Love lit? Bonkers for books? Adore authors? Families who are fans of the written (and illustrated) word are welcome to the Kerrytown BookFest in Ann Arbor on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2012. Turning the page on its 10th anniversary year, this annual event in Tree Town is teeming with tomes. And while there's a lot of stuff here that the grownup literati will dig, happily, there's a ton for little bookworms, too!
"Our children's area – with storytelling and creative activities – is always popular," says Robin Wengas, president of the festival's board and owner of the local Aunt Agatha's Mystery Book Shop.
This year, kids can do crafts with FLY Children's Art Center staff (noon-2 p.m.), take part in some drawing workshops (2-3 p.m.) and create more offbeat crafts with David Erik Nelson (3-4 p.m.) – who's known for his cool outdoor water bomb projects.
Indoors, at the children's storybook corner, Deborah Diesen, author of The Pout Pout Fish, reads and leads kids in sing-alongs at noon. Heather O'Neal tells stories from Nepal (1-2 p.m.) and brings around a bicycle rickshaw for curious kids to see. And Mother Goose, aka Trudy Bulkley, tells stories (2-3 p.m.) – as does Laura Pershin Raynor (3-4 p.m.).
As always, there's plenty here for parents, too. Love baseball? Don't miss the 1 p.m. panel discussion with five authors of new books about the Detroit Tigers. Or sink your teeth into a local original: Authors of new coffee-table book Coney Detroit, Joe Grimm and Katherine Yung, will be on the scene at 4 p.m. And, for even more local flavor, swing by the Ann Arbor District Library to scope out its A Celebration of Book Arts in Ann Arbor exhibit, on display till Oct. 11.
The Sunday activities run 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market. The festivities of the day are free of charge!
Check out the Metro Parent listing to learn more about 2012 Kerrytown BookFest in Ann Arbor.
