Madison Children’s Museum: To host book festival activities Oct. 21

Book readings, art projects, and free admission from 6–8 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (Friday, October 14, 2011) — Madison Children’s Museum will partner with the Wisconsin Book Festival by offering a Kids’ Book Extravaganza from 6–8 p.m. Friday, October 21. During this time, visitors are also invited to enjoy other exhibits in the museum at no cost.

The museum’s Art Studio will offer bookmaking to allow kids to find their voice through a blending of visual and literary techniques. JoAnna Poehlmann and Lee Weiss, artists who represent nature from their own perspectives, influence the design for this year’s bookmaking activity. Their exhibit, Water, Stone, Feather and Bone, opens October 19 at the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters’ James Watrous Gallery inside Overture Center for the Arts.

Based on the bookmaking style of Poehlmann, museum visitors will craft their book covers into any shape they can imagine. Using an array of colorful, patterned, and unique fabrics and fabric glue, they can create a cover that is representational, abstract, or simply pretty. Tactile props, such as feathers and leaves, allow children to merge nature with self-expression. Kids will be allowed to take the stylish covers home to dress up their favorite books.

Visitors also will enjoy two children’s literature readings. Starting at 6:15, Mara Price, award-winning author of “Grandma’s Chocolate/El chocolate de Abuelita,” will read from her work, expressing her multicultural voice through both illustrations and the written word. Nancy Nye Hunt—a Wisconsin native with a varied background, including experience in agriculture, the Wisconsin Legislature, and teaching—will follow with some of her own tales.

The Wisconsin Book Festival, which runs Wednesday, Oct. 19, through Sunday, Oct. 23, has taken place every fall since 2002. It is one of the largest literary festivals in the state, as well as the nation. For more information about the festival, visit http://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org.

Madison Children’s Museum: Madison Children’s Museum (MCM) is an award-winning organization whose hands-on exhibits and programs celebrate and encourage children’s imaginations and the power of play as the cornerstone of learning. For more about MCM, including a fact sheet and detailed exhibit descriptions, please visit http://www.madisonchildrensmuseum.org/about-mcm/newsroom. To download photos for media use, please visit our Flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/mcmmarketing.