Return to Headlines

Windsor Park Elementary welcomes author/illustrator Greg Foley for EpicFest

Posted 11.15.24

Greg Foley with Windsor Park Elementary third graders

Windsor Park Elementary School third graders were given a unique opportunity to connect with award-winning author and illustrator Greg Foley as part of EpicFest, a festival of authors, illustrators, books and families, held Nov. 8-9 and presented in partnership with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.

Foley, known for books such as “Thank You Bear” and “Willoughby & the Lion,” read from his new graphic novel, “Dex Dingo: World’s Best Greatest Ever Inventor.” He held the attention of more than 70 third graders and adults as he described similarities between him and Dex, and his path to becoming a published author. He also demonstrated how he draws his characters and answered questions from the students.

Greg Foley with Windsor Park Elementary third graders

“I was always an artist, and I liked to come up with characters, but it took me years to realize the characters need a story to inhabit,” Foley said. “I got good advice from friends of mine, like maybe you should take a writing class for kids, and I thought, ‘That’s a great idea.’ At the time, I happened to also teach design, and I went to children’s writing class and realized it was something that I really loved and that I could actually do. So then I was able to do both the pictures and make up the stories.”

Foley has numerous career honors – including the Charlotte Zolotow Award, Art Directors Club Gold and Silver Awards and a Grammy nomination – and his work has been exhibited in prestigious spaces such as the New York Public Library and MoMa in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He said he does many school readings and couldn’t say no to participating in EpicFest, which was his first trip to Charlotte.

“Reading to the kids is probably the best part about publishing for kids,” Foley said. “Making the stories in the book is great, but actually sharing it with the kids directly is the most fun part.”

Windsor Park Principal Merita Little said Foley brought a new perspective on what it takes to be a writer, an illustrator and how publishing works for books to go from an author into our libraries. She said it was an experience her students won’t forget.

“Our students had a curiosity about that whole process, but they also connected to how he persevered from thinking about a story to actually seeing it all come together,” Little said. “Our students write stories, and I think he modeled a beautiful example of how you start a written piece and how you get to the finished product. That’s what our students need to see. They saw that today, they're very excited, and they're going to take that with them into the classroom.”

More than 2,000 students at 15 elementary schools and three high schools took part in EpicFest on the first day of the event. In addition to Foley, presenters were authors JaNay Brown-Wood, Kim Johnson, Kelly Starling Lyons, Meera Sriram, Jonny Garza Villa, Tracey West; author/illustrators John Patrick Green and Peter Raymundo; and illustrator Nina Mata. On day two, families were invited to a literacy event at ImaginOn, Charlotte’s premier children’s and teen library, for book signings, games and activities around writing and storytelling.

“We try to have something for everyone, from picture book authors and illustrators, all the way up to authors writing novels for teens,” said Martha Yesowitch, community partnerships manager for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. “The library loves the opportunity to give students a chance to interact with professional authors, to put a face and personality to the names they see on the covers of books every day. Older students often have questions about the writing process, showing the strong creativity we have at CMS.”

EpicFest is a collaborative effort led by the EpicFest committee, including representatives from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, CMS Digital Learning and Media Services, and CMS Strategic Partnerships. Schools throughout the district apply for the event, which continues to be a source of inspiration, learning and community-building each year. The Preston family, in honor of their mother, Libby Preston, endowed the funding that provides the seeds of support for the festival.

Greg Foley with Windsor Park Elementary third graders