Festival Brings Alive the Magic of Literature in Children's Village
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The Gaithersburg Book Festival once again will bring literature to life for readers of all ages. The Festival’s Children’s Village, sponsored by Washington Parent, will offer an incredible program for all children – from the newest book lovers to avid teen readers and writers – featuring some of today’s top authors in children’s and young adult literature, hands-on activities and interactive workshops.
Among the award-winning and best-selling authors and illustrators coming to the Gaithersburg Book Festival this year are Kwame Alexander (2015 Newbery Award winner), Ally Carter, Jessica Day George, Gareth Hinds, Michelle Knudsen and Matt Phelan, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Kate Messner and Christopher Silas Neal, Robert Sabuda, Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri, Jon and Pamela Voelkel and Gene Leun Yang. These authors are joined by a host of other talents in children’s and young adult literature, including Jorge Aguirre, Tracey Baptiste, Fred Bowen, Winifred Conkling, Karen Deans, Lana Krumwiede, Magician Mike Lane, Marissa Moss, George O’Connor, Kevin O’Malley, Erica S. Perl, Dave Roman and Nancy Shaw.
~Imagination Station~
Imagination Station is where books come alive through storytelling, juggling, drama and dance. Performances include:
- Fizzical Fairytales – The Selfish Giant learns that sharing leads to good friendships and a warm heart in this adaption of an Oscar Wilde classic that includes puppets and participation from its young audiences. Designed for children ages 4 to 10.
- InterAct Story Theatre – This program combines storytelling, drama and songs, allowing children to get into the act and experience world cultures.
- Penny Theater – Sponsored by the Quince Orchard Chapter of the Friends of the Library, Penny Theater will perform the "Three Little Pigs" and "Where the Wild Things Are” for children ages 3 to 6.
- Story Tapestries with Arianna Ross – Eat your fill of stories with The Giggling, Wiggling Book Worm. Participants in this interactive program will dance, sing, wiggle and giggle as the book worm in you finds an exciting new story to read, write, draw, dance, make music and, of course, tell other stories about.
- Twinbrook Tellers of the Dogwood Dogs 4-H Club – This group will tell "Tales of Magic and Adventure" for children of all ages.
- Voices in the Glen – A nonprofit guild of storytellers and story listeners in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, Voices in the Glen promote the art of storytelling and provide opportunities for local storytellers to grow in their art and practice.
- Young Audiences of Maryland (YAMD) – Joining the Festival for the third year, this nonprofit organization performs and demonstrates its commitment to enriching the lives and education of Maryland’s youth through educational and culturally diverse arts programs.
- The Mayor’s Book Club will announce the third grade student and class that read the most books in the month of April. The Mayor and Junior Mayor will present the awards, followed by entertainment by the Gaithersburg Elementary School Chorus.
- Richard Morris, a local author and storyteller, will entertain young audiences with stories of his childhood. Children will travel through time, racing from a freight train; running from huge, lion-worms; and battling piranhas in the Amazon.
- Juggling, Original Poems and Songs with Nicolo the Jester - Combining amazing juggling with storytelling, poetry, comedy, music and character acting, he'll encourage children to join the merry love of reading and words, and the joys of kindness and generosity of spirit.
- Comics Game Show hosted by graphic novelist Dave Roman.
~Story Time Tent~
The Story Time Tent is a place where children and families can enjoy listening to stories read by authors, school librarians, student storymakers and Maryland’s Outstanding Teens.
~Writing Workshops~
The Children’s Village will offer free writing workshops for children and teens, led by experts from local writing programs. Workshops, designed for ages 8-18, will focus on playwriting, poetry, book arts, children’s books and college essay writing, among other topics. The full schedule of workshops will be available on the Festival website in early April.
~Where’s Waldo?~
Do you know where Waldo is? We do. This year, he’ll be making his way through the Festival. In honor of his 25th anniversary, Candlewick Press is sponsoring this classic Waldo scavenger hunt. Start your adventure at the Waldo Registration Tent in the Children's Village. Then see if he is hiding with the storytellers on Imagination Station, studying with the City's Educational Enrichment Committee or listening to a story in the Story Time Tent.
~The Book Nook~
The Book Nook, sponsored by St. Martin’s School, offers a place for reading, building and learning.
