Abilene, Texas: A Bumper Children’s Literature and Art Palooza
C hildren’s
A rt &
L iterary
F estival
Book your summer up! Build your child’s enthusiasm for reading, art and literary fun early in the summer and start an explosive reading trajectory for those lovely childhood summertime days, creating memories along the way. Abilene, Texas, “The Official Storybook Capital of America” is host to an epic children’s art and literary festival early in June. Running over 10 years strong now, it began with a tip of the hat towards Dr. Seuss in 2012. The Abilene Cultural Affairs Council plans the Children’s Art & Literary Festival (CALF).
A few pictures through the years of festivals…
Below is my personal story of this highly recommended reading and art palooza. Once upon a time I was a school librarian, so in 2014 my then teenage daughter obliged me and went along to see William Joyce, Academy and Emmy award winner, among other accomplishments. The festival was still a fledgling. It was magical to see the children dressed as fantastical creatures of Joyce’s imagination as they meandered in the Cypress Street parade which kickstarts each festival. (Unfortunately for me that year baseball sized hail fell from the sky as Mr. Joyce spoke in the historic Paramount Theater, totaling my car. Ah! The sky was picture perfect blue, and it came out of nowhere! All good stories have a problem, and this one resolves well, but that’s for a different post. It has to do with my sweet parents though – who came and rescued me, a stranded librarian. Just a tip for the cautious though – if you can find some take the covered parking in Abilene!)
A few years later, I was now a grandmother. In 2019 it was my privilege to road trip with my 3 year old grandson to see Peter Brown, winner of the esteemed Caldecott Honor Award (2013) Creepy Carrots, among many, many awards and accolades. Mr. Brown’s books, Creepy Underwear, and Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, to name a few titles, were a perfect match for Jackson who was so inspired by it he went on to chose a tiger themed birthday! Jackson was able to meet Mr. Brown, and have his NCCIL (National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature) purchased copy of Creepy Carrots signed by Peter Brown himself – “Eat more broccoli! Peter Brown” . You may have read, and seen the adorable movie, “Wild Robot”, also, by Mr. Peter Brown! Besides the festival we enjoyed Abilene’s free splash pad, had fun feeding the giraffe lettuce at the zoo.
2021 (2020 postponed) brought in Loren Long, whose works have a nostalgic aura about them. He illustrated Margaret Wise’s book Good Day, Good Night, Watty Piper’s infamous The Little Engine That Could among others. We decided it would be fun to participate in the CALF costume contest this year, and made mushroom caps from part of the setting of Good Day, Good Night. The committee was kind enough to grant entry to our pair of toadstools, despite the fact that entrants should characterize a book character, not the setting. They walked away with a second place red ribbon; they were happy to win a candy filled movie popcorn tub, and Paramount movie tickets! This was one of their first experiences on stage and we were proud grandparents! Among the myriad of book readings, balloon animal art, free Blue Bell ice cream etc., we also enjoyed the Birds of Prey Show at Frontier, Texas.
Most recently we enjoyed the 10th annual CALF (2022) celebrating Sophie Blackall. She’s awarded with the Caldecott Medal (2014) for Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear and again in 2019 for Hello Lighthouse, which she also authored. This is such a delightful book! She’s also the illustrator of the Ivy and Bean series, among many more.
We decided again to participate in the costume contest this time as Hello Lighthouse. Jackson was a lighthouse, which my sweet son-in-law commented was “perfectly imperfect!” (The vision in my head was more grandiose than I could pull off!). Three year old Mia was the keeper’s wife; I used a vintage inspired pattern “Hattie” by Violette Field Threads in a thrifted yellow cotton, repurposed buttons I’d saved from a favorite sweater, and bits and bobs of fabric. But Leo, her cousin, stole the show as the Lighthouse Keeper when he charmed the crowd by blowing kisses causing an uproar of delighted laughter! In the end they happily took second prize sharing the candy prizes with their friends.
It was so fun to participate in the contest, but preparing for it is possibly the best part. Dreaming up which character to portray, designing and refining the costume, and working together with our little ones to breathe life into it is a memory making activity in its own right. At the conclusion of the contest Ms. Blackall herself was introduced, touchingly stated in her Australian accent, that the costumed children based on her art, nearly brought tears to her eyes! She is such a delightful artist, and human.
This is the end of this chapter, but I hope the story continues and we’re able again to participate in the Children’s Art and Literary Festival in future years. From our past experiences I would say it’s worth every ounce of effort to go to west Texas and enjoy this place and time with the little people you lovingly nurture.
