NEWPORT – The 12th annual SAD 48 young authors’ and artists’ conference, “Rollickin’ Rhythm and Rhyme,” will feature Maine children’s book author Lynne Plourde, and offer more than 20 workshops, including traditional writing, art, music and drama.

The event will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 7, at Newport Elementary School. It is open to all pupils, kindergarten through grade eight, and their parents. The cost is $6 for SAD 48 pupils, $9 for all other pupils. Parents are admitted free of charge.

Plourde will present an interactive reading of some of her picture books, including “Pigs in the Mud in the Middle of the Rud.”

She will lead pupils in a dramatization of one of her books and meet with smaller groups of pupils to share tips about writing.

Plourde’s latest picture book is titled “Winter Waits,” and is the sequel to “Wind Child.”

A speech-language therapist, Plourde has worked for 21 years in the Maine public school system and has written 10 educational books for teachers, including the “Classroom Listening and Speaking” series.

To register, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to YAA Conference, Newport Elementary School, Newport 04953. Preregistrations will be accepted up until March 29; on-site registrations will be accepted on a space-available basis only. No telephone registrations will be accepted.