Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival in Full Swing on Saturday
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For children who love to read and the parents who hope to find a way to attract their kids to pick up a book, one of the most popular events to encourage that activity returns in full force. This Saturday is the ninth Chappaqua 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 because of COVID-19 while last year’s event was about half the size.
“The authors are our friends now and I really, really look forward to seeing them,” said festival Executive Director Dawn Greenberg. “To me, it’s all about the kids and seeing how excited the kids that are coming in really makes me happy.”
For the second year, the festival will be held in the parking lot at the Chappaqua Metro-North station, allowing for more space for visitors, the authors and the food trucks. Before the pandemic it was held on the other side of South Greeley Avenue on the grounds of Robert E. Bell Middle School.
Greenberg said the move to the train station allows for a more centralized festival, which last year added to the excitement and energy.
This year, the festival will be returning with its large tent that will contain the nearly160 children’s book authors who will be on hand this weekend. Plus, the police department and the town now prefer it on its property, which should prevent much of the pedestrian traffic from having to cross South Greeley, Greenberg said.
While the festival’s priority is making sure the kids have a great time, it’s also about the authors. There are the well-known favorites that are returning such as “Pinkalicious” author Victoria Kann. But there are more than 30 new authors this year.
Among those is Dylan Dreyer, the NBC television meteorologist who has written the book “Misty the Cloud: Friends Through Rain or Shine.”
The festival will also be welcoming Lisa Fipps, who wrote the highly-acclaimed “Starfish,” and Emily Isler, author of “Aftermath,” both of which attracted lots of buzz among young readers. There are a number of authors coming from around the United States for the event, possibly fueled by moves to ban books in certain locations, Greenberg said.
The only drawback is that the festival is unable to accommodate all of the authors who want to be part of the event but can’t be accommodated. Next year, Greenberg expects to be flooded with applications for the 10th anniversary festival.
She also tries to attract authors who offer a diverse array of books for different age groups.
“I’m thrilled at the level of people that we draw, and we continue to have a waiting list of about 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, there will be seven authors participating in Storytime, where the writers read selections from their work. That will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
There will crafts, illustration demonstrations, eight food trucks on hand and the Bubble Bus.
Greenberg also encourages visitors who come this Saturday to walk through downtown, which gives the Town of New Castle a chance to showcase the hamlet.
“The good part of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival was to draw attention to our town,” she said.
There is plenty of parking at the train station on a Saturday. For those who can get to a Harlem line stop on Metro-North, the train brings people right to the site.
The festival is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The rain date is Sunday, Oct. 16.
For more information about the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival, including a complete list of authors, visit www.ccbfestival.org.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
