After four years, Longwood University continues to host the Virginia Children’s Book Festival. The three-day event took place this past weekend, from Thursday to Saturday.
Farmville native Juanita Giles is the founder and executive director of the festival. After growing up in this area, Giles said she enjoyed giving back to the community at the cross section of literature and education.
“One of the great things about having it on Longwood's campus is that a lot of the children that come here have never been on a college campus before,” Giles said. “We now have kids that have been coming back here for three years, and they've fallen in love with this place, and they talk about how beautiful it is and how much they want to come here when they go to college.”
There are also special programs requiring separate registration for students with sensory sensitivity issues, such as autism.
“As you can look around here and see,” Giles said as she gestured toward a group of children running in front of Stubbs Lawn. “This would be quite overwhelming to kids with sensory sensitivity, and we want to reach every child.”
Longwood’s Speech, Hearing & Learning Services department provided controlled environments with reduced noise and distractions for these special needs attendees.
Longwood students worked as volunteers at the festival, including English senior Dustyn Hall. Hall has volunteered for the past three years, including as the assistant director of festival operations in 2016. This year, he said he took a smaller role to enjoy his senior year.
Like Giles, Hall emphasized the importance of reaching as many students as possible. He talked about how the myriad authors and illustrators that attended this year were selected to accommodate all age ranges.
“We have something for everybody from kindergarten through their senior year in high school,” Hall said. “It's really important to us that make sure we are reaching everybody, every student that we possibly can.”
Giles highlighted some of the notable guests for the event. Among the speakers were Peter Brown, author of The Wild Robot. As a Global Read Aloud book, The Wild Robot is very popular, and being read in middle schools across the country.
Longwood’s IT department supplied robots for the children to interact with. Jarrett Krosoczka and Jamal Igle were also in attendance. Krosoczka authored the newest installment in the Star Wars: Jedi Academy series, The Force Oversleeps. As a colorist and illustrator, Igle has been commissioned by both Marvel and DC.
The Virginia Children’s Book Festival is held annually and will continue to occur on Longwood’s campus. This free event is open to local schools, with students ranging from kindergarten up to their senior years in high school.
