There will be plenty to educate and entertain children and teens at the Tucson Festival of Books this year. The event is Saturday and Sunday, March 12 and 13, at the University of Arizona, centering on the mall.
There are more than 70 workshops and talks for children and teens and a few for adults who wish to write for children.
Workshops include such art projects as drawing creatures (10 a.m. Saturday in Education Room 349) and other art projects (11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday in Education Room 349), teaching children writing (2:30 p.m. Saturday in Education Room 349), creating and drawing comics (4 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday in Education Room 349), painting rocks (11:30 a.m. Sunday in Education Room 349), writing fairy tales and poetry (1 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, respectively, in Education Room 349) and self-publishing (2:30 p.m. Saturday in the Student Union Sabino room).
Young people who look to the stars and the future may be interested in talks on science fiction (11:30 a.m. Saturday in Education’s Kiva Room 211) and how to pack for a trip to Mars (10 a.m. Saturday in Education’s Kiva Room 211).
Children can learn about diversity, careers, super heroes, social media, writing, designing, illustrating and award-winning books and authors.
There’s nothing like hearing authors talking about their latest books to make a child want to read. There will be plenty of authors doing just that.
And if that isn’t enough, there’s Science City. Admission will be free all weekend at the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium and the Arizona State Museum. Families will find hands-on activities with several exhibitors including the NSF’s NOIRLab.
Other Science City exhibitors include the Tucson L5 Space Society, the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association, Steward Observatory and the Lunar and Planetary Lab.
Stay closer to Earth and learn about Kartchner Caverns State Park, the Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine, the Sky Islands, birds with the Tucson Audubon Society and Arizona’s Desert Legume Program.
Learn about insects with the SciTech Institute and Arizona Insect Discovery, and learn about reptiles with the Tucson Herpetological Society. There’s even something for math lovers who can have some Pi Day fun — Pi Day is Monday, March 14.
Find all of the schedules and lists of exhibitors online at TucsonFestivalofBooks.org. You can click the children/teens category at the top of the schedule to see just that category.
Keep in mind that some schedules, exhibits and procedures may change because of COVID safety precautions. Check TucsonFestivalofBooks.org frequently for up-to-date information.
