What is TFOB and WOW? Tucson Festival of Books and Worlds of Words. Both are located at the University of Arizona. The Tucson Festival of Books is a weekend of author spotlights and presentations, kids’ activities, book vendors and displays, top notch entertainment, Science City and much more!
Children and Young Adult authors like Lois Lowry, Robert Sabuda, Cornelia Funke, Sy Montgomery and Jacqueline Woodson were just a few of the 2014 all-star authors. And of course, there were plenty of adult authors, too.
For me, it was a place to learn, a place to share and a place to renew. I attended presentations by nonfiction authors Sandra Markle and Kathleen Krull and also presented a seminar on Discovering the World of Science through Alphabet Books.
Native American author Tim Tingle performed in one of the tents in the children’s area. Afterwards, we chatted about where he gets his ideas for his stories. Author Nancy Bo Flood also enjoyed his musical performance and was excited to meet him since Tim is one of the authors in an upcoming anthology of contemporary Native Americans that Nancy is editing. My biography of golfer Notah Begay will appear in the collection on athletes.
Mark your calendar for March 14-15, 2015 and join thousands of bibliophiles at the Tucson Festival of Books. Follow all the activity on their website – http://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org
In addition to all the festival activities, I had the opportunity to tour the newly remodeled Worlds of Words in the College of Education at the U of A. The mission of WOW is to build bridges across global cultures through children’s and adolescent literature. The center is beautiful with specialized reading rooms, classrooms and workshop space plus an estimated 25,000 volumes focusing on world cultures and indigenous peoples.
Worlds of Words is offering free loan of language and culture kids around specific global cultures to K-8 classrooms and libraries. The kits contain picture books and novels, beginning language materials, and several cultural artifacts. In addition, the kits come with a guide containing inquiry strategies and curriculum resources. Contact Richard Clift, Coordinator of Collections and Outreach at WOW for information at cliftric@email.arizona.edu