By Cara Young, Columnist
This past Saturday, Lone Star College- Kingwood hosted an event called the Bayou City Book Festival. The festivities started on April 3 and ran through April 8 allowing an event to take place at each LSC campus, which lead up to the big finish right here at Kingwood.
As an enthusiast for the written word, I, of course, attended from start to finish with the company of my beautiful boys and a few like minded friends. The event made a spectacular first impression as the diversity among activities and tables caught not only the attention of the eyes and ears, but the nose as well. There were twenty plus authors’ tables set on the grass and along the sidewalk in between the Performing Arts Center and Student Conference Center buildings, several rooms reserved inside the building, promotional vans decorating the quad, live music pouring from the stage in front of the Health and Science building, and food trucks set up in the SCC parking lot. Aside from the lectures and book signing opportunities, activities such as live children’s book readings, 3D printing, face painting, a panel featuring Jon Land and Heather Graham, even a poetry contest and drum beating tent popped up through the day.
The first activity our group partook in was what we came to call “The Puppy Room”. It was a room set aside to pet or play with trained therapy dogs and/or read children’s books. My boys reveled in the attention and the love these furry beasts gave them, despite being about two and a half feet tall. They, along with one of my adult party goers, listened to a fittingly canine-themed book.
On the way out we decided on the lectures we would attend at what times, we unfortunately could not attend all of them, but found great deals of entertainment in the slots we did choose . Our first lecture was Comic-al Biographies by Peter Bagge and Joe Ollmann. The lecture was educational while interesting. While I am not an artist I can relate to the interest and controlled amounts of passion these men spoke with about their books. Even with the interruptions of my whiny toddlers, they carried through their presentations quite nicely and maintained a presence that was kind, patient, and professionally charming.
Bayou City Book Festival at LSC-Kingwood on April 7 2017. Photo by Keyla Lerma.
After visiting each and every table, I can tell you the age range on these books varied in all ages from young ones who love being read to, to children just developing an interest in reading, to those who are already well versed in the joy reading can bring to a person. It was beautiful watching these intertwine and develop as time went on. The atmosphere was warm, ease putting, and emanated from a sense of what I can only describe as belonging. (Yes, I did buy a couple books for my kids and myself as we strolled through, which the authors were happy to sign for us!)
After a lunch break at one of the food trucks out front, which were worth the money, came the face painting! And while my babies can make anything look cute it was a fun addition to the day. By this time, we were ready to take advantage of the picnic area where the kids could stretch their legs and play outside their stroller and enjoy the grassy ground. We did attend the live book reading of It’s Too Windy and The ABCs to Ranching by Patty York Raymond, which included music and dancing for the kids listening. The reading was energetic and entertaining as was the dancing and singing.
In the end, a good time was had by all! I almost didn’t want to leave as everyone began to pack it in, but a good deal of exhaustion had started to take over and a nap was calling my name.
Bayou City Book Festival leaflet at LSC-Kingwood on April 7 2017. Photo by Michelle Lecumberry.
