Authors meet their audience at kids’ literary event

A group of 12 authors engaged children in an afternoon of games and storytelling at a literary festival on Saturday .

Children ran from table to table at the AfterWords Literary Festival at Halifax Central Library receiving stickers and getting their blank passports signed by the authors.

One highlight was the authors taking turns reading to the children at a designated spot called the cozy corner.

Author Lindsay Ruck, from Dartmouth, was there with her illustrator, Bria Miller. Ruck says her motivation for writing is to give children a chance to read the books she did not read while growing up. She also wants children to see themselves in her book.

 “This is our chance to interact with the kids and see how they like the books,” Ruck said. “I want to create books where my kids can see themselves in their books.”

Ruck said in her books, “There is always a child of colour.”

She said she want kids to pick them up “and feel represented … because I did not have that when I was growing up.”

Ruck read from This Big Heart, a rhyming picture book that she says reminds us why we feel so much. She said her books are intended for children aged four to eight.

The author of six published books says her next book, My Nova Scotia, will be out next year.

Miller, The Big Heart’s illustrator, says she loves to bring stories to life and she agrees that representation matters. She also said drawing the images for the kids reminded her a lot about her own childhood and Nova Scotia, where she used to hang out as a kid.

Mi’kmaq artist Alan Syliboy, from Truro, said he started writing about 10 years ago but has been doing art for 50 years.

His book, When the Owl Calls Your Name, is about having a conversation with the Owl when your life is over, and you go on to another world.

He said his motivation for writing for children is to “get them to be aware of Indigenous people and what we are about. And to start at an early age.”

Sarah Everett, from Edmonton, who read at the festival for the first time, says writing for children is a way to release creative energy and connect with people.

Her book, The Probability of Everything, is a story about family, friends, grief, and love. Her most recent book, The Shape of Lost Things, was published two weeks ago. It is the story of a brother who goes missing and comes back home.

The event for the kids was open house-style with 12 authors, each doing activities at their table with the children. The other authors were Jack Wong, Marie-Louise Gay, Penelope Jackson, Heidi Tattrie Rushton, Meghan Marentette, Rebecca Thomas, Marie-France Comeau and Johanna Lezziero.

Ryan Turner, one of the festival’s co-executive directors, said the festival began as an event for adults involving conversations about authors with new books and poetry. He said it has been held for the past six years but this is the second time children have been included.

“Kids’ Day was a way to expand, bring in kids and parents in the fold as well, so that they meet and interact with the authors that they enjoy,” said Turner.

Emily Domet, the head volunteer, said an important aspect of the festival is building community and involving kids who come from diverse backgrounds and education.

She said it is nostalgic for her to see kids creating memories because these are the books she would have loved to read as a child. She said she hopes kids continue reading even with all the new technology available to them.