Open Book Players to perform Reading Rumpus event Sept. 25

WALES — Open Book Players plan to bring a selected group of Maine children’s books to life during their bi-annual Reading Rumpus performance, scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25, at Oak Hill High School, 56 School Road, according to a news release from the theater company.

Books by several local children’s book creators will be featured, including the following titles:
• “Happy Birthday, Maine” by Lynn Plourde, illustrated by Mark Scott Ricketts;
• “If You Were My Valentine” by Plourde, illustrated by Jennifer L. Meyer;
• “The Boy Whose Face Froze Like That” by Plourde, illustrated by Russ Cox;
• “Twenty-One Steps” by Jeff Gottesfeld, illustrated by Matt Tavares;
• “Dasher” written and illustrated by Tavares;
• “Magnificent Homespun Brown” by Samara Cole Doyon, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita;
• “Magic Like That” by Samara Cole Doyon, illustrated by Geneva Bowers;
• “Hip, Hip Beret!” by Melanie Ellsworth, illustrated by Morena Forza;
• “Clarinet & Trumpet” by Ellsworth, illustrated by John Herzog;
• “The Road to After” by Rebekah Lowell (a selection from the novel);
• “Big Truck Little Island” written and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen; and
• “Franklin Endicott and the Third Key” by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Van Dusen.

This presentation includes a cast of 12 children and adults. On the day of performance, authors and illustrators in attendance will be available to autograph their featured books after the performance. Children’s Book Cellar of Waterville will be selling books.

Tickets, which cost $8 for general admission and $5 for students, will be sold at the door.

For more information, contact Lucy Rioux, artistic director of Open Book Players, at 207-441-3210 or lucyrioux@gmail.com.