- Crafts, Reading Theater and Photo Booth – St. Martin's School will explore Aesop's Fables and lead a craft making animal masks that can be used while participating in its Reader's Theater. The school also will offer photo ops with Dr. Seuss-inspired props.
- Miz T Character Face Painting – After Miz T performs with Penny Theater on Imagination Station, she’ll transform children into their favorite storybook characters, including The Cat In The Hat, Winnie The Pooh, Clifford the Big Red Dog and many others.
~More Non-Stop Activities in the Children’s Village~
- Dragon and Flower Pot Crafts – Join Arts Entwine and artists from the Arts Barn as they catch a dragon by the tail and create dragon crafts with kids of all ages. With several great dragon books represented at the Festival this year, these artists will add to the "roaring good time" with a take-home craft. Arts Entwine will plant the seed of summer reading by getting “Down in the Dirt” and planting a seed that will come “Up in the Garden” in time for summer reading. Join them in decorating planters and burying the first seeds.
- Book Raffle – Gaithersburg’s Educational Enrichment Committee (EEC) will join CHARACTER COUNTS!™ to give away books, and have a special treat for all teachers who stop by our tent.
- Reading Buddies – Family Services, Inc. (FSI) will help children create "Reading Buddies" to encourage families to read together and act out stories.
- Mini-Books – Join the Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital to make mini-books to fill with art, notes, keepsakes, photos and more. Designed for children ages 4 to 16.
- Read and Act Out Book About Play – Children ages 2 to 8 can join Pat Rumbaugh, author of “Let's Play at the Playground,” as she reads and then takes kids for an adventure around the playground at Griffith Park at City Hall.
- Montgomery College Early Childhood Club – The club returns this year to help children with arts and craft projects as students talk to parents about the importance of reading.
- Montgomery County Agricultural Fair – 4-H Volunteers will help children create animal crafts and read animal stories while they visit a petting zoo featuring sheep and goats.
- Leah Taylor Jefferson and Oreo – Jefferson, author of “Horses of the Presidents” and “The Adventures of Oreo and Algonquin,” will give children the opportunity to dress up and get their photos taken with her pony Oreo (cost: $7), while they learn about horses and the history of the U.S. Presidents.
- Scholastic Inc. – Look for Clifford the Big Red Dog and stop by the Scholastic booth to learn more about the Kids are Authors Program and how your child can publish his/her own book.
- Monster Bookmarks – Sylvan Learning Center makes reading fun and helps kids scare away all of their fears as they make monster bookmarks for summer reading.
- Seneca Academy welcomes children to write their own story. Start with Seneca Academy’s mascot, Foxtale, and create a comic book where your child is the hero.
- Assorted crafts with Washington Parent and Activity Rocket.
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Restaurateurs, Political Operatives and #1 Best-Seller Sherrilyn Kenyon Added to Presenting Author List
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Some big names in the restaurant world, politics, history and popular fiction have recently joined the illustrious list of presenting authors for the 2015 Gaithersburg Book Fest. Read on to find out just who you'll be able to find in Gaithersburg on May 16.
~ Non-Fiction ~
 Cathal Armstrong is an internationally recognized chef with three restaurants — Restaurant Eve, The Majestic and Eamonn’s a Dublin Chipper — in the Washington, D.C., area. He was a James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic nominee and was named one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs. Armstrong has been featured in Southern Living, Martha Stewart Living, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. He also sits on the Saveur Tastemakers chef advisory board. For his work on ending childhood obesity, the White House honored Armstrong as a “Champion of Change” in April 2011. In March 2014, Chef Armstrong debuted “My Irish Table,” a warm and personal narrative featuring 130 recipes showcasing Modern Irish fare, interlaced with stories about his journey from Dublin to Washington, D.C., and his path to successful restaurateur, chef and leader in the sustainable food movement.
 David Axelrod spent eight years as a reporter and columnist for the Chicago Tribune. As a political consultant, he has managed strategy for more than 150 local, state and national campaigns. He most recently served as senior strategist to President Obama’s successful reelection campaign and also served in that same role in then-Senator Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, before going on to serve in the White House as senior adviser to the president. After the 2012 campaign, Axelrod founded the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago. His New York Times best-selling book, “Believer: My Forty Years in Politics,” takes readers behind the closed doors of politics.
