Gaithersburg Book Festival Plans Full Day of Fun Activities and Engaging Authors for Children of All Ages

Festival Also Features Free Workshops and Multilingual Story Time on May 21

Gaithersburg, Md. – April 19, 2022 – On Saturday, May 21, 2022, literature will come to life for children of all ages at the Gaithersburg Book Festival through a host of interactive activities, workshops and story times, crafts, games and more. The Festival’s Children’s Village, brought to you by Washington Parent, also will be the place where youngsters can meet their favorite authors – and discover new ones – during presentations, readings and book signings.

When you arrive at the Festival, taking place at Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm (506 S. Frederick Ave.) in Gaithersburg, Md., stop by the Children’s Village Information Booth and get a schedule of all activities.

Multicultural Story Time Tent

Enjoy story times with local authors, storytellers and the City of Gaithersburg’s Multicultural Affairs Committee (MAC). Tigger the Lunar New Year Tiger will be on hand to greet guests. Children and families are encouraged to share the wonder and diversity of our global neighbors through culture-based story times and activities:

• 10 a.m. – Multicultural Story Time Tent Opens with crafts and games.
• 10:30 a.m. – The Gaithersburg MAC reads “The Festival of Sant Jordi”
• 11 a.m. – The Gaithersburg MAC reads “Fasfoos the Mouse,” a story about Ramadan
• 11:30 a.m. – Ada Ari reads her African folktale, “The Spider’s Thin Legs”
• Noon – Debbie Brown’s “Frog and Toad are Friends with a Friend of Mine,” a story time in Braille
• 12:30 p.m. – Ambreen Tariq reads her book, “Fatima’s Great Outdoors,” about an immigrant family’s first camping trip
• 1 p.m. – Storyteller Arianna Ross of Story Tapestries tells Tales of Tree: Storied Adventures from Portugal and Brazil
• 1:30 p.m. – Frances Park reads her book, “The Royal Bee,” a true story about courage and strength
• 2 p.m. – Ginger Park introduces her book, “The One Hundred Choice Department Store,” a historic middle grade book
• 2:30 p.m. – The Gaithersburg MAC reads “Doctor De Soto Goes to Africa,” a fictional story about an elephant dentist
• 3 p.m. – Young Vo reads his book, “Gibberish,” an immigration story of a boy who hears only gibberishwhen others speak
• 3:30 p.m. – Storyteller Arianna Ross of Story Tapestries tells Classically Different Adventures: Animal Stories of Unlikely Heroes from India
  

Writing Workshops

The Children’s Village will offer free writing workshops for children and teens, led by authors, illustrators and local writing experts. Workshops will give participants the chance to create comics and graphic novels, write haiku poetry and build their college essays. For details on workshops, times and leaders, visit the Children’s Workshop webpage of the Festival website.

More Non-Stop Activities

• Play, draw and write. Help Story Tapestries Inc fill its Graffiti Wall with your poetry, stories and visual images. Take home an image you create with crayons, markers, and shimmering glitter. Share your experience in a Lunes, an 11-word poem that is easy to write and makes a great gift for anyone you give it to.
• Rhyming games, crafts and a visit with the Cat in the Hat are all part of the fun in the Montgomery College Early Childhood Education Student Success Hub.
• Explore the five pillars of learning with games, crafts and activities for all ages provided by the Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families – Basics Montgomery. Learn how to: Maximize Love and Manage Stress; Count, Group and Compare; Talk, Sing and Point; Explore through Movement and Play; and Read and Discuss Stories.
• Fish for words and swim in knowledge with Goldfish Swim School Gaithersburg! Bubbles the Guppy will be on hand for pictures and to share his books.
• Listen to children’s stories in various languages at The National Museum of Language Learn about the Museum’s exhibits, speaker series, teacher’s corner and monthly events.
• Learn about ecology and the sea through crafts and story time with the Kentlands Community Foundation.
• Enjoy games and books in braille; learn how to make a tactile bookmark and explore braille alphabet cards with The National Federation of the Blind, Sligo Creek Chapter.
• Click, Clack, Type with Montgomery History. Come try your hands at typing on a typewriter and learn the history of typing through old models and functioning typewriters!

The award-winning and best-selling authors and illustrators coming to the Gaithersburg Book Festival this year include:

Children’s Authors

Full biographies and children’s book descriptions can be found here.

