Join me and fellow children’s writers Saturday Nov. 9 from 11-1 at the Rockport library for a fun morning of writing and reading.
Local Children's Literature Fest- with special guests BLUEY & BINGO!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 911:00 AM—1:00 PMBrenner RoomRockport Public Library17 School Street, Rockport, MA, 01966
Join us for a fun afternoon where a selection of local children's book authors will share their work, children can write and illustrate their own mini-books, and Bluey and Bingo will be in attendance for children to meet and be photographed with as well!
Eve LaPlante is the author of Marmee & Louisa, American Jezebel, Seized, and Salem Witch Judge, winner of the Massachusetts Book Award. She has degrees from Princeton and Harvard. A daughter and granddaughter of Rockport merchants, Eve lives in Rockport with her husband, with whom she has four grown children. Who Needs A Statue? is her first book for children.
Loretta Rossetti was a teacher in Massachusetts, including five years in Rockport as a fifth grade teacher. She also taught in the midlands in England, in Waterloo Belgium and on a banana plantation in Costa Rica. When she was nineteen, she thought of an idea for a short children's story. All she knew was that the main character would be a small piece of dust. Throughout the years she thought about that little piece of dust, and after almost 60 years, she wrote her first book, A Friendship by the Window. Loretta lives in Hudson, Massachusetts with her unpredictable shy cat, Annie Oakley.
Angela L. Glover Howell holds a Nebraska State teaching certificate, K-6 and is certified with the National Writing Project. She is on the Artists in the Classroom teaching roster for the Nebraska Arts Council where she works with writer’s pre-school to assisted living across the U. S. Glover earned her Ph.D. from The University of Kansas and when she’s not writing or teaching writing, she’s thinking about what’s for lunch. Her picture book series, Ethan Goes to School, illustrated by Bruce Arant, is based on thirty-plus years of teaching writing to elementary and college-age students and was nominated for the Golden Sower Award. Currently she lives and works in Rockport, Massachusetts where she enjoys hiking, eating, and searching for the perfect French fry.
Brian Heath grew up in a small town, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. He was fortunate to be able to spend much time working on the water with his dad who was a commercial fisherman. The story of Sam the Seagull is a true story that was just one of many wonderful experiences of growing up in Manchester-by-the-Sea. Brian and Fatima have been married for over fifty years and presently are part owners in the Heath's Tea Room in Rockport, Massachusetts. Fatima and Brian are pleased to bring this childhood story to life in this book. They have two children and four grandchildren. Perhaps, one day they will continue to write the adventures of Sam the Seagull.
Karin M. Gertsch is a retired educator, who lives with her husband on a Christmas tree farm in Essex, Massachusetts. Karin has written six more Flora children’s stories. She is currently working on a creative non-fiction book as well as a collection of short stories for adults. When not writing or reading, Karin loves to tend to her garden, as well as bake and cook.
Jean Woodbury began her career teaching children on an army base in Hawaii and, later, on a pineapple plantation. She moved to New England, where she earned a PhD in Higher Education, taught college courses, and served as an academic dean. Jean is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Her story, The Tree in Dock Square, won first place in a picture book contest sponsored by Cape Ann Reads, a region-wide initiative of Cape Ann’s four libraries and the Cape Ann Museum, to support the creative community and inspire family literacy. Jean’s stories celebrate multi-generational relationships. Her article, “The Power of Longer Picture Books,” a review of Patricia Polacco’s Tucky Jo and Little Heart, was published in the 2023 Massachusetts Reading Association Primer Journal.
Additional authors participating are Fern Nissim and Gilfroia (Jill) Giugliano.