Four-year-old Lavender Goombs twirled around Southwest Regional Library in a Mary Poppins costume complete with matching white parasol. She was one of hundreds of children who attended the 18th Annual StoryBook Festival.
This year, 5,704 people came out to
celebrate reading, authors and all things creative. And to enhance this year’s
comics and graphic novels theme, CatStronauts author and illustrator Drew
Brockington appeared at the event to share why he can’t get enough of drawing
cats in space.
“The idea for CatStronauts was literally
born out of doodles in my sketchbook,” Brockington said. “I researched a lot
and went to space camp. My biggest challenge was ‘How do you tell a story and
expand on the characters at the same time?’”
During the StoryBook Festival,
Brockington demonstrated how he creates comics and the process of writing and
drawing them.
“I’ll break down my drawing style so
kids can follow me,” Brockington said. “First draw a potato, then add some taco
chips on top, then 10 minutes later I have my character and they have theirs.
And their characters always have more detail. It’s amazing.”
Brockington’s advice to other aspiring
artists and graphic novelists is to draw every day. “I started going to
comicons to build a portfolio,” Brockington said. “I began making zines and
mini comics. The first CatStronauts
comic was just 10 pages. I brought 100 copies and it sold out.”
An agent eventually approached
Brockington and got his comics into some local book stores and everything took
off from there. Last year, he began traveling more for library festivals and
speaking at schools near his home in Minnesota. Kimberly White, youth services coordinator, was eager to bring him to the 8th
Annual StoryBook Festival after his CatStronauts books became a popular request
at Southwest Regional Library.
“This was the first year we had a big
author be part of it,” said Youth Services Special Events Manager for Broward
Libraries Nancy S.Murray. “Kimberly brought Drew in and we were so excited to
have him be a part of it and even talked to him about our t-shirt design for
the event.”
After many months of planning, this large-scale community event, which included sponsors such as Joe Dimaggio Children’s Hospital, City of Pembroke Pines, the Broward Public Library Foundation and others, was powered by 150 adult volunteers and 92 teen volunteers.
“Amazingly, many of the teen
volunteers attended this festival as children,” Murray said. “It’s nice to see
how many people want to be involved and continue to help. These events give us
a chance to bring people into the library who might not have come here
otherwise.”
During the 18th Annual
StoryBook Festival, event goers of all ages got a chance to witness fairytales
such as Rumpelstiltskin and Sleeping Beauty come to life in the Fantasy Forest,
march in a costume parade dressed as beloved storybook characters, create their
own comics and enjoy a variety of storytellers.
“Inspiring the community to come to
the library is my biggest passion,” said Southwest Regional Library Youth
Services Librarian Supervisor Lynn Morrison. “Every day, we have more people
moving to this community and we want people to find us. Libraries have so many
wonderful resources..”
This year’s theme of comics and
graphic novels was also inclusive of those in the community struggling with
reading. “Comic books and graphic novels have helped many who have some trouble
reading,” Morrison said. “Comics teach fluency with conversation too.”
Southwest Regional
Library as well as libraries throughout Broward County have a variety of
programs available for all ages, from children to senior citizens. Be sure to
visit broward.org frequently to
experience all your local library has to offer.