We Need Diverse Books!

Do We Need Diverse Books? Yes, we do! And the Everywhere Book Fest (EBF) promises to bring the children's book festival experience to everyone, everywhere! The Everywhere Book Fest recently announced its first online children’s book festival scheduled for May 1 and May 2, 2020. The EBF was founded by authors Melanie Conklin, Ellen Oh, and Christina Soontornvat when they saw book festivals and events being canceled all over the world. (btw The National Book Festival is still scheduled for August 9, 2020 - keep your fingers crossed!) Anyway, the aim of the EBF is to bring the celebration and joy of the book festival experience directly into the homes of readers everywhere. Authors Gene Luen Yang and Nic Stone are the keynote speakers for the inaugural festival.

The EBF will be an online event bringing kid-lit creators and readers together, even while they are isolated. Streaming technology will allow attendees to ask questions during live sessions, while the virtual nature of the event opens up new possibilities for kid engagement with writers and illustrators. “We want this to be really engaging because we know that so many people watching have been stuck at home and would love to see something fun and uplifting,” said Soontornvat. The event will be viewable from the Everywhere Book Fest website and YouTube channel.

Hope you'll join me there on May 1st and 2nd! (Which is also here, right?)