After 28 Years, Author Mac Barnett Returns to Fairyland

By C.J. Hirschfield

“He is a believer that picture books can have Swiftian absurdity and untidy endings, and that ‘life is absurd, and kids know that.’”
— San Francisco Chronicle

Before he was a New York Times bestselling author, before more than 1 million copies of his books were sold in the U.S. and translated into more than 30 languages, and before his two Caldecott Honor–winning books, there was … Fairyland.

Young Mac Barnett as Peter Pan with Captain Hook (Edward Hightower) and Major Catastrophe (Carol Becksted)

Yes, Mac Barnett, the renowned author of 15 children’s books, was a Fairyland Personality when he was a youth. We’re delighted that he will join us for our Turn the Page! children’s book festival on May 19. And we like to think that the imaginary world he inhaled at our special park inspired his later fiction.

A Celebration of Kids' Books

By C.J. Hirschfield

Kids, books, authors and illustrators: an irresistible combination – and the inspiration for Turn the Page!, a celebration at Fairyland of the role of literature in the lives of children. We held our first Turn the Page! last year, and it was a hit, with more than 25 local children’s book authors and illustrators, nearly 2,000 guests, and 365 books sold.

That kind of success calls for an encore. And so we’re thrilled to bring back Turn the Page! on Saturday, May 6, from 10 to 4.