Wellesley eats up library’s Edible Book Festival

 
When asked why she picked Harry Potter as the theme for her edible creation, 9-year-old Luciana Gonzalez, standing proudly at her station—which showcased an intricate scene depicting characters and places like the Sorting Hat, Hogwarts Castle and Hedwig the owl made from cake, Rice Krispy treats, fondant and more—said it was simple. 

 “I like magic!”

The Wellesley Free Library hosted its second annual Edible Book Festival on March 29, with colorful and delicious creations depicting different scenes from over a dozen children’s novels. 

 
Emma Weiler, the children’s supervisor at the Wellesley Free Library, said she heard about it online and wanted to take part.

“People organize these globally, it’s always around April 1, and I’ve always wanted to do one,” she said. “I like that, as a librarian, I can take my interests and turn them into programs.”

This is the second year Wellesley has held festivities for International Edible Book Day since librarians Judith A. Hoffberg and Béatrice Coron founded the holiday April 1, 2000.

Weiler said the library event was open to everybody, regardless of age. It awarded six different prizes for both youth and adult submissions. Two awards, Best Kid Creation and Funniest/Punniest Entry, went to 8-year-old Avery Lee who created “Make Way for Booklings,” a play on Robert McCloskey’s iconic “Make Way for Ducklings” book. 

 
Isabella Conway, 10, based her creation off of Jasmine Warga’s “A Rover’s Story,” which she chose because she “wanted to have something that represented a lot of life lessons” and was “inspiring” to her and her peers. 

Conway said she chose to frost a rectangle cake because she knew it would be easier to design and wanted it to resemble the cover of a book. She said she heard about the event through the bulletin board at the library and is planning on taking part in it again in the future. 

 
Gonzalez decided to recreate a variety of scenes from the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, which are both her favorite books and movies, with the castle Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat and Harry’s pet owl, Hedwig, among those showcased in her design.

Her friends and family also all love the books, so she said it was an easy decision. Gonzalez said she had “so much fun” with the hopes to do it again next year. 

Weiler said she aims to continue the event next year, hoping for increased turnout and more engagement from the community. 

“I feel like every year, you tweak things and try and make it a little better,” she said “This is only our second year, but I’ve certainly been billing it as our second annual, and we’re going to do it again next year.”

This story is part of a partnership between the Swellesley Report and the Boston University Department of Journalism.