6 to 6:30 p.m. (reception)
6:30 to 7:30 p.m. (conversation)

Andy Ackerman, Maris Krasnow, Arietta Slade and Kendra Tyson open a discussion on the role of toys, books and make-believe in childhood development from various perspectives. Introduced by Leonard Marcus, this program illuminates the importance of story and play in a child’s emerging understanding of the world around them and the world of their peers. Learn why children’s books and toys really matter.

Andy Ackerman is Executive Director at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan.

Maris Krasnow is Clinical Associate Professor at Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University.

Leonard Marcus is a leading historian and critic of children’s books and the people who create them. His award-winning publications include Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom (HarperCollins, 2000), The Annotated Phantom Tollbooth(Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2011), and Show Me a Story! (Storey Publishing, LLC, 2012).

Arietta Slade, Ph.D. is Clinical Professor at the at the Yale Child Study Center, and Professor Emerita in the doctoral program in Clinical Psychology at the City University of New York.

Kendra Tyson is the Linda May Uris Library Media Specialist at New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.