Celebrating Stories has found a new way to bring a sense of adventure to literacy for children and families in Milton. It has been uniting the community for a one-day literary festival honouring Canadian authors, illustrators, and storytellers since its inception in 1996. This year, however, they are expanding into a multi-day festival with a series of free engaging and inspirational author and illustrator talks and entertainment from April until November.
“This year, we wanted to build on the strong Celebrating Stories foundation of showcasing award-winning Canadian authors and illustrators. By growing the literary festival into a multi-day series, we’re able to connect with more children and families to develop and nurture reading and writing all year long,” shares Cindy Lunau, Milton Councillor and a founding member of the Celebrating Stories committee. “It’s about igniting the spark and fostering it for a lifetime, and this new format will support that vision. We’re also highly appreciative of the support of our sponsors, including TD Bank, Mattamy Homes, O’Connor MacLeod Hanna LLP, Milton Community Resource Centre, The Milton Canadian Champion, Halton Region, Town of Milton, and Milton Public Library, and proud to be able to continue to share these events with the community at no charge.”
Where children have only seen authors’ names printed on the spines of books, Celebrating Stories events provide a unique opportunity to meet prize-winning authors in-person, hear their stories, and see illustrations being brought to life. This year’s five-part series includes author, illustrator, and 2018 Blue Spruce Award™ nominee Kevin Sylvester, sharing silly stories from his children’s books followed by a “cartooning class” on April 21. On May 26, zoologist-turned-author and fellow 2018 Blue Spruce Award™ nominee Jess Keating, will inspire audiences and discuss what it takes to be a real-life shark scientist. Dynamic Canadian children’s author and 2018 Blue Spruce Award™ nominee Andrew Larsen, will share the process of creating books followed by a bookmaking exercise on June 9.
Kicking off events in the fall is 2018 Red Maple Fiction Award™ nominee, writer, and ghost hunter Joel A. Sutherland, who will share all things horror on October 27 to tween and teen audiences, including hair-raising stories and tips for young writers. The Celebrating Stories finale “Big Nate, The Musical”, is sure to delight audiences when a school favourite jumps off the pages and onto the stage on November 18.
For a complete schedule of Celebrating Stories events, location details, and to register to attend, please visit www.mpl.on.ca/CelebratingStories
