LAKE PLACID — The 3rd Annual Family Book Festival brings creators of words, illustrators of words, and those who love the worlds they create together from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday Aug. 17 at the John Brown Farm State Historic Site, 115 John Brown Rd., Lake Placid.
An illustrious and richly diverse group of children’s and YA authors and illustrators will convene under a big tent and several smaller tents to meet their readers of all ages, read aloud, and talk about their work. Activities that pair select books with the natural beauty of the John Brown Farm and hands-on art making and discovery are also planned. The event is free and open to all.
“Three authors that participated in the first year — Jason Chen, Rajani LaRocca and Kekla Magoon — the three of them are coming back this year,” Martha Swan, executive director of John Brown Lives!, said.
“We really pride ourselves that as one mom put it the first year, she brought her family including teenage kids, she wrote back that the festival shows young people a vision of the world as a kind and good place.”
Also attending will be some of the rockstars of the children’s and YA literary scene, including the North Country’s own Kate Messner, Amy Guglielmo, Maxwell Eaton III and Loree Griffin Burns, who show young people a vision of the world as a kind, good and wonderfully diverse place.
Other authors will include Sharee Miller, Kayla Miller, Raúl the Third, Meredith Ireland, Kelly Starling Lyons, Jasmine Warga, Lauren Tarshis, and Cynthia Leitich Smith.
The festival’s tagline embraces that sentiment with “The Adirondack Family Book festival shows young people a vision of the world as a good kind, good, and beautifully diverse place.”
“In case of rain or bad weather, the festival will be moved indoors to the Lake Placid Middle-High School,” Swan said.
“We don’t sell any water, drinks or food onsite, so people are encouraged to pack their lunch. Pack in and pack out their lunch and whatever they want to drink. It’s free, and it’s open to everybody.”
Thanks to volunteers and our generous and loyal funders, including Assemblyman Billy Jones, the Adirondack Family Book Festival is free and open to everyone, and all children who attend will be given a keepsake notebook,” according to Swan.
“I am happy to have secured funding to support the Adirondack Family Book Festival this year and again next year,” wrote Jones. “As a father, I believe reading at a young age is crucial, and we need to encourage more families to read together and make reading fun. I couldn’t be more proud to support the Adirondack Family Book Festival this year and in the future.”
For further information, email info@johnbrownlives.org or text 518-744-7112.