Colorado Children's Book Festival

INTRODUCING... the Colorado Children's Book Festival!

Founded by Tattered Cover Book Store in 2018, the Colorado Children's Book Festival brings books to life, gets kids engaged in reading, and provides a fun-filled literary experience for children and parents alike. The inaugural event will focus on middle grade books and authors, but subsequent years will feature picture books as well. The reason for this year's focus is exciting: We're partnering with OMG BookFest! (OMG stands for "Oh Middle Grade!") This special organization--conceived by authors Sarah Mlynowski, Adele Griffin, Julia DeVillers and Michael Buckley and joined by Christina Soontornvat--is a traveling circus of books. It's a celebration of middle grade books aimed at bringing popular, award-winning national and local authors to underserved communities for an exciting interactive experience of games, activities, and reading. The public event will take place on Saturday, May 19, 2018 at Tattered Cover Colfax from 1pm - 3pm and will be called, "Author Circus! Presented by OMG Colorado and Tattered Cover's Colorado Children's Book Festival". This event is free, but you must register.

Our very first festival was a smashing success! Check out photos in our Flickr album.

"Today I took my 10 year old daughter who loves books to your Colfax location for the book event. What an amazing time we both had! Thank you for making this day wonderful....honestly, I didn’t want to make the one hour drive each way this morning, so glad I did. The break outs were fun, authors kept the crowd engaged. Lines moved quickly, authors very friendly. Looking forward to future events!"

"My daughter attended the event last weekend and her joy still hasn't dissipated. It was a wonderful gift to the Denver community and specifically to my daughter who wants to write books."

The entire OMG Colorado event takes place from Thursday, May 17 - Saturday, May 19, 2018.

Thursday, May 17: School Visits

Several of the OMG BookFest authors will be visiting schools to help raise money to purchase books for underserved students right here in Denver for the event at Castro Elementary the following day, Friday, May 18.

Friday, May 18: Title 1 School Event

The authors of OMG Colorado will be at Castro Elementary in Denver, a Title 1 school. Students will experience a variety of breakout rooms--each with unique themes (from magical creatures, to detective stories, to superheroes), led by a diverse group of authors. In addition, every child who attends will go home with an autographed book, fostering a love of reading long after the big day is over! Denver Metro area Title 1 schools are invited to participate. It is a free event, but you must register your school. For more information or to sign up your school, please contact Castro Elementary at (720) 424-8990.

Saturday, May 19: Public Event: Author Circus! Presented by OMG Colorado and Tattered Cover's Colorado Children's Book Festival

In conjunction with OMG Colorado, Tattered Cover Book Store will be launching the Colorado Children’s Book Festival! The public event is open to all. This experience-based event for middle grade readers will feature interactive activities, opportunities to meet the authors, games, prizes, and lots of silly fun, all while encouraging a love of reading. It's from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm at Tattered Cover Colfax, this event is free, but you must register.

2018 Participating Authors will include:

  1. Avi, Colorado author and Newbery Award winner (Crispin: The Cross of Lead)
  2. David Bowles, winner of the Pura Belpre Honor  (The Smoking Mirror)
  3. Michael Buckley, New York Times bestselling author  (The Sisters Grimm series, NERDS series)
  4. Julia DeVillers, whose books was adapted into a hit Disney movie (Read It and Weep)
  5. Angela Dominguez, winner of the Pura Belpre Illustration Honor Award (Stella Diaz Has Something to Say)
  6. Todd Fahnestock, Middle grade author from Colorado (The Wishing World)
  7. Stuart Gibbs, New York Times bestselling author (Spy School series)
  8. Adele Griffin, two-time National Book Award nominee (The Oodlethunks series)
  9. Dean Hale, New York Times bestselling author (Princess in Black series)
  10. Shannon Hale, Newbery Honor Award winner and New York Times bestselling author (Real Friends)
  11. Varian Johnson, founder of The Brown Bookshelf (The Parker Inheritance)
  12. Erin Entrada Kelly, 2018 Newbery Award (Hello, Universe)
  13. Sarah Mlynowski, New York Times bestselling author (Whatever After & Upside-Down Magic series)
  14. Brandon Mull, #1 New York Times bestselling author (Fablehaven series)
  15. Lauren Myracle, New York Times bestselling author and Colorado author (Upside-Down Magic series, Wishing Day series)
  16. Courtney Sheinmel, nationally-acclaimed author (The Kindness Club)
  17. Ronald Smith, Coretta Scott King award winner (Black Panther: The Young Prince, Hoodoo)
  18. Christina Soontornvat, STEM educator and author (The Changelings)
  19. Kim Tomsic, Middle grade debut author from Colorado (The 11:11 Wish)

Media

Shelf Awareness, Thursday, March 15, 2018

About Tattered Cover Book Store

Established in 1971, Tattered Cover is one of America's premier indie bookstores. A locally-owned business with an unwavering commitment to the customer and the community, Tattered Cover Book Store has four unique stores in metro-Denver, and three satellite stores at Denver International Airport. Each location offers personal service and a well-curated selection of books, periodicals, and gifts. The larger stores have cozy coffee shops with free Wi-Fi, and host frequent author appearances and community events. Readers can join our literary conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and can shop 24-hours a day for books, digital audiobooks, and e-books at  www.tatteredcover.com.

About OMG BookFest

OMG BookFest is a celebration of books aimed at the early to middle grade reader (ages 7-12) that brings together commercial and award-winning authors and underserved local communities for an exciting experience of books, games and activities. OMG—Oh Middle Grade—is a retooling of the traditional children’s book festival. Instead of panels and speakers, OMG BookFest is an interactive experience. Kids have the chance not only to meet their favorite authors, but also to play games and have fun while learning about new books.

OMG Colorado Sponsors

 

 

 

 

 

Link to Press Release: March 14, 2018