A Celebration of Books,
Writers & LIterary Excellence

Save the Date


Gaithersburg
Book Festival

May 18, 2024

10am – 6pm

Bohrer Park


Children’s Village

Find a wonderful world of activities for families in the children’s Village

Award-winning children's and YA authors speak about their recent books and give you an inside look into what inspires them! Visit the Featured Authors page to view this year’s line-up.

All books will be available for purchase from the onsite Politics and Prose Book Store. We encourage you to support this fabulous local institution

We also offer several free writing and illustrating workshops to engage and stimulate your child's book curiosity and interest in reading, writing and illustrating! Visit the Children’s Workshops page for this year’s topics and schedule.

We are looking forward to hosting another inspirational Children’s Village in 2024!

An Amazing Lineup of Featured Authors

View the 2024 Featured Authors Page for the award-winning and best-selling authors and illustrators coming to GBF to present work for young children, middle grade, and teen/young adult audiences.

Non-Stop Activities

Play, Draw and Write

Help Story Tapestries fill their Graffiti Wall with your poetry, stories and visual images. Take home an image you create with crayons, markers and shimmering with glitter. Explore Lunes, 11-word poems, easy to write and a gift for anyone you give it to. Finally, leave dancing to the tune of your stories with a piece of art and a book in your hands.

Typewriting

Visit the Activity Center and get hands-on experience with typewriters in this pop-up exhibit from Montgomery History

Sensory Activities, Arts & Crafts and Musical Activities

Compliments of Kiddie Academy of Gaithersburg.

Create your own bookmark

With Amazing Art Studio.

Make Interpretive Poetry Art

And paper raindrops based on the story, “Bring Rain to the Kapiti Plain,” by Verna Aardema with VisArts.

Encourage Empathy through Crafts and Story Time

Sharing the book “Be Kind,” about a new student whose grape juice spill is transformed from purple mess into a beautiful purple painting, The Dwelling Place, Inc. will incorporate all things purple into craft projects.

Get Creative with Your Vocabulary and Learn about Illustration

Pick up a special WordLibs game, join local artist Joan Waites for an illustration class at 11 a.m. or 2 p.m., and register for book bundle raffles, all sponsored by An Open Book Foundation.

Be Part of the Joke

The National Museum of Language will share its new exhibit on jokes in many of the world’s languages, and feature the world’s oldest joke book, “The Philogelos,” originally written in Greek and now in graphic story form.

Book Cover Buttons

Design your own book cover button among other crafts and activities, led by Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital.

Animal Lit Fun

Children can select large letters and match to the first letter of animal sculptures and books featuring those animals, then receive small cardboard animal figures to assemble and color, courtesy of Tumble Run Designs.

Pete the Cat, Rhyming Games, Stories and Bookmark-making

With Montgomery College Early Childhood Educators.

Jump into Literature

With an interactive obstacle course, sensory boxes, and arts and craft activities to get your child’s brain and body moving. Complete an Eric Carle animal walk, balance on the plank like a Dinosaur Pirate, hop from lily pad to lily pad for the Frog Olympics, and more, courtesy of Coconut & Palm Pediatrics, LLC. Clinicians also will discuss topics including how reading improves speech and language development, postural positions for reading endurance, and books to improve social-emotional regulation.

Explore Nature

Make your own binoculars and nature sketchbook, then pick up a scavenger hunt and start planning your next adventure, with the Montgomery County Public Library.

Enjoy Games and Books in Braille

And try your ability at picture description with The National Federation of the Blind, Sligo Creek Chapter.

WRITING WORKSHOPS

The Children’s Village also will offer free writing workshops for children and teens, led by authors, illustrators and local writing experts. More details about these workshops will be available in early April on the Children’s Workshop page of the Festival website.

BOOK SALES and AUTHOR SIGNINGS

Visit the Activity Center where the latest books from all of our Featured Authors will be available for purchase at the pop-up Politics and Prose Book Store. We encourage you to support this fabulous local institution. And get your new books signed by the authors, who will be signing in gym, nearby.

Sponsors & Partners