City of Las Vegas Hosts the 22nd Annual Las Vegas Book Festival
On Saturday, October 21, from 10 AM – 6 PM, The City of Las Vegas held its annual book festival in Historic Fifth Street School.
This festival hosted 100+ speakers, authors, and featured key speakers, including authors Ana Reyes, Terry McMillan, and many more. In addition, the Las Vegas Book Festival showcased 40+ booths and workshops for guests to enjoy. These included a wine garden, a free pin-making station, face painting, and a youth poetry competition. Spread the Word Nevada also handed out free books for kids and adults!
I attended this event and had a blast! With four different entrances, I walked through one called “Storybook Walk,” set up as if you’re falling down the rabbit hole in Alice In Wonderland. I thought this was the coolest touch because it felt like you were leaving the real world and heading toward a land of wonder!
Pickles and Her Upstairs Brain
I met so many incredible vendors and authors, such as Catherine Young, a licensed Occupational Therapist who wrote the book, “Pickles and Her Upstairs Brain.” Young expressed that the pandemic years were brutal for both children and adults. She stated that she witnessed increased difficulty with children’s abilities to regulate emotions and behaviors.
“I wrote this story using principles and tools I use in my therapy sessions. I hope the story can be shared with kids and the adults in their lives to provide tools to better achieve self-regulation,” she said. “[And] I hope this story can be a launching pad for future growth and healing.”
Attending her first book show, Young didn’t have any expectations and was just excited to have the opportunity to sell her book. However, hoping to attract families, teachers, and therapists to her booth, several 1st-grade teachers bought Young’s book for their classrooms!
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The Nurse Florence Series
Another great vendor I met was Michael Dow, author of the medical children’s book series Nurse Florence. Nurse Florence helps children and adults navigate many common and uncommon questions many children may have, such as, ‘Nurse Florence, What are Emotions?’ or ‘Nurse Florence, What is Polymicrogyria?’
“We answer kids’ basic science questions about the human body like ‘How Do We Hear Things?,’ ‘How Do We See Things?,’ and ‘What are Emotions?,’ Dow said. “We also teach families about diseases like ‘What is a Heart Attack?’ so that if grandma gets a heart attack, kids will understand some things that the hospital did for them as well as prevention strategies so that they can live healthier lives avoiding as many diseases as possible.”
First created during COVID, Dow expressed that the series was born out of his desire to help supplement his own kids’ online education with a quality science book for kids. As his company’s first time attending The Las Vegas Book Festival, Dow received about 62 emails from families interested in the series. While he didn’t end up selling any books at the festival, he gave out one free book per family interested in the Nurse Florence project.
Spread the Word Nevada
A common theme tied all three vendors I met: it was their first time at the book festival! I also spoke to a Spread the Word Nevada representative, Ally Fary, who expressed how excited she and Spread the Word Nevada were vending for the first-time vendor at the festival.
“We thought it just made sense to have a table, given that we work in the children’s literacy space and the entire event was about books,” Fary said. “It was a match made in heaven!”
Sharing how wonderful the vending experience was, she mentioned that their booth handed out free books for people to select from to grow their home libraries. I grabbed a book called, ‘Cuddle Up Stories’ for my niece to read with my brother- and sister-in-law. I thoroughly enjoyed how they offered this at the festival since it excited people to read. Many kids and adults excitedly reach for books and left with the biggest grins.
In addition to the books, Spread the Word Nevada also handed out bookmarks, literacy sheets for kids, information about their programs, book donations, and various ways for folks to get involved with Spread the Word Nevada.
“We wanted to get books out to kiddos and [continue informing] the community about [our work]. I feel that because our mission is broad, we were able to attract a variety of different people to our booth,” Fary said. “I know we had tons of traction with our book bins around the community and were able to involve at least one group who was excited to volunteer with us. We can’t wait to attend this event again and keep growing our reach!”
Final Thoughts
Overall, this festival was an excellent opportunity for bookworms to meet new authors and vendors, grab some free books, and enjoy the company of fellow book lovers! I can’t wait until next year’s event and look forward to meeting new up-and-coming authors!
#GetinMotion with The Las Vegas Book Festival and Vendors!
To learn more about the festival and hear the latest news, visit their website and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Mark your calendars for the next annual Las Vegas Book Festival at Historic Fifth Street School. Visit the Las Vegas Book Festival and stay updated on their event on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024!
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