The Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization’s annual One Book Two Book Children’s Literature Festival will recognize the creative excellence of 29 area students as it offers a day of free, family-friendly programming that celebrates creativity and stories.
The festival kicks off on Saturday, Feb. 21, with free, family-friendly programming from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at FilmScene at the Chauncey and MERGE in downtown Iowa City. The day features imaginative activities like Trains!, a drop-in illustration workshop, the Snapshots Cover Contest, a sing-along, story time, and book sellers and author visits. Reptile and amphibian lovers will have extra reasons to smile with Slither, Stick, and Scribble: Writing with Reptiles and an Amphibian Open House—plus photo ops and meet & greets with literary legends Frog and Toad.
On Sunday, Feb. 22, student writers will be honored as part of the annual “Write Out Loud!” event, 1-2 p.m. in the auditorium in the University of Iowa’s Macbride Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
“One Book Two Book is one of our favorite events of the year,” said City of Literature Executive Director John Kenyon. “These two days of events celebrating writing for and by children are full of fun and energy.”
Highlights include:
10 a.m. — An author event with Jacqueline Briggs Martin and her book, Turtles Heading Home
10:30 a.m. — Slither, Stick, and Scribble: Writing with Reptiles with Iowa City Poetry and Extant Relatives
11 a.m. — FilmScene’s Big Picture Show presents Ice Age Free for Kids, Adults $5
Noon and 2 p.m.: Book Character meet and greet with Clifford and Frog & Toad
12:30 – 3 p.m. Amphibian Open House with Toadally Awesome Pets
These events are free and open to the public thanks to generous sponsors including, Greater Iowa City, Inc., ACT, FilmScene, GreenState Credit Union, Pip Printing and Marketing Services, and the Washington County Riverboat Foundation.
On Sunday, student writers from throughout the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids Corridor will be honored. Students were encouraged to submit one page of original writing. Those submissions were evaluated by a team at ACT in Iowa City. In each grade, first through eighth, winners were selected in two categories when a suitable submission was available. They are:
- The Write Stuff, which is judged based on language, clarity, structure, and emotional impact.
- From the Heart, judged based on creativity, passion, and expressiveness.
These winning students are:
In addition, the ACT team identified students in each grade whose writing was deemed worthy of honorable mention. These students also will be recognized as part of the Feb. 22 event.
