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Get Creative! Children’s Book Festival Invites Students to Design Bookmarks

Posted on February 11, 2025

Johnstown, PA (February 11, 2025) – The region’s premier family event, the Children’s Book Festival, is set to return this spring with an exciting opportunity for young artists! This year’s festival kicks off with a bookmark design contest, inviting students to create and submit bookmarks featuring a main character from one of the festival’s headlining authors – Lunch Lady, Bear, or Mango and Brash.

Hosted annually by The Learning Lamp, the festival connects children and families with bestselling and critically acclaimed authors, illustrators, and storytellers. All submitted bookmarks will be showcased at the 16th Annual Children’s Book Festival, taking place March 29-30, 2025, at Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center in Johnstown’s historic Cambria City neighborhood.

“The bookmark contest is a fan favorite,” said Kerri Belardi, Director of Communications for The Learning Lamp. “It’s always a joy to see how children reimagine the festival’s featured books and express their creativity through their designs.”

The contest is open to children in preschool through 6th grade, including homeschool students. Entries will be judged in the following age divisions:

  • Division #1: Pre-K & Kindergarten
  • Division #2: Grades 1 & 2
  • Division #3: Grades 3 & 4
  • Division #4: Grades 5 & 6

A winner from each division will receive a prize package featuring a personal library of books. Festival attendees will cast votes to determine the winners. Teachers can also win! By submitting bookmarks from their class, educators have the chance to win a classroom set of books.

How to Enter:

The Children’s Book Festival is organized by The Learning Lamp and is FREE to families. The event brings top-tier literary talent to Johnstown, and this year’s lineup is packed with must-see authors and performers:

  • Jarrett J. Krosoczka (JJK) – The New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of more than 40 books, including the Lunch Lady graphic novels, select volumes of Star Wars: Jedi Academy series, and the National Book Award finalist, Hey, Kiddo.
  • Karma Wilson – A New York Times bestselling children’s author known for her beloved picture books, including Bear Snores On, Hello Calico, and A Dog Named Doug.
  • John Patrick Green – John is the New York Times bestselling author and creator of the InvestiGATORS series, a wildly popular, full-color graphic novel collection starring Mango and Brash, an alligator spy duo.
  • Pat Lewis – A Pittsburgh-based cartoonist and illustrator, Pat brings to life the InvestiGATORS: Agents of S.U.I.T. series, among othersHis artwork can also be seen in numerous issues of Highlights for Children. Pat’s live caricatures and unity illustrations are sure to be a festival favorite!
  • WonderSpark Puppets – This New York City-based puppet theater group spreads joy and sparks imaginations through captivating performances seen across the U.S. and internationally.

The Children’s Book Festival is FREE to attend and offers interactive literary experiences designed to encourage reading, writing, and creativity. The festival features arts and crafts activities, writing and illustration workshops, new and used book sales, refreshments and more! Plus, every child who attends will receive a free book to take home and enjoy.

For more information about the 16th Annual Children’s Book Festival, call 814-262-0732 x245, visit our website, thelearninglamp.org, or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/CBFJohnstown/.

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The Learning Lamp is a nonprofit organization with a mission to engage all children in the support they need to succeed. We deliver high-quality programs that are affordable and accessible to families of all income levels. In 2023, The Learning Lamp and our school-based division Ignite Education Solutions directly served 37,524 children and adults. In addition to our own program locations, we worked with 87 public and private schools in 36 Pennsylvania counties. We also supported 473 child care and community-based youth organizations with free or nearly free shared resources, positively impacting another 44,190 children statewide.

Our programs include: child care and preschool, after-school programs, tutoring, SAT prep, school staffing, alternative education programs for at-risk students, online learning, credit recovery, drug and alcohol prevention programs, and grant writing and project consulting for schools.