Kid’s Bucket List: Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival
Kids Bucket List: Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival: The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival (CCBF), now in its 7th year, is our first pick for our new What To Do With the Kids Bucket List. Lauded by The New York Times and The Huffington Post, the festival regularly draws 7,000+ visitors. The book fest has grown from 65 popular children’s book authors in 2014 to 90 in 2018. This year, the festival, which will be held at Chappaqua’s Bell Middle School on October 5th, will showcase 140 authors.
Most of the authors are onsite all day. A few have shortened schedules (see website). However, the book fest is not just picture books for preschoolers. It also features authors of books for teens and tweens. As their website states, “From princesses to pups, to angst-filled tweens, and every crazy character in between, you’ll find them all” at CCBF. There’s also plenty of children’s entertainment. And, best of all, the Great Chappaqua Bake Sale is held in conjunction with the book fest. They provide the snacks in support of Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry mission to end childhood hunger.
A brief history of the CCBF
The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival caught the attention of the Huffington Post in it’s very first year. Over 4,000 people attended the festival that year. The New York Times caught up with the festival in 2015, it’s second year. By then the attendance had already grown to over 7,000. Now, in its seventh year the festival has decided to expand its footprint. After peaking at 90 authors in 2018, they invited fifty more this year. Including six Project Lit Community authors – a growing network of dedicated teachers and students who work to increase access to diverse books nationwide.
And for the first time, the festival will have a keynote speaker and three author panel discussions. Jarrett Krosoczka, the New York Times Bestselling author and illustrator will give the keynote address. He is best known for his Lunch Lady series and his new Star Wars: Jedi Academy series. Finally, KidLit TV will be on hand and authors will be interviewing each other and streaming live from the festival!
The only thing more dramatic than the instant success CCBF experienced is the dramatic second act it is currently navigating. By broadening their reach beyond the confines of the Bell Middle School parking lot to a multi-media world online, CCBF ensures that there will be more exciting acts to come. There’s only one caveat, Festival founder Dawn Greenburg explained, “there’s so many authors here that we recommend you make a list of the top 10 or 15 that you must see. And navigate the show from there.”
Do you know the founders?
A Chappaqua resident, Dawn Greenberg launched CCBF in 2014 with “friends’ and with the help of many Chappaqua volunteers. Their mission, Dawn told us, was to “bring kids together with the author’s they love, discover new ideas, and make a lasting connection with the love of reading.” A former publishing executive for Warner Bros./DC Comics, Dawn was well placed to launch this endeavor. Dawn was an avid fan of the Celebrate Children’s Book Day at Washington Irving’s Sunnyside and knew many of the writers there. Including Chappaqua resident and author of the children’s book Trauma Queen, Barbara Dee. When the event shut down, after a fifteen-year run in 2013, Dawn and Barbara got working on what is now the largest book festival in the Northeast.
Two Festival mainstays
Victoria Kann: Victoria Kann is the co-author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling Pinkaliciousbooks. This series, created by a pair of sisters, includes the titles Goldielicious and Emeraldalicious and the play Pinkalicious: The Musical, performed recently in New York City by the Vital Theater Company. The artwork has been called “Brilliant” by curledupkids.com, and the series “Sure to garner smiles” by the School Library Journal. In fact, Victoria based the original story off an April Fool’s joke about her own two daughters turning pink! Victoria has been a stalwart supporter of CCBF from day one!
Barbara Dee: Barbara Dee’s tenth, middle grade novel, Maybe He Just Likes You, about middle school sexual harassment will be published by Aladdin/S&S this October. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and is a Junior Library Guild selection. Her 2018 book Everything I Know About You is one of the 2019 Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year. It is also a Junior Library Guild selection and one of the 2018 A Mighty Girl’s Best Books of the Year. Halfway Normal (2017) was named to the 2018 ILA Young Adult Choices Reading List. Star-Crossed (2017) is a 2018 ALA Rainbow List Top Ten, and a 2018 Goodreads Choice Finalist. Barbara is a founder of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival. She lives with her family in Chappaqua, NY.
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