CSU Channel Islands to host Children’s Reading Celebration on April 9


Event features ‘Young Authors’ Fair’

CSU Channel Islands will host the 6th Annual Children’s Reading Celebration and the 35th Annual Young Authors’ Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 9 at the university’s John Spoor Broome Library. The event is free and open to the public. The program is sponsored by the library, the English program,

Ventura County Reading Association (VCRA), Target Foundation and the Ventura County Office of Education, the university reported.

The featured author this year is Kristine O’Connell George, author of the multi-award-winning children’s book Old Elm Speaks. Children and their families will be able to meet the author and receive a free autographed book. This gift is funded by an early childhood literacy grant from the Target Foundation.

“Honoring all students’ voices is critical and the earlier the better!,” said Kristin Storey, VCRA president. “Words are power and events like the Young Authors’ Fair empower all of our children to share their stories, to speak out for a better world and to be inspired by the other young authors in their schools and communities.”

The day will feature hands-on participation in crafts and various activities. University students in the English program, as part of their service-learning component, will be reading aloud to children. Children will also have a chance to read dozens of books written and illustrated for the Young Authors’ Fair by K-12 students in Ventura County.

For more information about VCRA’s Young Authors’ Fair, visit www.vcrareading.org/YA.shtml

For more information or to RSVP to the celebration, visit www.library.csuci.edu/reading/index.php