LA Times Festival of Books

We took the kids to the LA Times Festival of Books today.

I would have loved to sit in on the panels - that was where the "real" stuff was happening - but we decided to make it a family affair instead. This was first time we'd attended.

My kids loved the Children's Stage. We got there in time to hear John Carter Cash read his book, Momma Loves Her Little Son. All the kids listened intently, and they were particularly fascinated that the actual author was doing the reading! Tyler said, "Wow! We get to see a famous guy! Who is he again?" Sorry, Mr. Cash. Even though each of our kids has an extensive library, we'd never heard of Momma Loves Her Little Son.


But that's the cool thing about this festival. We sure know Mr. Cash now. I love the idea of a venue that introduces readers to new (or not so well-known) writers.

We liked that everything was spread out. We got to see a fair bit of the beautiful UCLA campus, and the kids (and Mike) loved the architecture. We parked in a far parking structure and took the shuttle to the festival entrance. On the shuttle, we got a nice glimpse of Westwood. We fell in love with the college town.

A couple of things weren't so great. The booths were crowded together, which made navigation difficult - there were literally thousands of people there. It was difficult to see where lines for author signings began - cordoned-off areas for the lines would have been nice.

I'm sure my experience would have been different without the kids, but hey - they are the next generation of readers and writers. Anything is worth getting them excited about books.

It was a great day. We will definitely be going again next year. Thanks, LA Times and UCLA.