Children's Book Festival

Fairyland's Annual Children's Book Festival returns! Join us for a day where the Bay Area's most talented kid-lit authors, illustrators, publishers, sellers, and educators come together to celebrate the magic of BOOKS! Just announced: Mychal Threets joins Book Fest! Beloved librarian, author, and host of Reading Rainbow will be a featured guest speaker at this year's event! Meet 30+ kid-lit book creators ready to inspire. Enjoy captivating stories read aloud by the authors themselves. Watch talented illustrators bring stories to life before your eyes. Cheer on the remarkable 8-12 year olds from our Youth Writers' Workshop. Shop for books by all the participating book creators with Books on B Enjoy play-based and educational activities provided by our community partners. Check out the family literacy resource fair Hosted by Oakland's beloved educator, Mr. Limata Guest Speakers for 2026 Children's Book Festival: Cátia Chien, illustrator, 2026 Caldecott Medal Winner and a Golden Kite Award winner Joanna Ho, author, recipient of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature Honor, a Golden Kite Award and more Cindy Derby, illustrator, and recipient of a 2021 Caldecott Honor and Golden Kite Award honor Randy Ribay, author, co-winner of the Michael L. Printz Award and winner of the Asian Pacific American Library Association Medal Mychal Threets, author, librarian, and host of television series, Reading Rainbow Youth Writers Workshop We are so thrilled to spend a day in celebration of books, literature, literacy, and learning with our beloved community! PRESENTATIONS AT THE EMERALD CITY STAGE 10:30 Joanna Ho 11:30 Catia Chien 12:00 Randy Ribay 1:00 Cindy Derby 1:30 Fairyland Youth Writers 2:30 Mychal Threet PRESENTING BOOK CREATORS' MEET AND GREET IN THE MERRY MEADOW 11:00-12:00 Joanna Ho 12:00-1:00 Catia Chien 12:30-1:30 Randy Ribay 1:30-2:30 Cindy Derby 3:00-4:00 Mychal Threets ACTIVITIES 11:00 Puppet Show The 3 Little Pigs in the 1920's at the Puppet Theatre 11:00-2:00 Literacy Community Resource Fair 2:00 Puppet Show The 3 Little Pigs in the 1920's at the Puppet Theatre 4:00 Puppet Show The 3 Little Pigs in the 1920's at the Puppet Theatre MEET AND GREET IN THE MERRY MEADOW 10:00-11:20 Sandhya Acharya, Claire Bobrow, Lisa Brown, Kalen Chock, Steph Lau, Fateme Mokhles, Sendy Santamaria, & Michael Slack 11:20-12:30 Jerrold Connors, Sophie Diao, Tiffany Golden, Bo Liu, Helen Taylor, Maggie Tokuda-Hall, & Claudia Walker 12:30-1:40 Fairyland Youth Writers, Monisha Bajaj, Alexandria Boiger, Maya Cameron-Gordon, Michael Genhart, Isabella Kung, & Shruthi Rao 1:40-2:50 Fairyland Youth Writers & Natasha Tripplett, Jasmine Fang, Sara Andrea Fajardo, Mike Jung, Sonali Patodia, & Deborah Underwood