2025 Family-friendly Schedule

Presented by Atmos Energy

Join author Allen R. Wells and illustrator DeAndra Hodge for a special read-aloud of Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark, then blast off into creativity with a hands-on Moon Spark Box Workshop! Participants will design and decorate their own keepsake boxes, fill them with “moon rocks,” and add their personal spark, just like Yvonne discovered hers in engineering.

• Allen R. Wells (Workshop Leader/Author) - Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark
• DeAndra Hodge (Workshop Leader/Illustrator) - Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark

Presented by Jordan & Jim Perry

University of Southern Mississippi's de Grummond Children's Literature Collection curator Karlie Herndon is in conversation with Caldecott Honor winner and #1 New York Times bestselling author Peter Brown. In his newest work, The Wild Robot on the Island, he brings his beloved robot character Roz to life through stunning artwork, introducing younger readers to themes of belonging, adaptation, and finding home in unexpected places.

• Karlie Herndon (Moderator)
• Peter Brown – The Wild Robot on the Island

Presented by Jackie Posey Bailey; Sara & Bill Ray

Picture book creators highlight how children learn and grow through hands-on experiences, discovering that the joy is in the doing, not just the achieving.

• Kayla Thompson (Moderator)
• Allen R. Wells – Yvonne Clark and Her Engineering Spark
• Robyn Wall – I Worked Hard on That!
• Pamela Courtney – A Season for Fishin': A Fish Fry Tradition
• Maika Llaneza – The Gobbling Goblins

Presented by University of Southern Mississippi de Grummond Children's Literature Collection

Middle grade authors explore how young people discover their strength and find their place when faced with new communities, family challenges, and the weight of others' expectations.

• Julian Randall (Moderator) – The Chainbreakers
• Angie Thomas – Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Book of Anansi
• Tiffany D. Jackson – Blood in the Water
• Craig Kofi Farmer – A Method for Magic and Misfortune

Get ready to giggle, imagine, and play with words in this poetry workshop! Join three poets who know that kids are super smart, funny, and curious, and they write poems that prove it. Together, we’ll read poems that capture the magic of everyday life, and then you’ll get a chance to create your own poem where anything goes: a beginning, a middle, or even just a moment that makes you laugh or wonder. By the end, you’ll see that poems can be true, serious, funny, or all three at once—and most importantly, they can be all yours!

• Diane Stevenson (Workshop Leader)
• Geri Lipschultz (Workshop Leader)
• James Berger (Workshop Leader)

Presented by University of Southern Mississippi de Grummond Children's Literature Collection; Ezra Jack Keats Foundation; Fay B. Kaigler Children's Book Festival

Celebrating a multitude of voices and universal childhood experiences, these 2025 Ezra Jack Keats Award-winners and honorees showcase stories that allow every child to see themselves reflected in literature.

• Ellen Hunter Ruffin (Moderator)
• Bo Lu – Bao's Doll
• Breanna J. McDaniel – Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller
• Carlos Matias – Emergency Quarters
• Kara Kramer – Ernő Rubik and His Magic Cube
• Antwan Eady – The Last Stand

Presented by Cadence Bank

Prose and Possibility isn’t your average writing workshop—it’s where imagination runs wild, rules are meant to be bent, and every teen writer learns just how powerful their words can be. Whether you’re crafting epic adventures or dialogue so sharp it could slice through silence, this is your space to experiment, take risks, and bring your stories to life. You’ll learn tips and techniques, but more importantly, you’ll begin to discover your voice, own it, and use it to shape worlds of your own making. This is a 1.5 hour workshop, ending at 2:00 pm.

• Dr. Tonja Murphy (Workshop Leader)

Presented by Pass Books & Cat Island Coffeehouse

Through their latest works, these friends and fellow authors share insights about childhood bonds, mutual care, and the connections that shape our lives.

• Traci Thomas (Moderator)
• Kiese Laymon – City Summer, Country Summer
• Jason Reynolds – Twenty-Four Seconds From Now… A Love Story