• Ada Ari, “The Spider’s Thin Legs
• Jonathan Auxier, “Belly of the Beast”
• Fred Bowen, “Hardcourt: Stories from 75 Years of the National Basketball Association”
• Sheela Chari, “Karthik Delivers”
• Dhonielle Clayton, “The Marvellers”
• Nicole D. Collier, “Just Right Jillian”
• Alyssa Colman, “The Tarnished Garden”
• Angela Dominguez, “Stella Diaz to the Rescue”
• Marti Dumas, “Wildseed Witch”
• Lindsay Eagar, “The Patron Thief of Bread”
• Zetta Elliott, “Moonwalking”
• Clare Fieseler, “No Boundaries: 25 Women Explorers and Scientists Share Adventures, Inspiration and Advice”
• John Gallagher, “Max Meow Book 3: Pugs from Planet X”
• Laura Gehl, “Who is a Scientist?”
• John Patrick Green, “Investigators: Braver and Boulder”
• Joyce Hesselberth, “Beatrice Was a Tree”
• Hena Khan, “Zara Rules for Record Breaking Fun”
• Julia Kuo, “Let’s Do Everything and Nothing”
• Carole Lindstrom, “We are Water Protectors”
• Mariama J. Lockington, “In the Key of Us”
• Maryann Jacob Macias, “Teo’s Tutu”
• Scott Magoon, “The Extincts: Quest for the Unicorn Horn”
• Sanyukta Mathur, “Happy Diwali!”
• Lyn Miller-Lachmann, “Moonwalking”
• Christle Nwora, “The Hospital: The Inside Story”
• George O’Connor, “Dionysos: The New God”
• Rex Ogle, “The Supernatural Society”
• Charly Palmer, “The Legend of Gravity: A Tall Basketball Tale”
• Frances Park, “The Royal Bee”
• Ginger Park, “The Hundred Choices Department Store”
• Courtney Pippin-Mathur, “Happy Diwali!”
• NoNieqa Ramos, “Beauty Woke”
• Peter H. Reynolds, “Our Table”
• Dave Roman, “Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity”
• Dan Santat, “The Aquanaut”
• June Smalls, “He Leads: Mountain Gorilla, The Gentle Giant”
• Ambreen Tariq, “Fatima’s Great Outdoors”
• Alex Timbers, “Broadway Bird”
• Tammy Tomlinson, “Daniel, The Golden Retriever”
• Meera Trehan, “The View from the Very Best House in Town”
• Young Vo, “Gibberish”
• Randy Wayne White, “Crocs: A Sharks Incorporated Novel”
• Timothy Young, “P is for Puffin: The ABCs of Uncommon Animals”

Teen/Young Adult (YA) Authors

Full biographies and descriptions of teen/YA books can be found here.

• J. Farley, “Zero O’Clock”
• Natasha Friend, “The Wolves are Waiting”
• Diana Ma, “Her Rebel Highness (Daughters of the Dynasty)”
• Amanda McCrina, “The Silent Unseen: A Novel of World War II”
• Andrea Mosqueda, “Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster”
• Sajni Patel, “My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding”
• Gilly Segal, “Why We Fly”
• Zack Smedley, “Tonight We Rule the World”
• Phil Stamper, “Golden Boys” 

About the Gaithersburg Book Festival

The Gaithersburg Book Festival is an annual all-day celebration of books, writers and literary excellence. One of the premier literary events in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, the 2022 Festival is scheduled for Saturday, May 21, at Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm (506 S. Frederick Ave.) in Gaithersburg, Md. Activities will include author appearances, discussions and book signings; writing workshops; a Children’s Village; onsite sales of new and used books; literary exhibitors and food, drink, ice cream and more. Admission is FREE, and free accessible shuttle service will be available from Shady Grove Metro and Lakeforest Mall. The Gaithersburg Book Festival is sponsored in part by the David and Mikel Blair Family Foundation, The Universities at Shady Grove, Asbury Methodist Village, Web Mobile Image, C-SPAN Book TV and Washington Parent, and is put on in partnership with Politics & Prose Bookstore, Montgomery County Public Schools, Washington Independent Review of Books, Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce, Homewood Suites and Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton, rio, and Dawson’s Market. The Gaithersburg Book Festival also hosts author events in Montgomery County throughout the year as a way to encourage continued appreciation for all things literary. For more information please visit www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org, follow us on Twitter @GburgBookFest or like us on Facebook.

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