Hey kids! If you’re old enough to read this sentence, you really need to check out this weekend’s Tucson Festival of Books.
It’s made for you!
Take Saturday morning on March 4. At 9 o’clock, meet in front of the University of Arizona Bookstore and be part of a parade.
The Story Book Parade will be led by a bunch of fully costumed characters from our favorite books. You can follow them from the bookstore to the festival’s special area for kids, and it only gets better after that.
If you have to bring your parents, tell them the two most popular areas of every book festival are the Children and Teens Area and Science City — where you can launch rockets, look through telescopes and play with creepy bugs.
If your parents still need a little convincing to get out of the house, make sure you let them know the children’s festival is the most prestigious gathering of children’s authors in the United States.
This year’s authors include National Book Award winner Sabaa Tahir and Newberry Award authors Lois Lowery, Katherine Applegate, Linda Sue Park and Donna Barba Herrera.
If you’re a fan of the “Construction Site” series, Sherry Dusker Rinker and AG Fold will be there, too.
Bring your big brothers and sisters! There are fun things for them to do in the Teen Activity Tent, and there is a Teen Author Stage featuring authors of books for young adults.
For a full schedule of stuff going on in the Children and Teen areas, have your parent go to the book festival website: tucne.ws/ctauthorsked.
Don’t forget about Science City at the east end of the UA Mall, where you can get your hands dirty, in a good way. You can tell mom it’s “educational!”
It’s like a gem show for kids, with hands-on stuff to do. The College of Science will be there to show how things work. You can meet some desert animals, learn about mushrooms, play with prisms, and see how sunlight can be turned into electricity to play on your Kindle.
You can find all of the Science City details at tucne.ws/scicity.
Wait! One more thing! They’ll be there all day Sunday, March 5, too!
See you there.
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