The Lucy Daniels Center announces an exciting calendar of events for Bookmarked! 2011, a two-week festival for young children and their families that celebrates the special joys of reading with children. Events are scheduled for May 6 – 22.

Part of Lucy’s Book Club, the Center’s signature public outreach program, Bookmarked! 2011 will feature children’s book readings by local “celebrity-heroes,” a family-friendly concert at Fred Fletcher Park, a book fair at Quail Ridge Books, and several public appearances by 2011’s featured author, three-time Caldecott Honor Award winner Molly Bang.

“At its heart, Bookmarked! is a celebration of the way books can bring families together to talk about issues that are important to children’s healthy social and emotional development,” says Joyce Watkins King, the Center’s director of development. “We are thrilled to announce that this year’s festival will feature more than 30 readings at preschools, day cares, Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCAs, public libraries, and other venues across Wake County.”

Readers at private locations will include the Center’s founding benefactor, Dr. Lucy Daniels, The Durham Divas, WRAL’s Renee Chou, Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, builder Greg Paul, Raleigh Police Officer Arlene Nugent, and members of the Cary Fire Department.

There will be more than 20 readings at public venues as well. As with last year’s inaugural Bookmarked! event, many Wake County Public Library story times will feature Lucy’s Book Club titles read by children’s librarians. A special reading at Wake Forest Branch Library on Wednesday, May 11, at 10 a.m. will feature employees of Bookmarked! 2011’s presenting sponsor, The Body Shop.

Other public readings will include appearances by celebrity-heroes such as WUNC’s Dick Gordon, cast members from N.C. Theatre’s production of Hello, Dolly, Chef Scott Crawford of Herons Restaurant, airline pilot Tom Sylvester, stage actress Andrea Schulz Twiss, Carolina Ballet’s Lara O’Brien, and NBC 17 anchor Donald Jones and former chief meteorologist Janice Jones. All public readings are free and open to children and their families.

Theatre in the Park’s Ira David Wood III and Betsy, star of PBS Kids’ "Betsy’s Kindergarten Adventures," will join kids’ band Mommie and other family-friendly performers at the Family Fun Concert, being held at Fred Fletcher Park in Raleigh on Sunday, May 15, from 2 – 5 p.m. The event is free, with a suggested donation of $5 per person or $15 per family, and includes children’s activities and raffle drawings for prizes for the whole family.

The featured author/illustrator of Bookmarked! 2011 is Molly Bang, three-time Caldecott Honor Award winner and recipient of the 2011 Lucy Daniels Award, which recognizes a body of work that contributes to children’s healthy social and emotional growth. Ms. Bang will appear Saturday, May 14, at Quail Ridge Books at 10 a.m. and at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. In addition to reading to children, Ms. Bang will personalize copies of her books purchased through the Lucy’s Book Club Book Fair at Quail Ridge Books. She is also leading a workshop for adults on Sunday, May 15, at the Lucy Daniels Center in Cary.

In addition to celebrating the joys of reading with young children, Bookmarked!’s purpose is to raise both awareness of and funding for Lucy’s Book Club and the Center’s Family Support Fund, which helps bridge the gap between what families can afford to pay for their child’s mental health services at the Center and their actual cost. Contact Joyce Watkins King at 919.677.1400 x120 for more information about sponsorships and gift-in-kind donations.

Visit www.lucysbookclub.org for the most up-to-date information about events and other Bookmarked! news.