IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2022

CONTACT: LISA COMSTOCK | lcomstock@cthumanities.org | 860-937-6582

Download Release Here

Book by Bridgeport author/illustrator selected to represent Connecticut at the 2022 National Book Festival

“The All-Together Quilt” chosen for the Library of Congress National Book Festival’s Great Reads from Great Places program

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Connecticut Center for the Book has selected The All-Together Quilt authored and illustrated by Bridgeport’s Lizzy Rockwell to represent the young reader category for Connecticut at the 2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival.

In the book, Lizzy Rockwell tells the heartwarming story of a diverse group of people coming together to make things both lasting and beautiful—a quilt and friendships.

This title will be part of the Library of Congress National Book Festival’s Great Reads from Great Places program. Great Reads from Great Places features books and authors representing the literary heritage of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Marianas. For over 20 years this program has included a highlighted youth title from each affiliate center.

“It’s an honor to know that my picture book, The All-Together Quilt will travel down to Washington DC with its friends from the Connecticut Center for the Book,” shared Lizzy Rockwell. “The National Book Festival’s theme, Books Bring Us Together, could not feel more right, right now. The theme is not just perfect for my book, which is a true story about a diverse group of community quilters who work together to create a thing of beauty from diverse scraps of fabric, it is perfect for this moment in American history. At a time of troubling divisions in our nation, nothing can communicate the intricacy of our shared humanity better than books.”

“The All-Together Quilt is the perfect selection to complement this year’s National Book Festival theme ‘Books Bring Us Together,’” said Connecticut Center for the Book director Lisa Comstock. “It is the story of a community coming together to make quilts and how this activity developed into long-term friendships.”

The 2022 National Book Festival on Sept. 3 will be held in-person in Washington, D.C., but will include many livestreamed and recorded virtual programs celebrating books and authors. Rockwell will take part in an online panel conversation with other chosen authors from state Centers for the Book in the Eastern Region to talk about her book and what inspired her, what she likes most about Connecticut, and more.

This and other panel discussions will be posted toward the end of August on the National Book Festival website and the Library of Congress’s YouTube channel.

About the Book
The All-Together Quilt, the 2021 Connecticut Book Awards winner for children’s picture books, tells the true story of people in a community center coming together to make quilts. They begin with lots of colorful fabrics and an idea. Then they measure, cut, stitch, layer, and quilt. It’s the work of many hands, many hours, and many stories. And the result is something warm and wonderful they can share.

About the Author
Lizzy Rockwell is the author-illustrator of many children’s books and the illustrator of over thirty children’s books by a variety of authors, including her mother, Anne Rockwell.

Lizzy was inspired to write this book after starting Peace by Piece: The Norwalk Community Quilt Project. The group is made up of kids and adults who meet each week to work on quilts together. The quilts they have made are beautiful and grace libraries and museums in their area. But just as beautiful are the connections and friendships forged over the quilting frame. To learn more, visit TheAlltogetherQuilt.com or LizzyRockwell.com.

About the Connecticut Center for the Book
Connecticut Center for the Book is a program of Connecticut Humanities and is Connecticut’s affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Its mission is to celebrate books, writers and readers who engender and sustain the life of the imagination and to highlight authors, illustrators, printers, publishers, and the literary heritage of the State of Connecticut.

About Connecticut Humanities
CT Humanities (CTH) is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. CTH connects people to the humanities through grants, partnerships, and collaborative programs. CTH projects, administration, and program development are supported by state and federal matching funds, community foundations, and gifts from private sources. Headquartered in Middletown their work is statewide. Learn more by visiting cthumanities.org.

About the Library of Congress Center for the Book
The Library of Congress Center for the Book promotes books and libraries, literacy and reading. The Center was established by public law in 1977. Since its founding, the Library of Congress Center for the Book has established Affiliate Centers in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Northern Marianas, Guam, and American Samoa.