Children are invited to join the “Great Baseball Hunt.”
One baseball is hidden in each of these 15 Waupaca businesses – Dragonwings Bookstore, The Paint Store, Main Street Marketplace, Passport Travel, Studio 212 Salon & Spa, The Revival, Lucky Tree, Book World, Waupaca Area Public Library, Embellishments, Office Outfitters, The Bookcellar, Framing by Preston, Stange’s of Waupaca and the Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce.
Players who find 10 of the 15 hidden baseballs at local businesses and collect cards from those businesses will then take their cards to Dragonwings Bookstore.
Each child in this group will receive a pack of baseball cards and have their name entered into a drawing for an autographed set of baseball books by Matt Tavares, collectible baseballs and other prizes.
Players who collect all 15 cards will be eligible for additional prizes from Dragonwings Bookstore.
The contest ends on Oct. 10.
The list of players who win prizes will be posted at Dragonwings Bookstore, the Waupaca Area Public Library and at the Waupaca Book Festival.
The book festival is being held Oct. 12 and 13, and Tavares is among the chidren’s book authors and illustrators who will be in attendance.
Tavares is the author and illustrator of such books as Henry Aaron’s Dream and Zachary’s Ball. He will be speaking to third and fourth graders at the Waupaca Learning Center on Friday, Oct. 12 and to second-year drawing students at Waupaca High School that day as well.
He will also give a presentation the morning of Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Waupaca Recreation Center.
Dragonwings is handling pre-sales of his books and will have the author sign them.
Other children’s book authors that will be part of the festival are Jacqueline West and Eric Litwin.
West is the author of The Books of Elsewhere, which is a fantasy series for young readers, and Cherma, a series of poems about Wisconsin’s Bohemian immigrants.
Litwin will be making classroom visits on Monday, Oct. 15 in conjunction with this year’s book festival.
He is the New York Times best-selling author of the picture book Pete the Cat: I Love my White Shoes.
Meet book festival authors at a reception at the library on the evening of Friday, Oct. 12.
Tickets are $10 and are available at the library.