 William C. Davis, three-time Jefferson Davis Award winner, is one of America’s top Civil War historians. He has authored or edited more than 50 books and is a frequent historical consultant for television and film. His new book, a History Book Club main selection, is “Crucible of Command: Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee—The War They Fought, The Peace They Forged.” William was the on-camera senior consultant for 52 episodes of the Arts & Entertainment Network/History Channel series “Civil War Journal,” as well as a number of other productions on commercial and Public Television, and for the BBC abroad, and has acted as historical consultant for several television and film productions, including “The Blue and the Gray,” “George Washington” and “The Perfect Tribute.”
 Andrea Mays is the author of the forthcoming book “The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger’s Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare’s First Folio.” Like Henry Folger, she has been possessed by a lifelong obsession with Shakespeare and his times. Andrea spent much of her Manhattan girlhood holed up in the New York Public Library, listening to vinyl LP recordings of performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company. A graduate of Stuyvesant High School, she was not only a protégé of author Frank McCourt but also of his own mentor, the legendary New York City public school teacher R’Lene Dahlberg. Andrea has degrees in economics from the State University of New York at Binghamton and from UCLA, and teaches economics at California State University at Long Beach. She was a presidential appointee to the U.S. International Trade Commission, where she served as economist to the chairman. She divides her time between California and Washington, D.C. This is her first book. Ellen McCarthy is an award-winning feature writer for the Style section of The Washington Post. She joined the Post in 2000 and wrote about business, technology, arts and entertainment before launching the paper’s On Love section in 2009. She has interviewed hundreds of couples and written extensively about weddings and relationships. Her first book, “The Real Thing: Lessons on Love and Life from a Wedding Reporter’s Notebook,” is the culmination of that work. McCarthy lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and daughter. Nora Pouillon was born in Vienna. She moved to the United States in the late 1960s, and in 1979 opened Restaurant Nora, which in 1999 became the first certified organic restaurant in the country. Her new memoir, “My Organic Life,” chronicles the farm-to-table movement, the proliferation of greenmarkets across the country, and the evolution of the chef into social advocate. Since it opened in 1979, her eponymous restaurant has been a hot spot for reporters, celebrities, and politicians—from Jimmy Carter to the Obamas—alike. Along the way, Nora redefined what food could be, forging close relationships with local producers and launching initiatives to take the organic movement mainstream.
 Alexandra Robbins is the author of four New York Times best-sellers, including “Pledged” and “The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth.” Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post and other publications. The recipient of the Heartsongs Award for contributions to the mental health of children and young adults, Robbins has appeared on numerous television shows, including 60 Minutes, The Today Show, Oprah, The View, various CNN programs and The Colbert Report.
 David K. Shipler reported for The New York Times from 1966 to 1988 in New York, Saigon, Moscow, Jerusalem and Washington, D.C. He is the author of six previous books, including the best sellers “Russia” and “The Working Poor,” as well as “Arab and Jew,” which won the Pulitzer Prize. He has been a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and has taught at Princeton, American University and Dartmouth. He writes online at The Shipler Report.
 Norah Vincent is The New York Times best-selling author of “Self-Made Man,” as well as two other books. Formerly an op-ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times, she has also contributed regularly to Salon, The Advocate and The Village Voice. Her forthcoming book, “Adeline: A Novel of Virginia Woolf,” is a boldly imagined portrait of Virginia Woolf that sheds new light on the events that preceded her fatal immersion in the River Ouse in 1941. She lives in New York City.
~ Fiction ~
 Larry Bond is the author of numerous New York Times best-selling thrillers, including “Cold Choices,” “Vortex,” “Cauldron” and “The Enemy Within.” A former Naval Intelligence officer, warfare analyst and anti-submarine technology expert, he is an avid wargamer and modeler. He has also co-designed the Admiralty Trilogy series games, which include Harpoon, Command at Sea and Fear God & Dreadnought, all of which have won industry awards.
