Center for Children’s Literature

BookFest @ Bank Street

BookFest logo

BookFest is an event devoted to the celebration, discovery, and discussion of books for children and teens. This event, designed for adults, features luminaries from the children’s literature community. Authors, illustrators, editors, reviewers, and scholars will take part in panel discussions and breakout sessions.

BookFest was founded in 1971, by Frances Henne, a faculty member of the School of Library Service at Columbia University. The event was originally known as Let’s Talk About Books for Children and Youth Day, or Velma Varner Day, in honor of Henne’s close friend and colleague, Velma Varner, editor of Viking Press. The event has been hosted by Columbia University, Teachers College, and the New York Public Library. Bank Street College of Education has been a proud producer of this wonderful event since 2010.

BookFest @ Bank Street 2024

Saturday, November 2
Tabas Auditorium
Bank Street College

Attend In Person or Online

In-person registrants can look forward to networking with old friends and mingling during the afternoon book signing. Books will be provided by Books of Wonder and music will be provided by the wonderful Bill Wurtzel Duo. We encourage everyone who can to choose this fun and festive in person option.

For those that live out of the New York metro area or who prefer to watch from home, you can register to watch the livestream via Zoom. This livestream will be provided by our partner, KidLit TV.

Registration Information

  • Registration for both in person and online options will open on Monday, September 16, 2024 at 10:00 AM.
  • Both in-person and online registration is $40 plus Eventbrite fees, and is available by credit card only
  • At the closure of BookFest, online and in-person attendees will receive a code to our digital gift bag
  • Lunch will not be provided. Please bring a sandwich or snack to enjoy during the break
  • Wearing a mask during the in-person event is highly encouraged
  • Teachers: your institution may allow you to acquire professional development credits by attending BookFest. Upon request, registrants may obtain a certificate of participation by emailing cweill@bankstreet.edu. Requests must be submitted by 12/1/24.
  • Follow us on Twitter using #bookfest24 and tag us @BankStreetLib.

Still have questions? Email Cindy Weill, Director of the Center for Children’s Literature, at cweill@bankstreet.edu.

Register for In-Person Program Register for Online Program

Program

BookFest @ Bank Street is presented in Partnership with KidLit TV.

Why Children’s Books Matter More than Ever

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM (EST)
Registration
Coffee and bagels will be served.

9:30 AM – 9:35 AM (EST)
Introduction by Cynthia Weill, Director, Center for Children’s Literature, Bank Street College of Education

9:35 AM – 10:25 AM (EST)
Remembering Robie Harris

  • Ben Harris, Clinical Psychologist
  • Elizabeth Levy, Witch Hunt: The Cold War, Joe McCarthy, and the Red Scare
  • Lois Lowry, Number the Stars, The Giver
  • Hilary Van Dusen, editor at Candlewick Press
  • Susan Kuklin, Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out
  • Amy Hest, Big Bear and Little Bear Go Fishing

Moderator: Fatima Shaik, PEN America, Children and Young Adults Book Committee

10:25 AM – 11:15 AM (EST)
New York City Middle-Grade Authors Write About New York

  • Olugbemisola Rhuday Perkovich, Operation Sisterhood
  • Emma Otheguy, Sofia Acosta Makes a Scene
  • Carlos Hernandez, Strange Academy: The Deadly Field Trip
  • Karina Yan Glaser, The Vanderbeekers Series

Moderator: Shelley Diaz, School Library Journal

11:15 AM – 11:30 AM (EST)
Break

11:30 AM – 11:35 AM (EST)
Raffle

11:35 AM – 12:25 AM (EST)
Communication and Collaboration: 6 Brilliant Book Creators Cheerfully Co-Exist in a Brooklyn Workspace

  • Sophie Blackall, Ahoy!
  • Brian Floca, With Dad
  • Doug Salati, Hot Dog
  • Johnny Marciano, The 66th Rebirth of Frankie Caridi #1
  • Dasha Tolsitkova, The Bad Chair
  • Rowboat Watkins, Go, Go Guys

Moderator: Roxie Munro, ABCity

12:25 PM – 12:50 PM (EST)
Keynote Address by Lois Lowry, Number the Stars, The Giver

Lois Lowry is the author of more than forty books for children and young adults, including the New York Times bestselling Giver Quartet and the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, Number the Stars and The Giver.

12:50 PM – 2:00 PM (EST)
Book Signing
Books will be provided by Books of Wonder music will be provided by Bill Wurtzel Jazz. Cookies and tea will be served.