Forest of Reading Festival of Trees, May 11 and 12, 2011

Programme partners the Ontario Library Association and Authors at Harbourfront Centre (AUTHORS) are delighted to announce the line-up for the 5th annual Forest of Reading® Festival of Trees™, May 11 and 12, 2011. Canada’s largest children’s literary festival, the Festival of Trees™ welcomes more than 8,000 readers to the Harbourfront Centre site each year to take part in a wide range of activities celebrating the shared experience of reading.

This year’s winners from nine Forest of Reading® award categories will be unveiled at dedicated ceremonies at the two-day festival. The award categories include: Blue Spruce Award™ (Kindergarten–Grade 2); Silver Birch™ Express (Grade 3–4); Silver Birch® Fiction (Grade 5–6); Silver Birch® Non-Fiction (Grade 5–6); Red Maple™ Fiction Award (Grade 7–8); Red Maple™ Non-Fiction Award (Grade 7–8); Le Prix Tamarack (French-language, Grade 4–6); Le Prix Tamarack Express (French-language, Grade 4–6); and White Pine™ Award (Grade 9–12).

Also included in the Festival of Trees™ ticket price is a chance to meet any of the four authors participating in the AUTHORS-programmed ALOUD: a Celebration for Young Readers. This year, ALOUD features four internationally recognized authors in reading/Q&A events. These authors are Matt Beam, photographer for the picture book City Numbers – with words by Joanne Schwartz; Brandon Mull, author of the first novel in the Beyonders series, A World Without Heroes; David Ward, author of Between Two Ends; and Governor General’s Literary Award-winning author of more than 30 books Tim Wynne-Jones, who presents Blink & Caution.

May 11: Activities complementing the Red Maple, Blue Spruce and White Pine Awards include author workshops by Allan Stratton (“So What Would You Like to Know?”), Linwood Barclay (“The Hook”), and Mariatu Kamara (The Bite of the Mango); a unique open mic event with award-winning author Eric Walters; representatives from the Toronto Police Services and the Canadian Forces; tall-ship Challenge boat tours; and entertainment by Cawthra Park Secondary School alumni musical group Streetfire. Other special features of the day include appearances by comedian, YTV and MuchMusic personality Sabrina Jalees, and TVO personalities Kara Harun and Drew Dafoe.

May 12: Activities complementing Le Prix Tamarack and the Silver Birch Awards include French-language workshops by Marc Couture (Le Retour de Bruno) and Karine Gottot and Maxim Cyr (Les Dragouilles 2 – Les Bleues de Montréal); author workshops by Maureen Fergus (“Keeping It Interesting”) and Sharon Jennings (Home Free); an interactive puppetry workshop with Chad Solomon (Adventure of Rabbit and Bear Paws: True Hearts); and representatives from Toronto Fire Services and Toronto Metro Zoo. Other special features of the day include roaming entertainment by magicians and circus performers, and an appearance by renowned author, illustrator and broadcaster Kevin Sylvester.

S&B Books Ltd. is the official wholesaler of Forest of Reading® Festival of Trees™. Books by all Forest of Reading®-nominated and ALOUD authors will be available for purchase on site.

All events and activities are located at Harbourfront Centre (235 Queens Quay West, Toronto) and take place between 9:30am and 2pm. For more information and to purchase tickets the public may visit readings.org or call 416-973-4000.