Home > About > Bill Peak's Library Column > A Day for Children at the Library
When I was three years old, my parents told me there would soon be a new addition to our family, that my mother was going to have a baby. At that age, my two favorite things in the world were TV cowboys and Coca-Cola, which inspired me to come up with the perfect name for my new brother or sister. I began to declare confidently (and often) that we should name the child “Coco Bang-bang.”
When my parents finally admitted they were thinking along different lines, maybe “Catherine” or “Robert,” I began to have serious doubts about the whole enterprise. For my entire life (which, at three, stretched back toward infinity), I had been the center of Mom and Dad’s world; the idea that I might now have to share their affections with some poorly named interloper rubbed me the wrong way.
I think my parents must have suspected my misgivings because, about a month before the blessed event was to occur, they gave me a new picture book. I no longer remember the title of that tiny tome, but I do remember what it was about: a little boy, who looked a lot like me, was excited about the new baby his parents were about to bring home.
Actually, what I remember best about the book is a single illustration. As I recall, it shows a scene that takes place immediately after the new addition to the family has arrived home from the hospital. The little boy sits on a couch. His parents have placed a pillow on his lap, and upon the pillow they have laid the child, its tiny hands lifted wonderingly toward the little boy’s smiling face.
Immediately, the idea that I too might sit on our couch, a pillow on my lap, an infant lying upon it, took possession of my impressionable three-year-old mind. And, as I recall, my parents wisely allowed me to realize that fantasy when my little sister Cathy finally did come home from the hospital. I could be wrong, but it’s my guess that picture book—whatever its title—probably saved my sister from a fair amount of brotherly pestering.
Which leads me, naturally enough, to the benefits accruing to children from books. On Saturday, June 7th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., come rain or shine, the Easton branch of the Talbot County Free Library will host the 10th Annual Chesapeake Children’s Book Festival. This year’s festival will feature 22 children’s book authors and illustrators, all of whom underwent a rigorous vetting process before being selected to participate.
Children who sign up at the Festival for the library’s Summer Reading Program will receive a free cookie (while supplies last) imprinted with the Festival’s crab logo, courtesy of the All in the Mix Bakeshop, and a voucher good for one free book (once again, while supplies last) from the attending author of their choice. It’s always fun to see the pride children take in asking the author they’ve selected to sign the book they’ve received.
This year’s Festival will offer children some great books to choose from. Here’s a small sampling of the many works that will be on display:
Danielle Joseph’s young adult novel Shrinking Violet was adapted into the Disney Channel movie Radio Rebel.
Colleen Kosinski’s A Home Again is so popular, it’s been translated into seven languages.
Trinka Hakes Noble’s The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash, (ALA Notable, PBS Reading Rainbow feature, American Book Award) has just celebrated its 45th year in print.
Jennifer O’Connell’s beautifully illustrated picture books include The Eye of the Whale, winner of the Green Earth Book Award, and The New York Times bestseller Ten Timid Ghosts, which has sold more than a million copies.
And Timothy Young (who first conceived of the Chesapeake Children’s Book Festival) has set his middle-grade chapter book Mac and the Millstone of Time at the Old Wye Mill in Wye Mills, MD.
Traditionally, the festival resembles a small, library-sized carnival, designed to create a special day of fun for little ones. The Maryland State Opera Bears will be back for a return engagement this year, the Daughters of the American Revolution will offer crafts, the Judy Center will have their Make-A-Book table set up, the Master Gardeners will assure that Mother Nature provides an important part of the day’s excitement, a display of extraordinary pop-up books will be on view, and Raising a Reader will set up a story walk. Maryland Public Television, The Imagination Library, Radcliffe Creek School, and Friends of the Library will also be on hand to keep the day entertaining.
The Friends of the Library are the primary sponsors of both the Festival and the library’s Summer Reading Program. Other Festival sponsors this year include Maryland Public Television, Easton Utilities, Talbot County Government, Talbot Arts, and the Maryland State Arts Council.
All in all, the Talbot County Free Library’s 10th Annual Chesapeake Children’s Book Festival should be a special day for children. And those parents out there thinking about bringing a new baby into the world can rejoice. The name “Coco Bang-bang” remains available for their consideration.