 Keith Donohue is the author of the novels “The Stolen Child,” “Angels of Destruction” and “Centuries of June.” His work has been translated in two dozen languages, and his novels have been named as “Best Book of the Year” by Amazon.com, Borders Original Voices, Library Journal, The Washington Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Kansas City Star, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Locus magazine (UK). His latest novel, “The Boy Who Drew Monsters,” is a literary horror novel about a young boy trapped inside his own world, whose drawings blur the lines between fantasy and reality. A graduate of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Donohue also holds a Ph.D. in English from The Catholic University of America. He lives in Wheaton, Maryland. Sherrilyn Kenyon, a New York Times best-selling author, is a regular in the #1 spot. With more than 60 million copies of her books in print in more than 100 countries, her current series include The Dark-Hunters, The League and Chronicles of Nick. Since 2004, she had placed more than 65 novels on the New York Times list in all formats including manga and graphic novels. Her Chronicles of Nick and The Dark-Hunters series are soon to be major motion pictures, while Dark-Hunter is also being developed as a television series. Sherrilyn has legions of fans known as Menyons, thousands of whom proudly sport tattoos from her series and who travel from all over the world to attend her appearances.
 Bryan Reardon is a freelance writer specializing in medical communications. His novel, "Finding Jake," is a psychological thriller about being the parent of a possible high school shooter. He co-wrote “Ready, Set, Play” with retired NFL player and ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth and “Cruel Harvest.” Prior to becoming a full-time writer, Bryan worked for the State of Delaware for more than a decade, starting in the Office of the Governor. He earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and lives in West Chester, Pennsylvania, with his wife, kids, and rescue dog, Simon. Christopher Scotton is an experienced public speaker, seminar leader, online marketer and technology entrepreneur. “The Secret Wisdom of the Earth” is his first novel. Christopher has been a carpenter, bouncer, kite flyer, amusement park ride operator, venture capitalist and CEO of a few technology companies, including a computer-aided design (CAD) software company, for which he is currently president and CEO. He is a recognized expert and frequent speaker on search engine marketing, search engine optimization, social media marketing and online lead generation. He lives in Annapolis, Md. Peter Swanson is the author of two novels, “The Girl with a Clock for a Heart” and “The Kind Worth Killing.” His poems, stories and reviews have appeared in such journals as The Atlantic, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Epoch, Measure, Notre Dame Review, Soundings East and The Vocabula Review. He has won awards in poetry from The Lyric and Yankee Magazine, and is currently completing a sonnet sequence on all 53 of Alfred Hitchcock’s films. He lives with his wife and cat in Somerville, Mass.~ Young Adults ~
 Ally Carter writes books about spies, thieves and teenagers. She is The New York Times best-selling author of “Heist Society,” “Uncommon Criminals” and the popular Gallagher Girls series, which together have sold more than two million copies and have been published in more than 20 countries. Her newest book, “All Fall Down,” is the first book in her new Embassy Row series. Ally lives in Oklahoma where her life is either very ordinary or the best deep-cover legend ever. Ellen Oh is co-founder and president of WeNeedDiverseBooks. She also is an adjunct college instructor and former entertainment lawyer with an insatiable curiosity for ancient Asian history. Ellen loves martial arts films, K-pop, K-dramas, cooking shows and is a rabid fan of The Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra series. She is the author of the young adult fantasy trilogy, The Prophecy Series. Ellen lives in Bethesda, Md., with her husband and three daughters and has yet to satisfy her quest for a decent bagel.
~ Childrens ~
 Karen Deans has written two picture books featuring women in history, “Swing Sisters: The Story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm” and “Playing to Win: The Story of Althea Gibson.” She is inspired by women who have the courage to follow their passion, work hard and never give up. She owns an art business, Wooden Tile, and is head scenic painter at the children’s theater, Adventure Theatre, in Glen Echo Park. This work has taken her to Broadway, as set painter for a musical adaptation of the children’s book “Three Little Birds,” based on the music of Bob Marley.
 Magician Mike Lane discovered his love of magic at age six after attending his very first magic show. At the age of 11, he befriended a professional magician. He later became that magician’s apprentice and has spent more than 30 years performing magic professionally. Mike’s first book, “Magic Mike’s Miraculous Magic Tricks,” was published in October 2011. This “how to” book on learning magic received many accolades for its simple step-by-step directions and its colorful characters. He then received a four-book deal for The Magic Shop, a fictional series for children. The first two books in the series, “The Vanishing Coin” and “The Incredible Twisting Arm” were released in April 2014. The third book in the series, “The Disappearing Magician,” is due out in May. Marissa Moss has written more than 50 children’s books, from picture books to middle-grade and young adult novels. Best known for the Amelia’s Notebook series, her books are popular with teachers and children alike. “Barbed Wire Baseball,” her latest picture book, won the California Book Award Gold medal. Marissa studied art at San Jose State but fought too much with her art teachers (she was very opinionated – she wanted to do her kind of art; they wanted her to do theirs). She transferred to the University of California at Berkeley where she didn’t take a single English or Art class. Instead she took mostly history where she learned how to do research, tools that have helped her in making the historical journals and working on her young adult novel. She waited tables while sending out stories, waiting for some editor to fall in love with her work.  Dave Roman is the author of several graphic novels including “Astronaut Academy: Re-entry” (First Second) and “Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity,” as well as “Teen Boat!” and “Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery.” He has contributed stories to “Explorer: The Mystery Boxes” and “Nursery Rhyme Comics,” and is the co-author of two New York Times best-selling graphic novels, “X-Men: Misfits” and “The Last Airbender: Zuko’s Story.” Dave is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts and worked as a comics editor for the groundbreaking Nickelodeon Magazine from 1998 to 2009. He lives in Astoria, N.Y., with his wife, and fellow comic artist Raina Telgemeier.
