Katherine Paterson and Neil Patrick Harris Come to Thalia Kids' Book Club in December

Symphony Space's highly interactive Thalia Kids Book Club series, produced in cooperation with Bank Street Bookstore, unites avid readers with the authors, illustrators, and books that inspire their imaginations. Each event includes a creative writing project, a discussion with the audience.

The 2017-18 Thalia Kids' Book Club season launched with full-house events featuring authors Sherman Alexie and Cressida Cowell in October. On December, 2 a the series continues with a visit from Newbery Award-winning author Katherine Paterson, and on Monday, December 4, Neil Patrick Harris will celebrate his middle-grade novel The Magic Misfits. More events, including a Judy Blume birthday celebration, are planned for winter and spring 2018.

Saturday, December 2 at 11 AM

Katherine Paterson: My Brigadista Year

Two-time winner of the Newbery Medal and National Book Award, Katherine Paterson ( Bridge to Terabithia) comes to Symphony Space for a conversation on her engrossing historical novel about a young Cuban teenager as she volunteers for Fidel Castro's national literacy campaign and travels into the impoverished countryside to teach her fellow countrymen how to read, despite the looming threat of banditos hiding in the hills.

For four different books published between 1975 and 1980, Katherine Paterson won two Newbery Medals and two National Book Awards. A prolific children's and young adult author, Paterson is one of three people to win the two major international awards. For "lasting contribution to children's literature" she won the biennial Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing in 1998, and for her career contribution to "children's and young adult literature in the broadest sense," she won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from the Swedish Arts Council in 2006, the biggest prize in children's literature. She was awarded the 2007 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature and was the second U.S. National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, during 2010-11. Most recently, Paterson received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal from the American Library Association in 2013.

Ages 10 and up.

Limited tickets remain!

Monday, December 4 at 6:30 pm

Neil Patrick Harris: The Magic Misfits

At this special Book Club event, Emmy Award-winning actor, magician, director, and author Neil Patrick Harris celebrates his middle-grade debut novel, The Magic Misfits. This delightful book takes the reader on a whirlwind adventure of family, friendship, and illusion sprinkled with real magic tips and tricks. Neil Patrick Harris is an accomplished actor, producer, director, host, author, and father of six-year-old twins. Harris also served as President of the Academy of Magical Arts in 2011-14. His memoir, Choose Your Own Autobiography was a New York Times bestseller.

Ages 8 and up.