Do you love children’s books? Do you love Nova Scotia? Then we have an event for you! On Saturday, September 9, from 1 – 3 PM, we will be hosting ReaderFest, a celebration of kid-lit created by Nova Scotians! Thanks to a Libraries 150 grant from Communities, Culture, and Heritage, and support form the Bridgetown & Area Friends of the Library, we are able to bring together six of the best creators of books for kids that Nova Scotia can offer. 
Sydney Smith is originally from the South Shore. He currently lives in Toronto, but we’ve convinced him to visit us for this event. He won a Governor General’s award for his illustration in Sidewalk Flowers, and his latest book, Town is by the Sea, is set in a coal-mining town in Nova Scotia. Sydney says he is proud to be a Nova Scotian, and we are proud to have him in Bridgetown!
Gloria Ann Wesley is an African Nova Scotian writer. She is a graduate of Nova Scotia Teachers College and St. Francis Xavier University. She has taught at all grade levels and served as Social Studies and Race Relations Coordinator with the Strait Regional School Board. She now resides in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her picture book, Abigail’s Wish, is set in Birchtown.
Doretta Groenendyk lives in the valley, and has published several children’s books. She’s worked in Africa, Nunavut, and now teaches in classrooms around Nova Scotia. Her book A Harbour Seal in Halifax is based on a true story. 
Ron & Sandra Lightburn may be most known in these parts for their book The Pumpkin People. Both are artists and writers, and Ron won a Governor General’s award for his work on the book Waiting for the Whales. We welcome them back to Bridgetown all the way from the Kentville area.
New on the Nova Scotia writing scene is Wade Albert White. His fantastical middle-grade novel, The Adventurer’s Guide to Successful Escapes, has delighted readers, and the follow up book, The Adventurer’s Guide to Dragons (and Why They Keep Biting Me), is hot off the presses, just published this month. Wade also lives in the valley.
Theresa Meuse is a Mi’kmaw author who grew up in the Bear River First Nation community and left to attend university in 1986. After graduating she was employed with various Mi’kmaw organizations until venturing on her own as a First Nation Educator & Advisor. She is also the author of The Sharing Circle and working on a new book to be out in the spring. She is a wife, mother of three and a grandmother of four.
The event will be held in the Bridgetown Firehall (over at the library you can check out the Silent Auction Fundraiser held by the Friends of the Library.) The Firehall is close to Jubilee Park, where lots of Ciderfest activities will be going on. You can also find our brand-new StoryWalk in the park, and follow it up the hill and then walk down the street to ReaderFest!
We will have other fun literacy activities for the kids, and Mad Hatter Books will be onsite to sell copies of the books from our featured guests! It will be a great day to be in Bridgetown.
Here’s the schedule for our event:
1:00 – 1:30 Wade Albert White, author of The adventurer’s guide to successful escapes and The Adventurer’s Guide to Dragons (and Why They Keep Biting Me)
1:15- 1:45 – Theresa Meuse, author of L’nu’k, the people : Mi’kmaw history, culture, and heritage and The sharing circle : stories about First Nations culture
1:30- 2:00- Sydney Smith, illustrator of Town is By The Sea , Sidewalk Flowers, The White Cat and the Monk, and others
1:45 – 2:15 – Gloria Ann Wesley, author of Abigail’s Wish
2:15 – 2:45 Doretta Groenendyk, author of A Harbour seal in Halifax, Spin to Sea, and more!
2:30 – 3:00 – Ron & Sandra Lightburn, creators of The Pumpkin People, Frankenstink, and more!