection.” It demonstrates our shared priority that students think deeply, apply problem-solving skills, and actively participate in their learning. The CCBF represents the desire for all our kids and teens to experience a broader world through the pages of a book, with empathy in their hearts and critical thinking in their minds. Barry Graziano of Houlihan Lawrence says, “the CCBF “is a great example of bringing the community together for a great cause. By empowering our children with the art of reading and language, we open a world of culture.”

Here’s what to look forward to:

  • “Be Part of Our Story” Join the all-day excitement of the CCBF at the Robert E. Bell Middle School–rain or shine–Sept. 24th.
  • Meet and greet favorite authors and beloved illustrators at readings and book signings.
  • Healthy fun with live music, STEM challenges with Regeneron, and games courtesy of Kiwi Country Day Camp.
  • Enjoy treats from the food trucks and the always wonderful “Great American Bake Sale to End Hunger” at tables on the Great Lawn of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin.

“Banned Books Week” Sept. 25- Oct. 1, 2016

This annual event sponsored by the American Library Association celebrates the freedom to read, to seek and to express ideas, even those ideas which some consider unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them.

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