Hot on the heels of February’s ALOUD Festival, which brought over a thousand young people to Harbourfront Centre for three days of boisterous bookishness, programming will feature stellar authors Helaine Becker, Julie Burtinshaw, Marie-Louise Gay & David Homel, Ann Love & Jane Drake, Lauren Mechling & Lauren Moser, Val Ross, Teresa Toten, Sarah Withrow, Melanie Watt, and Janice Weaver. In addition to readings, ALOUD activities include scavenger hunts, comic book, humour and interior decorating workshops. All details are below.

ALOUD school program events take place from Tuesday, May 22 to Friday, May 26. Teachers can call 416.973.4000 for details. ALOUD weekend events require a MILK Festival Day Pass, $12.50 + $2 Facilities Renewal Fund. Day pass also includes a wristband for site access, admission to all non-ticketed programmes, and a free Natrel milk beverage.

ALOUD Tent: Public Events
Sunday, May 21

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Trash Action with ANN LOVE & JANE DRAKE
Co-authors Ann Love and Jane Drake present Trash Action: A Fresh Look at Garbage, and help kids explore ways they can help reduce waste and eliminate over-consumption. Love and Drake are sisters and the authors of many award-winning books such as The Kids Winter Cottage Book, Snow Amazing, and Cool Woods.They have been shortlisted for numerous awards including the Red Cedar Award, the Norma Fleck Award, and the Silver Birch Award.

12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Create Your Own Comic Book
Kids of all ages will love creating their own comic book with artist Zach Warton in All New Captain Underpants Comix You Wrote and Drew and Made Really Cool mini-workbooks.

Monday, May 22
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. It’s Your Room! with JANICE WEAVER
Janice Weaver, co-author of It’s Your Room: A Decorating Guide for Real Kids, shows young people that a comfortable, functional space can be created just by using a little imagination. Weaver is also the author of Building America and From Head to Toe, both of which were named Notable Books by the International Reading Association. Her book The A to Z of Everyday Things, was published in 2004 to equal acclaim.

Saturday, May 27

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Funny Business with HELAINE BECKER
Helaine Becker uses her book Funny Business: Clowning Around, Practical Jokes, Cool Comedy, Cartooning, and More to help kids create gut-bustingly funny jokes, comedies, and cartoons. Becker is regularly published in children’s magazines such as chickadee, Chirp, and Today’s Parent. Her book Boredom Blasters was a Chapters/Indigo "Best of 2004" book and a Book Sense pick.

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Scaredy Squirrel Scavenger Hunt and readings with MELANIE WATT
Join Scaredy Squirrel author Melanie Watt to hunt down items all over Harbourfront Centre from Scaredy Squirrel’s personal emergency kit. Great prizes available for young scavengers! Watt is also the author of Leon the Chameleon and the Learning with Animals collection.

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Like A Pro with HELAINE BECKER
Ever wondered how to fold an ace flyer? Bake the world’s best chocolate chip cookies? Create a website? Or make recycled paper? Like A Pro author Helaine Becker teaches kids a myriad of useful skills in ten steps or less.

3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Scaredy Squirrel Scavenger Hunt and readings with MELANIE WATT

Tuesday, May 23
10:30 a.m. MARIE-LOUISE GAY AND DAVID HOMEL
Marie-Louise Gay and David Homel present Travels with My Family, the story of what happens to a family vacation when eccentric parents insist on journeying to crazy destinations. Marie-Louise Gay is one of Canada’s most widely published children’s author-illustrators. Gay has received numerous awards for her work, including the 2005 Vicky Metcalf Award, the Governor General’s Award, the Ruth Schwartz Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award. Her famous Stella books have been published in more than twelve languages. David Homel is an award-winning novelist, screenwriter, journalist, and translator whose books have been translated into many languages. Homel has won the Governor General’s Award for translation and his most recent novel, The Speaking Cure, won the Hugh McLennan Prize and the Jewish Public Library Award for fiction.

12:30 p.m. LAUREN MECHLING AND LAURA MOSER
Lauren Mechling and Laura Moser present All Q, No A: More Tales of a 10th-Grade Social Climber, their hilarious follow-up to the smash hit, The Rise and Fall of a 10th-Grade Social Climber. Heroine Mimi Shulman returns, vowing to give social climbing a rest after her tumultuous first semester. However, a school paper assignment turns scandalous and Mimi’s attempts for a calmer life are thrown out the window as she embarks on a roller-coaster ride through the New York art world, VIP lounges, and a private Caribbean island awash in D-list celebrities. Mechling is a former weekly columnist for the New York Sun and has written for publications including Seventeen, the National Post, and the Wall Street Journal. She currently writes for The Globe and Mail, CBC Online Arts and Entertainment, and The New York Times. Moser is the author of a Bette Davis biography and reviews books for various publications.

Thursday, May 25
10:30 a.m. TERESA TOTEN
Teresa Toten reads from her smart new novel, Me and the Blondes . "Set in the 1970s, an era famous for its nonconformity, Me and the Blondes pokes fun at groovy English teachers and chaotic open-plan schools....The dialogue is smart and the story dexterously plotted" (Quill & Quire). Toten is the author of two other YA novels, Onlyhouse and The Game, as well as a picture book, Bright Red Kisses. The Game was shortlisted for a 2001 Governor General’s Award and is an ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

12:30 p.m. VAL ROSS
Val Ross presents her fascinating new book, You Can’t Read This: Forbidden Books, Lost Writing, Mistranslations, and Codes. A history of reading, You Can’t Read This explores the development of alphabets, the decoding of ancient languages, secret writing, and censorship among many other topics. Ross is a renowned arts reporter for The Globe and Mail and she has won a National Newspaper Award. Her first book, The Road to There: Mapmakers and Their Stories, won the prestigious Norma Fleck Award for non-fiction.

Friday, May 26
10:30 a.m. SARAH WITHROW
Sarah Withrow reads from her latest book, What Gloria Wants, a smart, sassy, and deadly accurate depiction of how difficult it is to juggle a new romance and a jealous best friend. Withrow is also the author of The Black Sunshine of Goody Pryne, Box Girl, and Bat Summer, which was nominated for a Governor General’s Award and has been published in seven countries.

12:30 p.m. JULIE BURTINSHAW
Julie Burtinshaw reads from her moving and inspiring new novel, The Freedom of Jenny. This story revolves around Jenny Estes who is born into slavery in the 1840s in Missouri. Through Jenny and her family, Burtinshaw tells the true story of a group of African Americans who immigrate from the banks of the Mississippi to Saltspring Island, British Columbia, in the 1860s. Burtinshaw is the author of two previous novels for young people, Dead Reckoning and Adrift, and is a member of the Vancouver Children’s Literature Roundtable

The Milk International Children’s Festival of the Arts is sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Canada and generously supported by Agropur-Division Natrel, LEGO, Good Humor Breyers, Laurentien, Canadian Heritage, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Toronto Arts Council, and the Ontario Arts Council.