Orlando Family Stage and Loch Haven Cultural Park will host the first-ever Florida Children’s Book Festival, where families can enjoy three days of reading, creativity, and theatre with some of the most celebrated children’s authors and creators. The festival will be held on February 21 and 22, with an educator-focused professional development day on February 20.
In hopes of “helping young people discover the joy of reading,” the festival will have award-winning and bestselling authors, nationally recognized educators, and theatre creatives to engage in author talks, book signings, workshops, story times, and performances with families in attendance.
“Something powerful happens when a child finds a story that speaks right to their heart, and something even more powerful is to experience that story leap from the page to the stage,” Jeff Revels, Orlando Family Stage Artistic Director and Festival Producer, said in a press release. “Children’s literature and Theatre for Young Audiences lift each other up, and in our centennial season, we amplify that connection. This festival brings together authors, illustrators, educators, and families in a way that reminds us that every child has a story worth telling. I hope they leave here knowing their imagination can take them farther than they ever dreamed.”
Orlando Family Stage is partnering with Writer’s Block Bookstore as the festival’s bookseller and producing partner. Writer’s Block will oversee all book signings, sales, and meet-and-greets.
“This festival is a place where young people will discover stories that reflect who they are, open windows into new experiences, and invite them to see the world a little differently. Through panels exploring early readers, coming of age, mystery, graphic novels, Spanish language storytelling, Black history and Black voices, science and STEM, fantasy, and more, Families will leave with new stories to share, new questions to explore together, and a deeper excitement for reading that continues long after the weekend ends,” Lauren Zimmerman, Bookstore Owner, Writers Block Bookstore said.
Performances
Two Orlando Family Stage productions highlight the performance schedule, “inviting families to dive into stories that leap off the page.”
Co-commissioned by Orlando Family Stage and based on the picture book by Kelly Starling Lyons, this story celebrates Black milliners, the power of family legacy, and the importance of creativity. Lyons will be involved throughout the festival weekend, and Tiara’s Hat Parade will run at Orlando Family Stage from February 7-22.
“Tiara’s Hat Parade was inspired by my relationship with my mom, the hat wearing tradition in the African American community and the wonderful Black milliners whose stories are unsung. As a kid, I was in awe of majestic hats I saw in church. When I wrote Tiara’s Hat Parade, I thought about how hats can be meaningful and powerful for children and adults and how kids can be storytellers and agents of change,” Lyons said. “People can look forward to a play that draws them into the world of hat making, tradition and a close knit family. The play reinforces why kindness matters, showcases Black history and honors kinship, the arts and community.”
Lilly and the Pirates The Musical
Also co-commissioned by the Orlando Family Stage and inspired by the children’s book, Lilly and the Pirates The Musical follows Lilly, a young adventurer who believes the world is much bigger and more unexpected than what those around her insist. She sets off on a voyage following a mysterious map that leads her to a crew of pirates, encouraging her to be brave and follow her instincts.
Throughout the festival, audiences can meet members of the creative team behind this story, gain further understanding as to how books are brought into the theatre, and participate in activities allowing creativity to run wild.
Lilly and the Pirates The Musical will run at Orlando Family Stage from February 20 to March 20.
A Developmental Reading: The Best Halloween Ever
Along with showing performances based on books, the festival will also hold a developmental reading of a new play adapted from Barbara Robinson’s book The Best Halloween Ever.
After their collaboration on The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical, writer and lyricist Jahnna Beecham and composer and lyricist Malcolm Hillgartner will reunite to bring this adaptation to life.
Authors and Creators Attending the Festival
- Jenny Alvarado (Pencil & Eraser: We Have a Dull-Emma!, Fridays Are for Churros)
- Kerry O’Malley Cerra (Just a Drop of Water, Hear Me, One Light)
- Nicole D. Collier (Just Right Jillian, The Many Fortunes of Maya)
- Jerry Craft (New Kid, Class Act, School Trip)
- Lily Berlin Dodd (The Aerimander Chronicles, Search and Rescue)
- Michael Grover (On the Wing, nature-based educational readers)
- José Pablo Iriarte (Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed)
- Alan Katz (Take Me Out of the Bathtub, The Funniest Joke Book Ever, My Parent Has Been Grounded)
- Michelle Knudsen (Library Lion, Argyle, Big Mean Mike)
- Kelly Starling Lyons (Tiara’s Hat Parade, Sing a Song, Going Down Home with Daddy)
- Ed Masessa (The Rootlets, music-infused storytelling for children)
- Kate Messner (The Seventh Wish, All the Answers, Ranger in Time)
- Audrey Perrott (Moo Hoo, Baa Haa, A Hat for House, Once Upon a Tail)
- James Ponti (City Spies, Framed!, Dead City)
- Rekha S. Rajan (Ladoo and the Boy, The Swinging Sloth)
- Tammi Sauer (Wordy Birdy, Chicken Dance, Your Alien)
- John Schu (This Is a School, Jake Makes a World)
- Amar Shah (Play the Game, Find the Gaps, Start Small Think Big)
- Taryn Souders (Coop Knows the Scoop, Dead Possums Are Fair Game)
- Elly Swartz (Finding Perfect, Give and Take)
- Kristin Tubb (The Story Collector, A Dog Like Daisy)
- Salina Yoon (Penguin and Pinecone, Be a Friend, Stormy Night)
A full schedule of readings, panels, signings and workshops will be released early February.
Partnership with WUCF
Collaborating with WUCF, Central Florida’s PBS station, the festival is planning programming for children, families, and educators. Highlights include:
- Aaron Augenblick, creator of the PBS Kids series City Island: Families will have the chance to meet the animator and understand how characters are built from shapes and interactive elements.
- Interactive screenings from Ken Burns’ new documentary American Revolution: Offering hands-on activities, these sessions will allow children to understand the world of documentary storytelling further.
Vendors, book marketplaces and author presentations are free to attend, but some panels and shows are individually ticketed. Visit their official site for more information.