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Read and reap the fun: The festival is here

The Hernando County Reading Festival on Saturday will feature authors speaking about their works, a meteorologist, a storyteller, food and games.

By BETH N. GRAY
Published February 17, 2006

SPRING HILL - Critters and creatures from the briny depths to the backyard doghouse - along with the books that spawned them and the authors who created them - promise to entertain youngsters Saturday at the ninth annual Hernando County Reading Festival.

The free event, from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the West Hernando/S.T. Foggia Branch Library, 6335 Blackbird Ave., is expected to attract some 1,500 young readers and readers-to-be, said Stacey Leggett, programming specialist for the library.

Past crowds have ranged from infants in arms to middle school ages.

Marianne Berkes of Viera, author of Over in the Ocean, in a Coral Reef, will speak and entertain from 10 to 10:45 a.m. and sign her latest picture book at 11 a.m.

Berkes has written previously about nature, targeting kids ages 3 to 8. Her other titles include Marsh Music, Seashells by the Seashore and Marsh Morning.

Betty G. Birney, a California author who won the Sunshine State Young Reader Book Award, a Florida honor, will present a program from 11 to 11:45 a.m. with a noon signing of her series' latest book, The World According to Humphrey.

Humphrey, Leggett said, is a hamster. The juvenile fiction work is written to appeal to third- through eighth-graders.

Berkes and Birney may read from their books, tell how they came upon the idea for a particular story and note how they started their careers, Leggett said.

Also on tap will be storyteller Windell Campbell of Valrico, who will perform from 12:15 to 1 p.m. "He is so animated and so fun to watch, just an excellent storyteller," Leggett said.

Roaming about will be Clifford the Big Red Dog, a storybook favorite, and Franklin, a turtle of both book and TV fame.

The festival also will give a nod to nonfiction with the appearance of BayNews 9 meteorologist Mike Clay, who will field questions about the weather, pose for photographs and sign autographs.

Rounding out the activities will be food and games, door prizes, face painting and, for the first 300 kids, goody bags of items donated from the community: pencils, rulers, coloring books, beads and chewing gum.

To accommodate visitors, the library offers two parking lots, and street-side parking is available nearby. Members of Explorer Post 409 will assist with parking.

The festival kicks off the HEART Literacy Council's Literacy Week, which runs through Feb. 25.

HEART Literacy director Denise Moen said her organization has put together a list of suggested activities for the week to promote reading. Some examples: Tuesday is Tune Out TV Day, Wednesday is Drop Everything and Read Day, and Friday is Buddy Reading Day.

Beth N. Gray may be contacted at graybethn@earthlink.net

[Last modified February 17, 2006, 02:15:35]