Hurray for Kid Authors!

By C.J. Hirschfield

“I glow as the night begins to fall.”  -- “From Dark to Light,” by Isabella, age 12

Once upon a time—well, three years ago—Fairyland premiered Turn the Page!, our children’s authors and illustrators book festival. It proved to be a hit, drawing over a thousand people who enjoyed interacting with more than 25 talented bookmakers who did read-alouds and demonstrations and talked about their craft with kids and parents.

A young book-lover considers the selection of books from Laurel Book Store at the 2017 Turn the Page!

For this year’s event – to be held Saturday, May 19, from 10 to 4 – we’ve decided to try something new that we’re very excited about.

We’ve always been motivated by the question: How do we engage children with the process of bookmaking and help them see themselves reflected in literature they read? The answer we came up with: by including children as featured authors and illustrators! At Fairyland, children are the makers and creators, so it only made sense to have books for children represented by the children who not only inspired the stories but also created them.

All dressed up and ready to meet her favorite author!

Easier said than done.

“All of a sudden, the tacos began to attack us. The tacos grabbed their tortillas and threw them at us! We caught the tortillas and we ate them one by one.”  -- “El mundo de tacos es real” by Fidel, age 7

To spread the word about our new kid-author contest, we posted on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts and on our website. Margaret Rodriguez, one of our children’s librarians, created a snappy flyer that was distributed to Oakland’s branch libraries. Our goal was to reach a diverse audience of kids and parents. We wanted to be sure that the application process was accessible and inclusive. And then, when the submissions began coming in, we faced perhaps our most difficult challenge: how to judge the work we received.

The happy result was an incredible array of submissions from children ages 4 to 12. Some children wrote their stories by hand; others submitted typed work. “Some of our kid authors were quite experienced with the bookmaking process, while others were enjoying and exploring how to write their first book,” says Fairyland’s education director, Teresa DeBerry.

“I dedicate this story to my mama and papa because in the summer I am going camping with my aunt and uncle.” -- “Un dia en playa ¿Memori?” by  Rene, age 7

At the judging table were four librarians; Luan Stauss,  the owner of Oakland’s Laurel Books; and Teresa, who told me the process was full of joy, laughter and discussion. Judging the work of a 12-year-old alongside that of a 4-year-old presents a unique challenge. Of course, at Fairyland, everyone wins—and yet we had to choose only a handful of authors to feature.

Kids making their own books (with help from volunteers and librarians) at the 2017 Turn the Page!

We’re thrilled by the results of the judging: seven talented young authors who will present at this year’s Turn the Page! festival. We are still in the process of notifying our winners and figuring out how give them the best possible experience at the festival based on their age and interests.

“It’s kind to be kind. It’s kind to let girls go first. It’s kind to remind your friends to do the right thing.” -- “It’s Kind to be Kind,” by Levi, age 4.

Yes, there’s a lot we can learn from young authors, and we can’t wait to meet and celebrate them in person on May 19!

_

C.J. Hirschfield has served for 15 years as executive director of Children's Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation's oldest storybook theme park.