This week’s Bookshelf is about a fun way to inspire a child’s reading life and the opportunity for a Georgia author to shine.
Festival fever. Children and books go together like peanut butter and jelly, but in this era of book bans and censorship, access is under threat. And it’s not just school libraries feeling the pinch, as pressure groups have turned their attention to public libraries. According to the American Library Association, the number of books targeted for censorship at public libraries in 2023 jumped 92% over the previous year.
Now more than ever is the time to celebrate books and the joy they bring to children’s lives and the role they play in broadening children’s minds to the world around them. And there’s no better way to do that than at the inaugural Decatur Children’s Book Festival.
Using the formula she perfected programming the children’s and young adult stages at the Decatur Book Festival for nearly two decades, Diane Capriola has put together an impressive lineup of events presented May 3-5 by Little Shop of Stories as a part of the Decatur Arts Festival.
“Our partnership with the arts festival is just ideal,” says Capriola, co-owner of Little Shop of Stories. “I always like to say that children’s books are works of art, so I feel like it makes total sense that we’re partnering with the arts festival. They’ve been a really great partner in helping us get this launched.”
The book fest kicks off Friday at First Baptist Church of Decatur with a sold-out keynote speech from novelist Kate DiCamillo, author of “Because of Winn-Dixie” and winner of the Newbery Medal and Theodor Geisel Award, among other accolades. Her latest book is “Ferris” (Candlewick, $18.99), about a fifth-grader whose family has gone bonkers in ways completely unrelated to the fact there’s a ghost in their house.
On Saturday and Sunday, more than 50 authors will participate in 28 events on two stages. Among them will be local authors including Rachael Allen, Aisha Saeed, Laurel Snyder, Lisa D. Brathwaite and Terry Benton-Walker, as well as national authors.
The Children’s Stage, located in the dance studio at the Decatur Recreation Center, will feature a number of author-led story times and art-making activities. Highlights include a special story time on Saturday for “In My Granny’s Garden,” a picture book by Pearl Cleage and Zaron Burnett Jr., and illustrated by the late Radcliffe Bailey. The event features a concert of original music from the Alliance Theatre’s children’s production based on the book.
On Sunday, kids can play games like Pictionary and Minute to Win It with graphic novel illustrators who will put their skills to the test. Illustrators include Vera Brosgol (“Plain Jane and the Mermaid”), Andy Runton (“Owly” series), Shadia Amin (“Shiny Misfits”) and Mike Lowery (“Bug Scouts” series).
Credit: Labyrinth Road
Credit: Labyrinth Road
On the YA Stage at The Chapel on Sycamore Street, playwright and filmmaker LaDarrion Williams gets things started Saturday morning when he talks about his new book “Blood at the Root” (Labyrinth Road, $20.99), a Black fantasy saga set at a school described as Hogwarts meets HBCUs. He’ll be joined by Jill Tew, author of the dystopian romance “The Dividing Sky” (Joy Revolution, $19.99). Also on Saturday is a YA meet-and-greet with authors at Leon’s Full Service. This is the festival’s only ticketed event that comes with a price tag. All other events are free.
Presenting the closing keynote Sunday afternoon is Rebecca Ross, the New York Times bestselling author of the “Letters of Enchantment” duology. The event is free, but requires a ticket available at eventbrite.com.
For details on the Decatur Children’s Book Festival, go to decaturchildrensbookfest.org and check out their Facebook page for updates.
Townsend time. Nominations are open for the 2025 Townsend Prize for Fiction. Now managed by the Atlanta Writers Club and the Georgia Writers Museum, the prestigious literary award is bestowed every two years on a work of literary fiction in the form of novel, novella or short story collection. The work must have been published between January 2023 and December 2024, and it must have been both written and published while the author was living in Georgia. Self-published books are not accepted.
Past winners of the Townsend have included Alice Walker, Ha Jin, Judson Mitchum, Mary Hood, Thomas Mullen and Kathryn Stockett.
Nominees will be announced at the end of the year and a winner will be named at an awards ceremony in March 2025. To submit a nominee, go to atlantawritersclub.org.
Suzanne Van Atten is a book critic and contributing editor to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She can be reached at Suzanne.VanAtten@ajc.com.
