An exciting day of activities and programs for everyone from toddlers to teens will be among the attractions during the 19th Annual Louisiana Book Festival on Saturday, October 28, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Baton Rouge's Capitol Park area.
The Young Readers Pavilion will feature appearances by beloved storybook characters from Mo Willems’s Elephant and Piggie books, authors talking to children about their featured books, musical performances, face painting, balloon artists, and book-related crafts. Teen HQ in the State Library of Louisiana building is an area for teens and tweens to hang out and plan their day. It will include crafts, giveaways, and trivia games.
“One of the goals of the Louisiana Book Festival is to inspire a love of reading and literature, and we want to make sure that starts with our youngest readers. That’s why the staff of the State Library and the Louisiana Book Festival take a lot of care to make sure the day is inviting for everyone, especially children and teens,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser.
There will be three children’s tents, where 19 featured authors will make appearances and interact with young readers. Among those authors are Matt Haines (The Little Book of King Cakes), Shannon Atwater (Goodnight, Pothole), Winsome Bingham (The Walk), and Emma Bland Smith, who wrote Claude: The True Story of a White Alligator. The annual Louisiana Readers’ Choice Awards ceremony, will be held at 11:30 a.m. in the State Library’s Capitol View Room, where Smith will be joined by the other two recipients of 2022-2023 Louisiana Readers’ Choice Awards, Carrie Firestone, whose Dress Coded won the Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award for Grades 6-8, and Robin Ha, whose Almost American Girl won the Louisiana Teen Readers’ Choice Award for Grades 9-12. Lyla Lee, whose book I’ll Be the One is the honor book for the Louisiana Teen Readers’ Choice Award for Grades 9-12, will also be recognized at the ceremony.
For more information about the 2023 Louisiana Book Festival, visit LouisianaBookFestival.org.