New Orleans Public Library Book Fair

Last Saturday the main branch of the NOLA public libraries, hosted a wonderful, totally free, book fair for kids.  It was the 2nd annual event - somehow we missed it last year - and it was excellent.  The fair was well-organized and provided tons of entertainment for the kids.  The best part about the event was that no child left empty-handed.  There were multiple tables filled with brand-new books, courtesy of Scholastic (mostly), Highlights magazines, used books looking for a good home and other odds and ends.  Each child was given a free tote bag and within an hour the bags were full.

I do not know if every kid likes books as much as Luz and James do, but they could not wait to get home and check out their haul.  Luz picked out a few "chapter" books, including a new Junie B. Jones, and James opted for a book about pirates and a sweet bedtime story book.

There were free Lucky Dogs, drinks, red beans & rice, cookies, pony rides (well, the pony rides were actually $3 each, but I did not mind a little splurge under the circumstances), crafts, a petting zoo (yes, Luz and James each touched an armadillo and a snake - gross), Clifford the Big Red Dog (I pity whoever had to wear that get up), face painting, balloon creatures, an exhibit curated by The Ruby Bridges Foundation (who Luz learned about last year and is very fascinated by), and a stage with music and readings by local authors.  My favorite, by far, was listening to/watching Alex Beard read from his book, Jungle Grapevine, with his son. I love his art and his story-telling...very engaging.  If you do not know about him, check out his website, www.alexbeardstudio.com, or buy one of his awesome books:

All in all, the festival is a great event and I hope it is one that they do ever year.  I will attend as long as Luz and James are interested and I gather that will be for at least a few more years.  Here are a few pics from the event.  I am still adjusting to the Tamron...getting there: