Words to the wise: Reading was child's play on Family Day at Tulane Book Festival

Surrounded by children’s books, crafts and bubbly kids pulling their parents by the hand, 2-year-old Theodore Avery wrapped his arms around his father, Theo, while mother Nia stood nearby. They were among the enchanted crowd planning their next move at the New Orleans Book Festival’s Family Day — a bustling event that took place at Tulane University on a recent Saturday morning.

“We love books and we thought it would be a good time for (Theodore) to have exposure to other people who are interested in books,” Nia said. The family avoided gatherings during the pandemic, so it felt like new territory. “It's our first time really getting out. … We wanted to be more in the community and be around like-minded individuals who are interested in learning.”

The family was eager to catch a presentation by New Orleans resident Jared Green, the author of "There's A Creature In My Belly" and “Madam Mayor.”

“I thought it would be nice to see an African American author,” Nia Avery said.

Green, who was born and raised in the Lower 9th Ward, was one of 15 writers scheduled to make an appearance at Family Day.

The free, open-to-the-public extravaganza featured readings, literacy activities, intimate conversations with authors and a book distribution — all on Tulane’s Uptown campus. It was made possible through partnerships with the university, Scholastic and the New Orleans Office of Youth and Families.

A new chapter

Lawyer and author Cheryl Landrieu launched the New Orleans Book Festival in 2010, with help from civil rights pioneer Ruby Bridges.

“This book festival started as a small children's book festival, where we brought kids together across the city neighborhoods around the joy of reading,” Landrieu said.

In 2018, Landrieu teamed up with Walter Isaacson, a Tulane history professor and prolific writer, with the goal of expanding the festival. The pair now co-chair the event.

“We started organizing a three-day event rather than just the one-day event that was done previously,” Landrieu said. “We were ready to go in March of 2020, but COVID came along and shut us down. The same thing happened in 2021.”

So technically, the inaugural New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University took place in 2022, said Landrieu. 

New books and classics

This year’s Family Day was meant to take place outdoors on the Berger Family Lawn, but a cold front forced festivities into the university’s Lavin-Bernick Center.

There were two separate sections designated for author presentations.

Local participants included Johnette Downing, author of “Today is Monday in Louisiana,” among other singalongs; Marti Dumas, author of “Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest,” and several juvenile fiction books; Chris Yandle, the author of “Lucky Enough” — a sweet compilation of a daily notes Yandle wrote to his daughter; and Jeanette Weiland, the author “Red Beans & Rice” and “Beignets For Breakfast.”

Weiland, a new author who has published two children’s books since 2019, said she was honored to be in the company of so many renowned writers.

“This is surreal,” she said. “It's extremely impressive. I'm just blown away.”

Weiland jokingly lamented that her “day job” kept her from enjoying the entire festival.

A family town

The mother of two works full time for the New Orleans Business Alliance as the senior vice president of bio, innovation and special projects.

“My job is economic development, and trying to show the world that this city is more than just Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras, which I love, but we are a great family town,” Weiland said. “We choose to raise our babies here and there's a reason why. I love that there's a family day dedicated to the book fest because it shows that there's a huge audience for this.”

Ellen Rains and her children — Baker, 2, and Mary Evelyn, 5 — were part of the crowd.

“I'm a big reader and the kids love to read, so we made a day of it,” she said.

Baker prefers books about trucks and dinosaurs, said Rains, but he also adores an interactive book series called “Benny Bear.” Mary Evelyn, meanwhile, gravitates toward stories with a female protagonist.

“She likes to envision herself in the story,” said Rains.

More than books

Aside from listening to stories and meeting authors, budding bookworms took part in myriad arts and crafts activities hosted by local organizations.

Volunteers from Books and Brains NOLA helped children fashion colorful pipe cleaners into neurons. Members of the Krewe of Muses guided kids through glittering sessions. City Year, which mentors young students, manned a table dedicated to designing bookmarks. The New Orleans Public Library distributed information about upcoming events and library resources.

Aimée Lohmeyer, and outreach librarian, feels that the festival highlights the importance of incorporating literacy into daily life.

“As culturally literate as our city is, our actual reading levels are still very low,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do. And so having big events like this reminds people that there are strides we need to make to promote literacy activities of any kind.”

Judging by the book festival’s teeming crowd, locals seem to be onboard with the idea.

Landrieu said that each venue “was overflowing” with guests.

“I don't want to say I'm surprised, because I'm not, but I'm overjoyed at the way the community has embraced this event,” said Landrieu.

“In New Orleans ... sometimes you never get to know people from other neighborhoods. My vision is to have kids from all over the city come together and get to know each other over something that's fun, like books.”