“Arthur” creator Marc Brown is one of the many award-winning authors and illustrators from around the country invited to celebrate the joy of reading, the power of the written word and the magic of storytelling at the 5th Annual Savannah Children Book’s Festival, to be held Nov. 15 at Forsyth Park.

Brown is the winner of six Emmy Awards for the “Arthur” PBS TV series based on his books, and more than 56 million “Arthur” books have been in print in the U.S. alone.

Other special guests coming to Savannah to appear at the festival include:
• Mo Willems, author/illustrator of “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,” (for which he won the first of his three Caldecott Honor awards), and head writer of Cartoon Network’s “Codename: Kids Next Door”.

• Mike Thaler, author/illustrator, creator of “Letterman” from the “Electric Company” series and, more recently, the popular “Black Lagoon” book series (“Librarian from the Black Lagoon,” Teacher from the Black Lagoon,” “Principal from the Black Lagoon”, etc.)

• Miss Rosa, host of “Mornings on PBS Kids.” Each morning she guides preschoolers through curriculum-based activities and introduces Spanish words and phrases related to the theme of the day.

• Donald Crews, Caldecott Honor award-winning author/illustrator of “Freight Train” and “Truck”.

• John and Danita Thomas, co-authors of the unique “Kids Concoctions” series of arts and crafts books. They also appear regularly on HGTV, the Discovery Channel and QVC.

• David Biedrzycki, author/illustrator of “Ace Lacewing: Bug Detective”

• Carmen Agra Deedy, author of “The Library Dragon” and “Growing Up Cuban in Decatur Georgia”, regular contributor to NPR’s “All Things Considered” and “Weekend Edition”.

• Katie Davis, author/illustrator, “Kindergarten Rocks” and “Who Hops?”

• Nancy Yi Fan, 13-year-old author of “Swordbird” and “Sword Quest”

• Charles Ghigna, a.k.a. “Father Goose”

• Michelle Knudsen, author of “The Library Lion”

• Farrah Gray, author of “Reallionaire” and a motivational speaker for young people

The festival also features arts and crafts, food, a variety of entertainment, an international tent, a teen area and much more. Costumed characters will include Arthur, Corduroy, Stellaluna, Danny’s Dinosaur, and Frog and Toad.

As in past years, dozens of local authors will be in the spotlight as well, prominently located in the Writers’ Circle around the fountain.

Major sponsors are Gulfstream Aerospace and the Live Oak Public Libraries Foundation.

For more information on the festival, call (912) 652-3689 or visit the library’s Web site, www.liveoakpl.org. The rain location is the Savannah Civic Center.