The long-awaited Third Annual Columbus Children’s Book Festival returns to the grounds of the Columbus Public Library on Macon Road on Saturday, September 19th.

The event is free and open to the public.
 
Thousands have attended the previous two festivals featuring nationally known writers of children’s and teen books, as well as illustrators, entertainers, crafts and more.
 
This year’ Festival promises to be even bigger with well-known authors, illustrators and entertainers coming to town for free presentations and autograph sessions that are designed for the whole family. Books will be for sale, as will food, beverages and snacks.
 
Complete event information, including author and performer schedules can be found on the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries’ website www.cvlga.org. Interested parties may also contact the Library at 706-243-2669.
 
FEATURED AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS
The featured authors and illustrators represent some of the most famous and most highly-regarded talent working in the field of children’s literature and entertainment, including:

Author MEG CABOT, whose The Princess Diaries became smash hit movies and who has 80 books published in 38 countries have sold over 25 million copies.

Children’s Literature icon JANE YOLEN who has been called the Hans Christian Andersen of America. She has written over 300 children’s and teen books, including the all-time classic How Does A Dinosaur Say Goodnight? and its many sequels.

ERIC LITWIN, musician, entertainer, and writer of the New York Times #1 bestselling first four Pete the Cat books and the new series called The Nuts.

Acclaimed international artist, illustrator and speaker BRYAN COLLIER, three-time Caldecott Honor recipient and six-time Coretta Scott King award winner.

JOHNATHAN RAND, whose spine-tingling series American Chillers have been entertaining school-aged children for years.

Galactic Quest Comic Books Herocats creators KYLE PUTTKAMMER and MARCUS WILLIAMS
 
ENTERTAINMENT AND OTHER EVENTS
Joining the Festivities will be entertainers such as Adam the Juggler, favorite magician Arthur Atsma, storyteller John Edward Doyle, Jr. and musician/drummer Dave Holland. Animal Tales will be presenting three shows featuring their collection of wild and exotic animals. There will also be character greetings with some of your favorite book characters throughout the day.
 
Additional activities during the event include Craft-O-Mania, a series of craft projects for children inspired by the Festival authors, and the Simple Steps Garden, an area of play, reading and crafts for babies, toddlers and the pre-schoolers.
 
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
The Festival will run from 10:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday, September 19th. The event will happen rain or shine.
 
The Festival kicks off with an opening ceremony at 10:30am awarding area students who participated in the annual Children’s Book Festival Young Writers Contest.
 
The author’s appearances will be as follows. All authors will appear in the Festival Main Event Tent located on the front lawn of the Library, with autograph sessions immediately following their presentations:
            11:00am          ERIC LITWIN
            12noon            MEG CABOT
            1:00pm            JANE YOLEN
            2:00pm            BRYAN COLLIER
            3:00pm            JOHNATHAN RAND
 
Galactic Quest Comics will have their own tent and will be meeting fans throughout the day.
 
FRIENDS OF LIBRARIES BOOKSTORE
One of the Libraries’ support groups, The Muscogee County Friends of Libraries, will be running the Festival Bookstore during the event. Books from all of the featured authors, plus additional works, will be on sale. This will be a prime opportunity to pick up books to be autographed by your favorite author. The Store will accept cash and Visa, MasterCard and Discover credit cards.