In 2015, the state Legislature dubbed Abilene as the official Storybook Capital of Texas. Three years later, the city trademarked itself the Storybook Capital of America.
So the city’s Children’s Art and Literacy Festival, which runs this Thursday through Sunday, is a pretty big deal – and Texas Standard will be broadcasting from the festival on Friday morning.
Jeff Nelson, the festival’s committee chair, joined the Standard with more about what makes the annual festival so special.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity:
Jeff Nelson: I think it’s a really big deal because it’s so unique. We have that title, and I think we’re the only ones that have it, and the reason we do is because we make such a big deal first of all out of children, out of having an event that is both educational and entertaining for children and families.
And the illustrators and authors that come that write children’s literature, they tell us there’s not anything else like this that honors them and features them.
And so we really feel like we have a niche and a very important part of our culture of trying to keep the literacy of kids at a level that’s excellent and even getting better.
Texas Standard: I think that’s really interesting. I want to follow up on what you mentioned there. This Texas Standard special we’re putting together for Abilene is made for kids – and we hope interesting for adults. Is that similar to the programming philosophy for CALF? Are kids really at the center of it?
The kids really are at the center. But if the families didn’t come, we wouldn’t have the kids.
Because as young as they are, if they’re able to participate and enjoy what we’re offering, we want them to come. Even the youngest ones, less than 2 years old, get in for free. So we want to cater to the kids, but we wouldn’t get the kids if we didn’t invite the parents and the families.
We’ve expanded even this year to have things for older kids, because after kids kind of grow out of our CALF curriculum into their teen years, they’re like, “oh, I loved CALF, but I wish there was something for me as a teen.”
And we’ve expanded what we’ve offered through CALF to include specific things targeted for teens that I think they’re going to love and keeps them coming back year after year.
Last year we had 151 cities represented, 21 states and two countries. So the word is spreading, and we want even more to hear and more to come.
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Well you mentioned those numbers, and I wondered about that. This is my first time at CALF. I’m not sure about the scale. How would you describe it? Is it sprawling or is it accessible or is sort of both?
It is both. We have approximately 6,000 people that come to the CALF Festival. And it’s all downtown Abilene, and we use venues that open their doors for us to use for CALF activities. And we have transportation that runs the route of CALF all day each day, but it is walkable.
A few years ago we expanded CALF from Thursday, Friday, Saturday, even into Sunday because the zoo opens – for anyone, but CALF people that are registered get in free. And we even have more CALF activities at the zoo on Sunday, plus everything that you would already be able to do at the zoo.
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Folks listening right now may not have been able to make it this year. Is it worth the trip?
You know, I love reading the surveys after people have come to CALF and they leave. I’ve been involved with a lot of events, and feedback always helps us make the next one better. But the feedback from CALF has so little negative.
This will be the 13th year, and the comments that we get, people are amazed at what we’re able to pull off in Abilene, Texas. And it’s the kids that really speak for themselves. The parents kind of just say what the kids thought about it.
And our goal is to put a smile on the face of every child that comes to CALF, and I think we’re extremely successful with that. So, yes – whether you can come this year or not, it’s well worth the trip to Abilene, Texas.
