Bring your kiddos to Fort Collins Nursery on June 29 for some summer-reading fun!

We’re excited to bring back our Storytime event as a three-part series. Three wonderful groups of local children’s book authors and illustrators will be on-site to read the fabulous stories they have created. We’ll gather on our outdoor patio, nestled along the banks of Dry Creek and the Cache la Poudre River and surrounded by beautiful plants, trees and wildlife. These FREE events will also feature fun crafts and activities for the children and a fundraiser for Children’s Speech & Reading Center. Books will be for sale by The Crowded Bookshelf and can also be purchased in advance here. 

 Participants are encouraged to bring lawn chairs for additional seating. Well-behaved pets on leashes are welcome!

June 29 Event Features

Presenters:

Lynn Becker

Lynn has been a reader and creator all her life. After growing up in New York, Lynn spent many years in the Southern California desert with her husband, children, cats, dog, and lots and lots of chickens. She now lives in Colorado. The chickens stayed behind, but a few mythical beasties may have followed her to her new home…! 

Her debut picture book, MONSTERS IN THE BRINY, illustrated by Scott Brundage (Sleeping Bear Press), was named a Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of 2022. JUNE MOON, illustrated by Nate Carvalho (Familius), just came out in June of 2024!  Learn More Here

Featured Story: 

MONSTERS IN THE BRINY. Written by Lynn Becker & illustrated by Scott Brundage (Sleeping Bear Press).

What do you do with a grumpy kraken, a sickly sea serpent, and a tearful gigantic tortoise? You sing them a tune, of course! Following the sea shanty rhyme of What Do You Do With…, a ship’s crew of sailors has to contend with a coterie of mythical sea creatures, all demanding comfort and attention. As each creature threatens to swamp the ship, the quick-thinking crew knows just what to do to save the day, from serving pancakes to mopping a sweaty forehead to sharing an umbrella to keep the rain away. But what happens when the sailors have had enough? Back matter includes information about the sea creatures featured, music and lyrics, along with a brief history of sea shanties. 

_____________________

Julie Rowan-Zoch

Author, illustrator, bookseller, and activist Julie Rowan-Zoch grew up collecting freckles and chasing hermit crabs in New York, and spent years slicing rich breads in Germany before waking up to 300 days of blue Colorado skies. If she doesn’t answer the door, look in the garden!   Learn More Here

Featured Story: 

NOT ALL SHEEP ARE BORING! Written by Bobby Moynihan & Illustrated by Julie Rowan-Zoch.

“Rowan-Zoch creates a fluffy mutton cast with amusing mannerisms and accoutrements for an effect that’s decidedly not boring.” – Publishers Weekly

_____________________

Laura Resau

Laura Resau is the award-winning author of many highly acclaimed young adult and children’s books, including The Lightning Queen, Tree of Dreams, What the Moon Saw, Red Glass, and Star in the Forest. Laura draws inspiration from her time in Latin America as an anthropologist and ESL teacher. She lives with her family, wild husky pup, and a hundred houseplants in Fort Collins and donates a portion of her royalties to Indigenous rights organizations.  Learn More Here

Featured Story: 

_____________________

Michelle Schaub

Michelle Schaub is an award-winning children’s author and poet. She loves using wordplay and the sounds and rhythms of language to delight, inspire, and empower kids, especially when it comes to caring for the Earth and each other. Her books include Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmers’ Market, which won the 2018 Growing Good Kids Award and 2019 Northern Lights Book Award; Finding Treasure: A Collection of Collections, a National Council of Teachers of English notable poetry book for 2020; Dream Big, Little Scientists; and Kindness is A Kite String. Michelle lives in Colorado with her husband, three children, and a golden retriever named Bear. When she’s not writing, you’ll find Michelle visiting her local farmers markets and hiking in nature.  Learn More Here

Featured Story: 

A Place for Rain. Written by Michelle Schaub & illustrated by Blanca Gomez.

Pitter-patter, splutter splatter, drizzle turns to roar…. DOWNPOUR! But where do all those raindrops go? Dirty stormwater runoff can pollute rivers, ponds, and other waterways. So, the classroom in this book plans and builds a rain garden. They collect excess water in barrels, create paths for waterflow, and plant native flowers and grasses that help the water percolate and invite wildlife to feed and pollinate. Readers learn that they too can take an active role in protecting our environment and using water and land sustainably.

_____________________

Jo Renfro

Jo Renfro is a freelance writer and illustrator with a love of mixing color, pattern and whimsy in her often humorous and always upbeat art. With a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Kansas, she has written greeting cards, calendars and humorous gift books and is now venturing in to the world of children’s book publishing. She uses her sense of humor, a survival skill after raising three kids, several dogs, numerous cats and a potbellied pig named Matilda, to create work that is lighthearted and fun. Her love of the outdoors and animals and her amazing kids and grandkids her inspiration. A lifelong Kansas, she finally made the ever-dreamed-of move to Colorado and the beautiful Rocky Mountains, which still take her breath away every single day. Learn More Here

Featured Story: 

PEG GETS CRACKIN. Written & Illustrated by Jo Renfro.

Peg is an egg and although it’s not that exciting, she’s safe inside her shell and that is all that matters. Or is it? She can imagine all the scary things out there in the big, wide world, but eventually, she’s going to have to get crackin’!

_____________________

The Crowded Bookshelf

The Crowded Bookshelf is a pop-up bookshop offering a curated selection of books for all ages that aren’t likely to be found on the bestseller lists. They also carry an assortment of gift items for readers including bookmarks, notebooks, literary prints, and more. Follow them on Instagram to see where they’ll be popping up next or visit their website where you can shop anytime. Instagram: @thecrowdedbookshelffc

__________________________

Children’s Speech & Reading Center

Children’s Speech & Reading Center is dedicated to developing and providing innovative, high quality, affordable speech-language services to all children in Northern Colorado who experience speech, language, or reading delays. The Center’s services for communication disorders improve the independence, self-respect, and quality of life of children and their families. Their therapists are certified to provide treatment that builds communication skills affected by a variety of childhood disorders including autism, Down Syndrome, dyslexia, apraxia, articulation disorders, hearing impairment, learning disabilities and other development disorders.

__________________________

Information and a list of authors and illustrators for all events is posted here. 

Originally published on May 10th, 2024. Updated on June 28th, 2024.