This year’s Children’s Festival of Reading is going to be an epic adventure. Set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on May 18, 2024, in World’s Fair Park, the Knox County Public Library’s annual kickoff to its summer reading program hosts world-class authors and illustrators, storytellers, musicians, and more.
This year's event honors Dolly Parton's Imagination Library of Knox County. At noon, the Parade of Books steps off with three-year-old Patience Collins as the Grand Marshall. Collins is the honorary recipient of the 4 millionth book mailed out since the Knox County program was launched in January 2005. The program currently mails books at no cost to nearly 19,000 children under the age of five every month.
Now in its 18th year, the Children’s Festival of Reading celebrates books, authors, and the literary arts. The public is invited to snap selfies with book characters from "Where the Wild Things Are," "Paddington Bear," and "Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus." Daniel Tiger will be hanging out in East Tennessee PBS’s tent as well.
Click here to learn more about the Children's Festival of Reading.