INNISFAIL – It was a memorable magical day on Jan. 25 at the Innisfail Library/Learning Centre.
The venue was hosting the 2025 Family Literacy Festival where there was laughter, plenty of wit and lots of sleight of hand stuff.
This year the theme for Family Literacy Day across Canada was Learn to be Green, Together, and the local festival organized by the Innisfail Public Library from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. had a little bit of everything to match the national celebration.
“(The theme) fits perfectly with the library and the town's environmental responsibility goals,” said Amy Ramsay, manager of the Innisfail Public Library. “Instead of having juice boxes or water bottles, we just have one big container of juice for the kids and encouraged people to bring their own containers.
“We also have compostable coffee mugs for the adults, and for food we decided to reduce waste,” added Ramsay. “We didn't buy snacks that had a lot of packaging, so we made fruit kabobs and meat and cheese kebabs on recyclable wood skewers.”
The festival had eight different stations fitting the ‘green’ theme, ones that included a recycled collage, an interactive game of ‘What’s in Your Bin’ to demonstrate recycling and a community art project featuring a mosaic from recycled book pages.
And Town of Innisfail Mayor Jean Barclay was enthusiastically on hand to offer the young special readings of The Little Book of Going Green and I Can Save the Earth.
But it was this year’s featured guest, Calgary’s ‘Brilliant Brent’ Smith, who was the showstopper, and fully interactive with his audience, especially children.
He was in town to offer those gathered for the event a magical touch with his very own ‘Books are Brilliant’ Literacy Magic Show.
“I knew he was going to be a different sort of magic,” said Ramsay. “This was shown by his first trick when he opened up a page and wrote the word bowling ball and then drew a bowling ball, and when the book opened up a bowling ball appeared and fell onto the floor to everybody's shock.
“It was a very good way to begin the presentation. and from there it just kept getting better and better.”
Smith, 61, is no stranger to the world of magic.
A former broadcasting journalist, for decades he has brought his brand of magic to birthday parties, family functions, weddings, receptions, and restaurants.
About 18 months ago he was asked if he had a library show.
“And I said, ‘yes’, but I didn't. So, I had about two weeks, and I fired this show together,” said Smith. “And I'm impressed with myself that I come up with this, like crazy, right? So I put it together and I did it, and it's been a hit.”
Brilliant Brent, who proudly markets the fact he got his first magic book out of a library before the internet, is now busier than ever.
“My literacy magic show has taken off. Schools are liking it. All the libraries are liking it, all the way up to Red Deer,” said Smith, who is now doing a total of about 275 shows a year. “I market it all the way up to Edmonton, and everybody along the way is loving it.”
And when Brilliant Brent is putting on his library shows he has one important expectation.
“I want kids to put down their darn phones. Everyone's addicted to their phone,” said Smith. “We're losing kids to technology today. It's robbing them of their creative spark; the imagination and the ability to dream.
“But if you read about it, you’ve actually created it in your mind, instead of just copying it off YouTube or whatever,” he added. “I can do magic in a restaurant and walk up to a table and everybody is on their phone, and by the time I leave all their phones are down and put away.
“Magic just opens up their lives in a positive way, where they have seen something they haven't seen before.”
