One Book Two Book

A Celebration of Children’s Literature

January 17-19, 2014

The third annual One Book Two Book Children’s Literature Festival was a fantastic success!  We’d like to thank all of the volunteers, authors and attendees who braved the snow to celebrate children’s literature in the City of Literature.

The festival began Friday evening with the Once Upon a Time dinner at the Sheraton Hotel Iowa City.  “Once Upon a Time” is a magical literary experience created to celebrate stories written and performed by children from each elementary school in Iowa City.  The City of Literature was proud to welcome best-selling children’s book author Loren Long as keynote speaker for the evening.  Long is the author and illustrator of the New York Times bestselling picture books Otis, Otis and the Tornado, Otis and the Puppy and his latest,  An Otis Christmas.  Loren is the #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator of President Barack Obama’s picture book Of Thee I Sing, the re-illustrated edition of The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, and Mr. Peabody’s Apples by Madonna.

Saturday hundreds of young readers and writers converged on downtown Iowa City for  the Children’s Book Fair.  Non-stop activities including live music, face painting, author readings and signings, arts and crafts, and costumed characters made for an extraordinary day.  Attendees met with authors, discovered new books, played with storybook characters, and were inspired by fun programming and writing workshops throughout the day!

Sunday the community came together at the Englert Theatre to celebrate creative writing by outstanding “up and coming” young authors. Two students from each grade were honored for “Excellence” in one of the following categories, The Write Stuff and From the Heart, and they read their work on stage. Other student “Writers of Distinction” were presented certificates for their writing.  Thanks to generous donations from community members and local businesses, each student author was eligible to win amazing prizes including e-readers, tablets, and gift certificates!