Every year, Chappaqua hosts one of the largest children’s book festivals in the Northeast. The 11th annual Children’s Book Festival took place last Saturday at the Chappaqua train station. The festival was packed with tents where visitors could meet authors and illustrators of kids’ favorite books, and participate in other activities. 

The festival brought together local children’s and young adult authors as well as many from all around the Northeast. The authors and illustrators represented a diverse range of backgrounds and genres. Books available to purchase at the festival included picture books, children’s novels, and young adult novels. 

The festival started in 2013, after the end of the Sunnyside Children’s Book Day in Tarrytown. The festival was put together by a team of volunteers led by Dawn Greenberg. Greenberg works on the festival year-round every year, but according to her, it is a labor of love.  

She came up with the idea for the children’s book festival to take place in Chappaqua. “Eleven years ago, Sunnyside had a smaller kids festival that was going away. And it just occurred to me that Chappaqua is a perfect place for a festival, because we love our schools, we love our kids,” Greenberg said.

“So I just had a vision of a small festival, like 50 authors. And 11 years later, we have 165 authors, maybe eight or nine thousand people who visit,” she said. “Some people say we’re the biggest festival in the Northeast, or even in the country, for kids. “ 

One children’s books author and Westchester local, Barbara Dee, has been to the festival every year. Dee brought her most recent release “Unstuck” as well as “Maybe He Just Likes You,”  “My Life In The Fish Tank,” “Violets are Blue,” “Star Crossed,” “Haven Jacobs Saves The Planet,”  “Everything I Know About You,” and “Halfway Normal.”

Dee said the festival is “a chance to connect with readers. I meet readers that are new to my books and readers who have read every single one of my books and want the latest, and it’s a way of staying connected.”

Another children’s book author, Gale Carson Levine, came with many of her books, including “Ella Enchanted,” “Betsy Who Cried Wolf,” “Dave at Night,” “The Two Princesses of Bamarre,” “A Ceiling Made of Egg Shells,” “Sparrows In The Wind” and “Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly.”

She has been to the festival many times, and she even went to the predecessor of this festival. She said, “I went to the book festival in Sleepy Hollow many years ago and when that folded this was born and I transitioned with it”.

Regarding what the festival means to her, she said, “Sometimes I see kids I’ve seen before. A man in his at least 30s came by with this book that he read as a kid and he asked me to sign his very well-read copy. That means a lot.”

Erik J. Brown is a young adult genre author from Philadelphia. He brought books “Lose You To Find Me,” “All That’s Left of The World,” and “The Only Light Left Burning” to the festival. This was his third year at the festival. 

“I have another author friend from Philadelphia […] who lives down the street from me and we carpooled here so he suggested me for them and they reached out to me.

“I just love seeing all the kids here who are excited to read,” Brown said. “I loved reading as a kid, and it’s great seeing other kids who are excited to read as well.” 

“Violet’s Victory” author Valerie Goldstein is a third-time participant in the festival. “I’ve always had wanted to be part of a wonderful experience like this so its been actually a dream come true to come every year.”

Goldstein said the festival “means so much to me because my book is about children with different abilities, so I want to spread awareness. And I feel seeing all these different faces and children with enthusiasm that will help spread the idea of inclusivity and help start the conversation on different abilities and all of our friends with different needs.”

The festival also featured food trucks from local vendors and games for the kids hosted by Kiwi Country Day Camp. The camp is located in Putnam County, for children ages 3-15. The Camp also sponsored a storytime tent with children’s book authors reading their works, including Laura Numeroff’s “If You Give A Mouse A Cookie.”