North Carolina Literary Festival Sept. 10-13

R.L. Stine will give Carolina kids goose bumps.

Kids will see and hear best-loved children’s authors and say “Hi” to a walking talking Clifford the Big Red Dog. They can make masks of favorite book characters, join in a Kids Character Parade, make puppets and draw pictures to illustrate a story.

Kids 12 and under will enjoy all of the above and more at the North Carolina Literary Festival Sept. 10-13 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Children’s activities and authors will be featured on Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 13. Thirteen children’s storytellers, authors and illustrators will take the children’s main stage, and an area just for kids will be chock-full of activities.

“We are pleased and honored that R.L. Stine, one of the most widely recognized children’s authors, will participate, along with Judy Schachner, famous for her Skippyjon Jones series, and Brian Pinkney, a distinguished author and illustrator,” said festival director Amy Baldwin. “And the new works that will be shared by our North Carolina children’s authors are equally thrilling.”

Other children’s authors and storytellers just announced include Clay Carmichael, Barbara Duncan, Kathi Littlejohn, Carrie Ryan, Alan Gratz and John Claude Bemis. Ronald McDonald will even make an appearance and read to the children.

Remaining authors for the festival, designed for all ages, will be announced later this summer. The libraries of UNC and Duke and North Carolina State universities, with additional support from N.C. Central University, organize and sponsor the festival, whose location rotates biennially among the Carolina, Duke and NCSU campuses. Since the festival began, it has been held in 1998 and 2002 at Carolina, 2004 at NCSU and 2006 at Duke. The N.C. Literary Festival is supported by private gifts and grants.

This year’s children’s area, outside Bynum Hall and South Building, will include a main stage where authors, illustrators and storytellers will read and answer questions from the audience. The area also will include a performance stage for puppet theater, musicians, storytellers and mini-theatrical performances from children’s books.

Players from the NBA, WNBA, Carolina Hurricanes, Carolina RailHawks and Durham Bulls will read stories, give autographs and share team give-aways. In an activity tent, kids can post the names of their favorite books; write a short story based on an illustration; get their faces painted; make character masks and puppets and more.

The fun will begin with the Kids Character Parade at 9:15 a.m. Sept. 12, led by character mascots and children’s authors. Children are invited to dress as their favorite book characters and join the procession.

Children also are asked to bring new or slightly used books to donate to a reading area, which will be walled off with bookcases and hosted by the Book Fairy, who after the festival, will donate the books to the pediatric oncology center at UNC Hospitals.

Mascots and book characters cavorting about will include Clifford the Big Red Dog; Little Critter; the Berenstein Bear Parents; UNC’s Rameses, the Duke University Blue Devil, Mr. Wuf from NCSU and Eddie the Eagle from N.C. Central; mascots for the Bulls, the Hurricanes and the RailHawks; Booker from the Durham Public Library; and the cow from Chick-fil-A.

Chick-fil-A will sponsor the children’s area on Sept. 12 and McDonalds on Sept. 13. Representatives of both restaurants will give away prizes and coupons on their respective days. From the performance stage on Sunday, Ronald McDonald will perform magic tricks; talk and sing with children about the importance of reading, writing, illustrating and being creative; and provide give-aways for all children present.

Volunteers from the community and the UNC School of Education will be on hand to assist children with the various activities. The activities and performance stage are sponsored by the community organizations Kidzu, Think It Ink It, Community Independent School, Hats Off Theatre, Carolina Parent Magazine and the Durham Public Library. All will have information tables in the children’s area.

The schedule for the children’s main stage is as follows:

Saturday, Sept. 12

9:15 a.m.: Kids Character Parade
10 a.m.: Brian Pinkney
11:10 a.m.: Judy Schachner
12:20 p.m.: Clay Carmichael
1:30 p.m.: Barbara Duncan and Kathi Littlejohn
2:40 p.m.: R.L. Stine
3:50 p.m. Carrie Ryan

Sunday, Sept. 13

11:10 a.m.: Three NBA and WNBA players, all graduates of Carolina, Duke and NCSU
12:20 p.m.: Ronald McDonald
1:30 p.m.: Alan Gratz
2:40 p.m.: John Claude Bemis

www.NCLiteraryFestival.org