national book festival 2012: why families need to go

My favorite event of the year–the National Book Festival & Gala-was just a few weeks ago, and so many of my pals have asked why I love this event so much.

So here it is.

Short and sweet.

Here’s why every family should consider dropping the ball on soccer and football and ballet and raking the leaves and closing the pool and everything else on a fall weekend in September to take their kids down to the festival.

Yes, it’s passed already, but if you bookmark this post, pin it, digg it, or stumble it, you’ll have it saved for next year.  And you’ll have time to do a little pre-fest prep.

And if you’re not near the Nation’s Capital and can’t spend a Saturday on the Mall in Washington, DC, then I still have some awesome at-home book festival resources for you.

But if you’re close enough to go, go.

Believe me.

Here’s the skinny. . .

•  National Book Festival — Why Families Need to Go: Book festivals anywhere, any time, are a super way of celebrating literacy and reading, but this festival–the biggie on the Mall in Washington, DC–is especially awesome for so many reasons.

Families can celebrate literacy! There are books. All. Over. The. Place.

There’s a huge book tent where you can buy any of the featured authors’ books.  There’s a Digital Bookmobile where you can learn about how to borrow books–digitally!–NO, really!! There’s the Library of Congress Pavilion full of the awesomeness of one of the coolest buildings in DC (seriously, the Library of Congress is my favorite building in the area).

Can’t get here?  Check out the cool stuff from Library of Congress Pavilion so you can see it all up close at home, and definitely visit the National Book Festival Home Page to get all of the information you need.

Families can hobnob with awesome writers and illustrators.  Seriously. With a little bit of planning–not much!--families can do some serious hob-nobbing with their favorite author and illustrator superstars.

Book signings happen all day. All day.   Authors from all genres–history, biography, fiction, mystery, teens, children, poetry–you name it, they’re there, and they’re signing.

This year, Maddy, Owen, and Cora really wanted to meet Marc Brown (author of Arthur series! Eeeeee!) and Mary Pope Osborne (the author of The Magic Treehouse series! Yaaaay!).  Though we couldn’t make it all happen, Owen and my husband stood in line to meet Marc Brown, and they met him!

Marc Brown very graciously signed some books we brought from home–our favorite Arthur books–and he even asked Owen, “Are you the very famous Owen?” which made my sweet boy smile and skip around all day long.

With some help from Target, the girls and I had the chance to meet some of our absolute favorite authors: Jane O’Connor and Jill Abramson, Kathleen Ernst, and Dominique Moceanu.  Oh. My. Gosh.  It was a dream come true.

 Can’t get here?  Check out the National Book Festival Podcasts so you can hobnob with these guys and gals on your own time.

Children get to see and hear their favorite authors in real life: All day long, authors are chatting, reading, talking, answering questions, and interacting with readers. It’s incredible.

Tons of tents are set up for each genre, and every 30-60 minutes, a new author takes the stage.

Children have three spots just for them: Teens & Children, Children, and Target’s Storytelling Stage, PBS Kids’ Pavilion, and more.

We caught Marc Brown and Judy Sierra at the Storytelling Stage, and we loved to hear them talk about their new book, “Wild About You” and actually watch Marc Brown draw a baby!

I had a chance to see my favorite–absolute favorite–author, Sandra Cisneros speak, and I only wished that all of those high schoolers I taught who really connected with her House on Mango Street could have been there, too.

Can’t get here?  Check out the videos from the National Book Festival 2012 so you can see and hear these guys and gals on your own time.

Children get to find new favorite authors in real life: We had never had the opportunity to know Judy Sierra before this year’s festival.

We had never read Kathleen Ernst before, and this year the girls were over the moon to meet her and hear her speak. It was a huge treat for us to buy Kathleen’s new book, Caroline Takes a Chance (the new American Girl book!) and have it signed.

Though we are longtime fans of Jane O’Connor, this year we had a chance to meet her sister, the amazing and insanely talented Jill Abramson (only the New York Times’ first female executive editor, thankyouverymuch).  We might not have ever connected these two talented sisters, had we not attended the festival and heard them speak about the book they’ve co-written, Ready or Not, Here Comes Scout!

Can’t get here?  Check out the videos from the National Book Festival 2012 so you can see and hear these guys and gals on your own time.

Kids have a chance to see how cool reading can be:  Maddy, Owen, Cora, and their two little buddies who we took with us to the festival could have stayed in the Target Storytelling Tent all day long.

They plopped down on comfy pillows, they grabbed a book, and they sat and read.  And then they’d play some word games on the white boards, pick up another book, listen to an author, and head on back to do it all again.

They also totally loved PBS Pavilion, where they played some games, put on a little puppet show, did some coloring, listened to a few authors, and then did it all again.

The Wells Fargo and Scholastic tents were full of fun as well, with stickers, games, activities, and more.  And that’s only the tip of the iceberg; fun little spots like these are everywhere–or just a blanket under a tree on the grassy mall works, too.

Can’t get here?  Check out the fabulous Kid and Teacher Resources where you can try the poster I-Spy, create your own bookmark or download the Book Festival one, challenge yourself to finish the 52-Great Reads, or learn how to host your own book festival!

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 Check out some photos from the National Book Festival Gala, 2012:

 And check out some photos from the National Book Festival Event, 2012:

It was a blast–and I totally encourage all local families to attend–it’s a super fall tradition for every family to begin, no matter the age of your children!

fyi: Huge and happy thanks to my friends from PBS Kids for extending an invitation to me for the National Book Festival Gala, and huge thanks to my friends from Target for arranging some behind-the-scenes meetings with authors at the Book Festival on Saturday.  I received no compensation for this post, but I am a member of the PBS VIP Blogger program and Target’s Inner Circle Program.