Yellow buses full of children from around Lafayette County lined the Gertrude C. Ford Center parking lot on Thursday, March 28, as first and fifth-grade students in brightly colored class t-shirts filled the auditorium for the Oxford Children’s Book Festival.
Held yearly in connection with the Oxford Conference for the Book, the Oxford Children’s Book Festival began in 1993. The conference was followed by the Young Author’s Fair, now called the Oxford Children’s Book Festival, in 1994. The 30th annual Oxford Conference for the Book will take place April 3-5.
Each fall, the children’s book festival committee gives a book to each first and fifth grader in Lafayette County and invites the authors of those books to give a presentation and meet the children.
Funded by the Elaine Hoffmann Scott Memorial Endowment Fund, the Oxford Junior Auxiliary and the Lafayette Literacy Council, the festival purchases approximately 700 copies of each book and delivers them to students around the county.
The 2024 selections were “Yellow Dog Blues” by Alice Faye Duncan for first grade and “The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street” by Karina Glaser for fifth grade. Duncan and Glaser gave interactive presentations about their lives and work as authors.
The two then shared how they find inspiration in their lives and communities when writing.
Author and illustrator of “The Vanderbeekers of 141st St” and several other novels, Glaser’s fictional family — the Vanderbeekers — and their pets are inspired by her own. Glaser’s corgi Lalo was a crowd-pleaser among her fifth-grade audience.
“I love visiting schools and talking to kids about the books,” Glaser said. “I feel very lucky that I was able to find something that I love.”
Duncan is a National Board Certified educator and a lifelong resident of Memphis. She took to writing to fill the gaps in her own elementary school’s curriculum and to teach local children about previously overlooked aspects of African American history.
Thursday’s presentation marked Duncan’s second time as a festival presenter. Her first book, “The National Civil Rights Museum Celebrates Everyday People,” was a children’s selection in the 1995 Oxford Children’s Book Festival.
The Oxford Children’s Book festival is the first time many students meet an author.
“We talk about authors and illustrators in the classroom, but actually being able to see an author in person makes a huge connection for them,” Mary Adams Kenny, a first-grade teacher at Bramlett Elementary School, said. “They’re able to see that there’s a real person behind the words.”
Glaser and Duncan hope that their books and career paths will inspire children to believe in themselves and their ability to impact extended communities.
“I want kids to love to read,” Glaser said. “I tried to write books that I think will be meaningful to them and that they can connect to. I hope that encourages them to write and tell their own stories.”
From book selection to funding and event planning, the children’s book festival involves collaboration between the Lafayette Literacy Council, the Junior Auxiliary of Oxford, The Center for the Study of Southern Culture, as well as Square Books Jr. and the local library.
“It’s my favorite event,” Associate Director of Programming for the Center for the Study of Southern Culture Afton Thomas said. “That’s because it’s a true community partnership.”
The Oxford Conference for the Book was conceptualized by former Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture Ann Abadie and Square Books founder and former Oxford Mayor Richard Howorth. They founded the conference in 1993 with hopes to bring authors from around the world to local readers.
According to Abadie, it was their friend, Elaine Scott, who conceptualized the children’s book festival. Scott passed in 2021.
“She loved the book conference and especially the children’s book festival,” Abadie said.
The Elaine Hoffmann Scott Memorial Endowment fund was created to continue Scott’s memory and dedication to the festival.
“Seeing the authors with the children, that’s the very heart of what we do here,” Abadie said. “Watching the children and seeing how thrilled they are — they remember that.”
