(Eureka)—The local Children’s Author Festival has been postponed by the pandemic, but participating children’s authors remain excited for its in-person return. Enthusiasm for the bi-annual event is showcased in a new video profile created by the Humboldt County Office of Education (HCOE). In the video, children’s book authors express their enthusiasm for when the event returns in its in-person form.

Despite the postponement of the in-person event, organizers of the Children’s Author Festival have created a virtual Beanstack Reading Challenge that is going on now until October 23. Beanstack is interactive software that makes a game of reading, writing and other activities. A parent of other caregiver signs up for a family account that can include all readers in the family.

More information about this virtual event may be obtained by visiting the Humboldt County Library’s Beanstack site (https://humlib.beanstack.org/) or downloading its app from the Google Play or App Store. More information about the event may also be viewed on the event’s website. View messages from the authors this year here. The video gives authors a platform to discuss their books and what they enjoy about the Humboldt County event.

For many years, HCOE has partnered with the county library and other local organizations to put together a bi-annual Children’s Author Festival. “It’s really a lovely event that usually brings 25 authors from all around the country every two years,” said Ryan Keller, HCOE’s Library Media Specialist, on behalf of the event. “This year’s theme is ‘Take Flight with Books’, asking children and adults how books helped us all ‘take flight’ in our imaginations while grounded during the pandemic,” she added. The authors visit local schools and participate with organizers in a book sale at the main Humboldt County Library.