Families Gather for Book Festival

AP ^ | 9/8/2001 | David Ho

[Utah Girl]

Fuzzy creatures, spinners of tales and readers of all ages swarmed over Capitol Hill on Saturday to share their passion for books and reading.

At the first National Book Festival, there was storytelling and book signings. Children waited in long lines to pose for pictures with storybook characters like Clifford the Big Red Dog and Arthur the aardvark. Adults got to chat with well-known writers.

Christine Harding, 39, of Huntingtown, Md., was at the back of the Elmo line with her son and daughter - 2-year-old Peter and 6-year-old Aris.

``I want to show to them how important reading is,'' she said. ``Neither one of them goes to bed without three to five stories.''

The festival outside the Library of Congress was modeled after events first lady Laura Bush sponsored while she lived in Texas.

``My favorite part of teaching was sharing children's literature with children,'' she told a group of elementary school students after the festival's opening ceremony.

The festival marks the start of a White House effort over the next few days to highlight the importance of reading skills and push President Bush's education bill to final passage.

``Teaching every child to read is critical to making sure every child has the opportunity to realize the American Dream,'' the president said in his weekly radio address.

Mrs. Bush, a former school librarian, will testify before the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday about the development of early childhood cognitive skills.

At the festival, nearly 60 authors and illustrators of books for children and adults participated including historian Stephen E. Ambrose and mystery writer Sue Grafton. The roster of children's authors included Natalie Babbitt, Patricia MacLachlan and Marc Brown, who writes the ``Arthur'' series.

Mystery writer Walter Mosley, author of ``Devil in a Blue Dress,'' said the festival is a step toward attracting a generation of readers who have little time for books.

``We have to recreate literacy and literature and books if we want them to exist in a world where computers are seemingly more important for survival,'' Mosley said in an interview.

On the Capitol's East Lawn, the voices of authors reading their work drifted out from tents as hundreds of families walked between exhibits beneath sunny skies.

Under one tent, about a dozen players from the National Basketball Association read to children as part of the association's ``Read to Achieve'' campaign.

[Salvation]

Bumping for Reading!

[Blue Eyes]

My family and I just got back from this. We had a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, though a bit warm at times. The crowds were huge; probably larger than expected. The lines for autographs from the authors were very long, though most people were patient. It was a real treat to get to see the inside of the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress.

Our biggest treat, though, was to get a glimpse of Laura Bush as she ate on the patio of the Madison building. My girls were fascinated by the secret service agents. I was, too, though I had to act as though it was no big deal. Mrs. Bush is the first first-lady I have seen. I saw Slick at a tree lighting a couple of years ago, but Brunhillary was in NY planning her senate run, so I was spared that.

In all, it was a fun day.

[Irma]

           Another bump for reading!

              First lady Laura Bush opened the National
              Book Festival at the Library of Congress in
              Washington Saturday morning, Sept. 8, 2001,
              with several children's authors as well as as
              NBA star Dikembe Mutumbo, top, standing
              behing her. (AP Photo/New York Daily News,
              Harry Hamburg)

[Utah Girl]

That sounds like so much fun! I plan on attending next year. I saw parts of the festival today on C-Span II. This is a wonderful idea. Kudos to Laura Bush!

[Utah Girl]

Thanks Irma! What a lovely First Lady we have! And another bump for families and reading.

[Lady In Blue]

Thanks for posting this Utah Girl.I saw most of it this morning and part of this afternoon.I hope C-Span repeats it because I thoroughly enjoy it! It was excellent.I went out and bought 2 books this afternoon."JOHN ADAMS" and "IN THE HEART OF THE SEA." I can hardly wait to read them.It looked like a great turn out.

[Lady In Blue]

I'm glad to see that Mutumbo was one of the NBA stars to show up.He's a nice guy.He makes Laura look like a midget! I don't know how tall he is but he must be way pass 6'6!

[Salvation]

In the President's Radio Address today, he prefaced his remarks with references to the Book Festival and Laura Bush. What a great couple!

[Utah Girl]

John Adams is so good. I just ordered the Essex book from Half.com. My book budget is now officially shot for the year. I didn't want the Essex to travel alone to my house, so I found a few more books to order. ;-)

[TatieBug]

Finally...we have a wonderful role model for the children of our great country! I'm proud of Laura and happy to see her taking the lead in the reading area of education.

[bcoffey]

. . . so I found a few more books to order. ;-)

You sound like me. Around here it looks like we're trying to start a public library!

The "John Adams" book is excellent by the way, as are the others that David McCullough has written.

[Utah Girl]

When I moved into my house a few years back, my brother-in-law helped me move 25 boxes of books. He was not a happy camper. He'd die at my collection now. ;-)

[bcoffey]

Oh, I forgot to mention.. my other McCullough books are leatherbound... an indulgence, but what the heck! LOL

[esther2]

I was there, too, and the crowd was huge, I thought. And Laura Bush signed my program!!!! I was in front of the Thomas Jefferson Building when she was coming out. They took her down to the street and she stopped to sign some programs, so I ran over there and got her autograph!!! I was so excited. She's a very lovely person. She kept thanking everybody for coming. And she kept saying, "I'm going to have to quit now" but then she would keep signing programs! It was such a thrill--I'll never forget when she looked up at me and said "YOu're welcome." Our President keeps company with a lovely, gracious, woman.

[Utah Girl]

Wow, what an exciting thing to have happen!

[daisyscarlett]

I envy both of you for being there and for seeing Laura Bush. It must have been indeed a thrill. The only first lady I ever saw was Pat Nixon. She was much more attractive and animated than she ever was on t.v. And oh so very tiny! I guess t.v. adds a few pounds. Did Laura appear smaller to you in person?

[daisyscarlett]

Which one is you?

[Lady In Blue]

It sounds wonderful.I enjoyed David McCollum's talk this morning on C-Span very much!

[Lady In Blue]

OOPS! pass 6'6! = past 6'6!