 Jon and Pamela (J&P) Voelkel are the author-illustrators of the Jaguar Stones, a Maya-themed adventure series set in present-day Central America. Their books tell the story of a boy from Boston and a Maya girl who join forces when ancient Maya mythology comes scarily (and hilariously) to life. To research their books, the Voelkels explored more than 40 Maya sites, tracked howler monkeys in the jungle and learned to read and write Maya glyphs. Jon’s most frightening experience was being lost in a pitch-black labyrinth under a Maya pyramid. Pamela’s was being interviewed by Al Roker on “The Today Show.” |
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6th Annual Gaithersburg Book
Festival
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Saturday
May 16, 2015
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On the Grounds of
City Hall in
Olde Towne Gaithersburg, Md.
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GBF Presents an Evening with
Jeffery Deaver
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 You don’t have to wait until May 16 to see top-notch authors brought to you by the Gaithersburg Book Festival. We’ll be kicking off the festivities on April 16 when we host an evening with best-selling mystery author Jeffery Deaver at the Bethesda Library from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Deaver is best known for his book “The Bone Collector,” which was made into a film starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.
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Welcome to Our Newest Sponsors
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The GBF would like to thank the latest sponsors to commit their support to the 2015 Gaithersburg Book Festival:
~Pavilion Sponsors~
Adventist HealthCare
Maryland Center for the Book at the Maryland Humanities Council
~Festival Sponsor~
MedImmune
~Literary Sponsors~
Activity Rocket
Junior League of Washington
~Book Lovers~
Bob & Judy Murphy
Candlewick Press
Howard University School of Dentistry
Jehova's Witnesses
Maryland Insurance Administration
Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing
Scholastic, Inc.
St. Martin’s School
Story Tapestries with
Arianna Ross
~Festival Friends~
Shari & Stephen Ashman
Arts Entwine/Arts Barn
Family Services, Inc.
Fizzical Fairytales
Girl Scout Council of the Nation's Capital
InterAct Story Theatre
Let's Play America
Miz T
Montgomery College Early Childhood Club
Montgomery County Agricultural Fair
Oreo the History Pony with Leah Jefferson, Author
Richard Morris, Local Author
Penny Theater, Sponsored by Friends of the Library, Quince Orchard Chapter
Sylvan Learning Center
Twinbrook Tellers of the Dogwood Dogs 4-H Club
Voices in the Glen
Young Audiences of Maryland (YAMD)
Dave Roman, Graphic Novelist
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~Partners ~
~Featured Sponsors ~
~Festival Sponsor ~
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Want to be one of the first to know about the latest news from the Gaithersburg Book Festival and our featured authors?
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The Gaithersburg Book Festival offers sponsorships to fit a variety of budgets, and organizers can tailor a sponsorship package to fit any company’s needs. Depending on the level of sponsorship, a company can be featured prominently in Festival-related advertising, as well as its e-newsletter, blog, website and program; receive complimentary exhibit space and/or exclusive naming rights to author pavilions; and earn complimentary admission to the exclusive Author Reception preceding the Festival.
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For Year-Round Literary Enrichment,
Check Out Activity Rocket
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The Gaithersburg Book Festival celebrates great authors, books and literacy!
For year-round literary enrichment for kids ages 0-18, including writing, reading, story times, book & paper arts, cartooning and more visit our sponsor Activity Rocket - the one-stop to search and book classes and camps! They have 90,000 offerings to choose from! |
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