11:00 :: Music with Erick Traplin!

Join in the fun as Eric Traplin performs his unique brand of music for kids of all ages.

11:30 :: Community Reader: Barb Janicek (KPL)
Reading from Marianne Dubuc's In Front of My House

In Front of My House is a whimsical celebration of a child''s imagination and all the places it can travel. This circular story begins and ends in a tidy front yard, but in between takes the reader to mountains and mysterious caves, up to outer space, down into the ocean and beyond. It''s a journey as boundless and surprising as young imaginations. Filled with inventive and delightful twists, this charming story reveals a child''s fancy taking flight, showing how imaginative play can begin in a place as mundane as a front yard, reach to the stars, then return back to the same place. Children will recognize a kindred imagination in Marianne Dubuc''s joyful illustrations and simple text.

12:00 :: Rona Arato
Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium

Treat yourself to a visit to the wackiest restaurant ever! Ten-year-old Shoshi and her eight-year-old brother, Moshe, arrive in New York in 1898 from Russia with their mother and Snigger, the baby dragon that saved them from an attack by Cossack soldiers. Five years earlier, their father had also come to New York to make his fortune, but no one has heard from him since. Through a series of adventures and misadventures, Shoshi and Moshe use their wits to navigate through New York City's Lower East Side, making new friends and even a few foes: Salty, the seaman who helps the family smuggle Snigger through Ellis Island; Aloysius P. Thornswaddle, carnival barker extraordinaire; Dingle Hinglehoffer, pitcher for the Brooklyn Slobbers; and the mysterious Man in the Black Cape. With the help of Snigger, they set out to solve the mystery behind their father's disappearance, helping to free the Lower East Side from the tyrannical rule of gangster Nick the Stick along the way. Mrs. Kaputnik's Pool Hall and Matzo Ball Emporium is a colorful tale that blends history and fantasy with a journey of discovery, adventure, and fun.

12:30 :: Lana Button
Willow's Whispers

When Willow speaks, her words slip out as soft and shy as a secret. At school, her barely audible whisper causes her no end of troubles. But Willow is as resourceful as she is quiet, and she fashions a magic microphone from items she finds in the recycling bin.

But Willow's clever invention is only a temporary solution. How will this quiet little girl make herself heard?

1:00 :: Sean Cassidy
Kazaak!

Spike's baby porcupine quills have hardened into sharp, "ouchy" points - and he is not impressed. But his friend Rupert convinces him that "quills are the BEST"--especially when a hungry bear finds the two friends in the forest and wants to eat them for his mid-day snack Includes back-matter information about porcupines and related activities.

1:30 :: Jan Andrews
Rude Stories

Meet Mr. Mosquito, drawn from a Gypsy story. He's cantankerous and nasty enough to raise belly laughs along with the eyebrows of the polite. In a story inspired by Australian bush tales, we meet Ella and Bella, two hilarious (and flatulent) sisters. Angelina's earthy wit is memorialized in a story from Swahili tradition.

The eight stories in Rude Stories have roots from Japan to Canada, from Africa to Eastern Europe, but they all share a sense of irreverence, and, because they are the work of a true storyteller, they beg to be read aloud, told aloud and shared. Francis Blake's hilarious askew art brings the characters to life in this spicy stew of international stories to satisfy every child's appetite for the deliciously absurd.

2:00 :: Laura Beingessner, Illustrator
Our Corner Grocery Store

Jane Collins-Philippe loves the sea – after all she has spent many years living on a sailboat – and she has collected verses old and new to share her understanding and affection. Some of the poems will be familiar, like Eugene Field’s “Wynken, Blynken and Nod.” Others are from Collins-Philippe’s own pen and are sure to become favorites. Who could resist a poem about a ship with a hippo for a captain and a giraffe named Joyce for a lookout?

Laura Beingessner’s charming art is the perfect complement to a collection that will delight children, whether they are old salts or landlubbers.

A Russian-flavored historical fantasy for readers twelve and up.

2:30 :: Music with Erick Traplin!

Join in the fun as Eric Traplin performs his unique brand of music for kids of all ages.

3:00 :: Let’s Read Launch – Farm Team

3:30 :: L.M. Falcone
The Midnight Curse

11-year-old fraternal twins, Charlie and Lacey, are invited to a remote English village for the reading of the last will and testament of their mysterious Uncle Jonathan. They hope to get money, and lots of it, but to Charlie’s horror, he ends up getting a curse ... “You must sleep in water every night of your life or you shall shrivel up and die.” Can Lacey solve the mystery of the curse and save her brother? She has until midnight or Charlie will be doomed.

4:00 :: Community Reader: Firefighter John Coish
Reading from Elliot’s Fire Truck by Andrea Beck

Elliot Moose is on the loose once more. As he jumps aboard his bright red fire truck and takes off to the next rescue, he feels courageous. All his friends want to ride on the truck and be firefighters too. Nobody wants to be rescued. One by one, Elliot’s friends climb aboard until there is no more room on the truck. When suddenly they all need a rescue for real, it is his two youngest and smallest friends who save the day. This lively new addition to the Elliot Moose series is a charming tale of friendship and fair play.

4:30 :: Community Reader: Erick Traplin
Reading from How do you read to a rabbit? by Andrea Wayne von Königslöw

Ever tried reading to an alligator?

Probably not. After all, he would most likely eat your book. How about a bat? Maybe that’s not such a good idea either—you’d have to read upside down in the dark!

Youngsters will laugh out loud at the antics of the thirteen animals—and the child who tries to read to them—in this delightful picture book. From bats to boas, and camels to kangaroos, the animals demonstrate the many challenges of reading to them: a boa might want to hug you a little too tight, and you’d have to jump pretty fast to keep up with a kangaroo. All ends well, however, as we see the child reading to his parents. Now that’s something easy to do!

The comical characters and repetitive text make this an ideal book for pre-schoolers who will only be too happy to come up with a host of other animals, and the reasons why it would be difficult to read to them as well.