I want my children to be fluent readers. I hope they love to read. So, I read to them. They read to me. We visit the library at least once a week. I pick out books for them, and they pick out books for themselves. For book lovers, there is a special day coming up. This Saturday, April 5, 2014, the Central Library and the Southwest School of Art will host the San Antonio Book Festival, a free event featuring readings from more than 90 authors. The book festival has something for everyone—for a complete list, check the online schedule or the printable schedule. I know my kids and I will be spending a lot of time at the Children’s Reading Tent, on the plaza outside the Central Library, hearing from authors and illustrators of picture books:
- Brian Floca, author and illustrator of Locomotive, from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
- Carolyn Dee Flores, illustrator of Canta, Rana, Canta/Sing, Froggie, Sing, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
- Duncan Tonatiuh, author and illustrator of Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale, from 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
- Antonio Sacre, author of A Mango in the Hand: A Story Told Through Proverbs, from 11:30 a.m. to noon (Sacre will also compete in the Literary Death Match at 6:30 p.m. in the Empire Theatre—buy tickets online)
- Samantha R. Vamos, author of The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred, from noon to 12:30 p.m.
- Joe Cepeda, illustrator of Cub’s Big World, from 1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. (read my interview with Joe Cepeda)
- Lupe Ruiz-Flores, author of Lupita’s First Dance/El Primer Baile de Lupita, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
- René Colato Laínez, author of Senor Pancho Had a Rancho, from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
If your kids are in the middle grades, they might be interested in these presentations:
- Kathi Appelt, author of The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, will be in the Swartz Room (on the second floor of the Central Library) from 2:15 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Xavier Garza, author of Maximilian and the Bingo Rematch, will be in the Children’s Reading Tent from 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
- Angela Cervantes, author of Gaby, Lost and Found, will be in the Children’s Reading Tent from 3:15 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
- Brandon Mull, author of Five Kingdoms: Sky Raiders, will be in the Gallery (on the first floor of the Central Library) from 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
If your kids (or yourself . . . admit it) are reading young adult books, then you might want to visit the panel discussion with YA authors Malín Alegría, Sophie Jordan, and Sherry Thomas in the Swartz Room from 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. The core of the San Antonio Book Festival is the opportunity to hear writers and artists talk about their work, buy some books, and maybe get them signed by the creators. But there will be lots more to do, especially for restless kiddos: get a snack from one of the food trucks, or try out a free activity with Spare Parts, My Story, Say Sí, or the San Antonio Children’s Museum (read more about their science activities). Cap off the day with a Magik Theatre performance of Splat the Cat in the Children’s Reading Tent from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Now that you know what to expect, I hope you will go downtown on April 5 to experience the San Antonio Book Festival. If you discover a great new author there, remember that you can find these books at the library for free. (Do you already know the most efficient way to search the online catalog? I didn’t, until I asked a librarian.) Related posts:
- Many San Antonio bloggers have written about the upcoming San Antonio Book Festival; find their posts collected here: “Looking forward to the San Antonio Book Festival: a round up of posts by San Antonio bloggers”, Colleen Pence, San Antonio Mom Blogs, March 21, 2014.
- Alamo City Moms Blog contributor Alvina Castro visited the book festival last year, and wrote this post about it.
- Did you know that the San Antonio Public Library has a portal at the Briscoe Museum of Western Art? Here is my earlier post about the Briscoe.
- While we’re on the topic of reading and libraries, here is Katie’s earlier post about school libraries.
[…] addition to Cepeda, there were many more authors and illustrators presenting; get more ideas at “Read, listen and play at the San Antonio Book Festival on April 5″, Inga Cotton, Alamo City Moms Blog, April 2, […]