Many Bookstock 2022 events and activities will appeal to children and young adults. Here are ten attractions:
1. Meet an author. Our authors are as young as a ten-year-old illustrator to a renowned children’s’ author more than 80. Meet an author and get your book signed. Here are a few:
“Co-authoring Covid: Rethinking Children’s Literature Post Pandemic.” Friday, 10 a.m. at Norman Williams Public Library. Kimberly Burwick, a poet mother and her 10-year-old illustrator son Levi Goodan, describe how they created a book during the first wave of COVID.
“Historical Vermont…in Comics.” Friday, 12:30 p.m., Woodstock History Center. Cartoonist and illustrator Emily Zea shares how she brought the rich origins of two Vermont towns to life through comic drawings.
“Pig Years: Chronicles from an Itinerant Farmhand.” Friday, 12:30 p.m., Norman Williams Public Library. Memoirist Ellyn Gaydos describes in stark simplicity the lifeblood of the farm, where joy and tragedy are frequent bedfellows.
“Behind the Panels: Creating Graphic Novels for Younger Readers.” Friday, 1:45 p.m., Norman Williams Public Library. Two authors of graphic novels describe how they make comics step by step, from early sketches to final artwork.
“The Life of a Storyteller with Katherine Paterson.” Saturday, 10 a.m., Town Hall Theater. Meet the woman who wrote beloved children’s’ books such the “Bridge to Terabithia”, “Jacob Have I Loved” and “My Brigadista Year”.
2. Write! On Sunday, 11:45 a.m., the Norman Williams Public Library, Joni Cole, who selected the authors for this year’s festival, will lead a session in which she will provide “prompts,” such as a word or a sentence, for you to write about. This is a great way for people of all ages to awaken their writing genius. Bring a notebook or a laptop.
3. Meet Ben Franklin. Founder of the first U.S. library and publisher of The Poor Richard’s Almanac, will be on The Green, all day Friday and Saturday. Ben Franklin also leads a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at 9 a.m. on Friday. Ben is available for conversation, wisdom and photo opportunities.
4. Experience Virtual Reality. For the third year, Woodstock Union High School computer science students demo virtual reality on The Green using the latest Oculus headsets. Example: The Open Brush experience lets you paint in 3D with brushes, stars, and light.
5. Buy a Book. Upward of 1,000 children and young adult books will be for sale in the used book sale tent on The Green. Rock bottom prices. Among the 30 authors in the exhibitor tent, a half dozen offer children or YA content. Open 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sunday 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.
6. Hire a Poet. Commission a special poem! At their own tent on the Green. Donations optional but welcomed.
7. Spy Friday! Play the Spy Game at the Info Tent on Friday. At 6 p.m. on Friday, Town Hall Theater, attend the special event called “In from the Cold.” American writer, spy novelist, and former CIA officer Valerie Plame, author of the best-selling “Fair Game: My Life As A Spy” joins Robert Kerbeck, award-winning author of “Ruse: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street”, to talk leaks, sneaks, and other assorted spy stories.
8. See Books as Art. The grand opening of Unbound Volume X is Friday 4:30 p.m. with a reception, at Artistree Community Arts Center. This exhibit will be on for a month. An eye-opening show of all of the possibilities of what we may think or may not think a “book” is.
9. Entertainment. Enjoy live music. On the Green, from 10 a.m. on Friday and Sunday, 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.
10. Food and Beverages. Visit the food tent featuring a variety of choices from several vendors. Lemonade stands will also be on both ends of The Green, hosted by local groups including Woodstock Union High School hockey teams.
This year signed copies of author’s books will be available at the Yankee Book Shop tent on The Green. As always, all events are free. For more information visit: bookstockvt.org.
