Thanks to the hard work of festival organizers, volunteers, authors, and illustrators and the enthusiasm and patience of thousands of attending book lovers, the Seattle Children’s Book Festival was a tremendous success.
The festival, held in playground tents and in the gym of Greenwood Elementary in Seattle, was full from opening at 11:00 beyond the official end time of 3:00. Some signing lines stretched outside the playground and around the block. Some readers waited more than an hour in line to purchase their books from the incredibly focused booksellers.
Madison Books and Phinney Books donated 20% of the proceeds from the day’s book sales. Attendees directly purchased 314 books to donate to classrooms. $14,000 were raised to fund free author visits and free book fairs at Seattle Public Schools with the highest concentrations of low-income families. Classroom libraries received $2,000 in donated funds.
The signing line for Tui T. Sutherland, the author of the Wings of Fire series, looped around the playground.
A flowchart helped attendees understand how to purchase books and how their purchases and direct donations made a difference.
Phinney Books’ Tom Nissley, Haley Stocking, and Madison Books’ James Crossley were among the day’s booksellers who rang up all those customers.
Troy Cummings, author and illustrator of the Notebook of Doom series, presented. Not visible in the picture: a large group of young readers sitting on the floor and climbing up onto the stage.
Troy Cummings and Asia Citro (author/ publisher/ festival organizer) signing books.
Bremerton author and illustrator Toni Yuly shared a craft and signed books.
