All Island families are encouraged to celebrate Children’s Book Week, says Tourism and Culture Minister Robert Henderson.
“Literacy benefits all aspects of life – cultural, social and economic,” said the minister. “I encourage all families to spend time reading together this Children’s Book Week.”
The theme for this year’s Children’s Book Week, which runs May 5-12, is Read a Book, Share a Story.
To mark Children’s Book Week, Toronto graphic artist and author Willow Dawson will visit the following Prince Edward Island libraries:
• Confederation Centre Library, May 7 at 10:30 a.m.
• Summerside Rotary Library, May 8 at 1:15 p.m.
• Kensington Public Library, May 9 at 1 p.m.
• Crapaud Public Library, May 10 at 9:15 a.m.
Dawson will also visit six Island schools:
• West Kent Elementary, Charlottetown, May 7
• Stonepark Intermediate, Charlottetown, May 7
• Eliot River, Cornwall, May 8
• Charlottetown Rural, Charlottetown, May 9
• Vernon River Consolidated, Vernon River, May 10
• John J. Sark Memorial, Lennox Island, May 11
Dawson is the author of Hyena in Petticoats: The story of Suffragette Nellie McClung: a Graphic novel, and Lila & Ecco’s Do-It-Yourself Comics Club. She is also the illustrator of The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea by Helaine Becker and No Girls Allowed by Susan Hughes.
Children’s Book Week, which has been held since 1977, is the largest celebration of Canadian children’s books. As part of Children’s Book Week, authors, illustrators and storytellers will visit schools and libraries across the country to share their books with children and adults.
Canadian Children’s Book Week is organized by the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC), PEI Public Library Service and partners with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. Public readings are sponsored by the Canada Council of the Arts.