Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) is thrilled to spotlight its ongoing collaboration with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library through EpicFest 2025. This extraordinary, free literary festival, now in its ninth year, is dedicated to connecting children and families with books and the nationally-recognized authors and illustrators who create them. This partnership underscores CMS’s commitment to fostering deep literacy skills, nurturing creative thinking, and ensuring that our students recognize that reading is incredibly important to every facet of life.

 

 

The two-day celebration of literature kicked off on Friday, November 7, with eight featured authors and illustrators visiting 16 CMS schools across the district. These school visits allow students to gain an insight into the story-making and illustrating process.

“Just to see an author in person is the best thing that Epic Fest can offer us. Because we get to ask questions about how and why they’ve written their books. And this gets them super excited about reading more books.”

- Verna Goodman, Media Coordinator, Pinewood Elementary School

Literature: The Engine for Creative Learning

For CMS, the EpicFest partnership serves as a crucial opportunity to reinforce the link between literature and deeper learning—not only in language arts but across STEM and critical life skills. We believe that everything is educational when you’re reading.

Children's literature provides students with accessible and powerful ways to grapple with complex concepts and soft skills.

"A story can make something feel so real and children can feel it so deeply and they become so immersed in the story. I actually think it can be more powerful.”

- Charlotte Gunnufson, EpicFest guest author

Author Charlotte Gunnufson, whose work often explores science and engineering concepts, highlighted the unique power of narrative: reading stories where characters do things, such as collaborating with others, rising from mistakes or having empathy, can be a more effective teaching tool than simply telling children they can succeed. Through literature, complex processes, like the engineering design process, become "really accessible for kids and also feels, feels fun".

Moreover, these visits inspire students to become creators themselves. Author Vanessa Brantley-Newton hopes that by seeing the full creative process, students understand that books "are not just something that's thought of and put together in a day, but there’s a process". She aims to "encourage children to really express themselves through paper and pen and drawing and making their own stories".

For middle-grade readers, the visual aspects of storytelling are also essential. Mia Araujo, an Argentine American artist and author who joined Kwame Mbalia for school visits, emphasized the need for immersive visual experiences, particularly because many students are visual learners.

Ultimately, these authors serve as powerful role models for our students. As author and publisher Kwame Mbalia shared, “At the end of the day you become much more entertaining and cool the more that you read. So pick up a book, share a book, talk about a book, maybe write a book too”!

EpicFest 2025: Author Tour and Festival Details

Following the successful tour of CMS schools on Friday, November 7, the celebration culminates with a daylong literacy festival at ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center on Saturday, November 8, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.. The public is invited to attend the event, which features author presentations, readings, music, and various literacy activities.

 

EpicFest 2025 Featured Authors and Books

Author	Featured EpicFest Book
Vanessa Brantley-Newton	Queen of Kindergarten
Justin Colón	Impossible Possums
Ben Gundersheimer (MISTER G)	Baby Ballena
Charlotte Gunnufson	Hard Hat Hank and the Sky-High Solution
Lucy Knisley	Sugar Shack
Kwame Mbalia	Jax Freeman and the Tournament of Spirits
Kirk Reedstrom	Moose’s Bad Hair Day
James Riley	The Dragon’s Apprentice

 

CMS Schools Visited on November 7

Collinswood Language Academy

David Cox Elementary School

Davidson Elementary School

Esperanza Global Academy

Governor’s Village STEM Academy (Lower Campus)

Hawk Ridge Elementary School

Hickory Grove Elementary School

Knights View Elementary School

Lincoln Heights Montessori School

Matthews Elementary School

Pinewood Elementary School

Polo Ridge Elementary School

Ranson Middle School

Rea Farms STEAM Academy

Sedgefield Montessori School

Villa Heights Elementary School