Little Shop of Stories hosts book festival featuring acclaimed authors to celebrate children and young adult literature

The inaugural Decatur Children’s Book Festival, presented by Little Shop of Stories, will be taking place May 3-5 in downtown Decatur. 

“We are thrilled to host a festival that will encourage young readers to continue exploring the world of literature,” says Diane Capriola, co-owner of Little Shop of stories.“We feel fortunate to have such great voices joining us and hope this will foster a lifelong love of reading.” 

A keynote event kicks off the festival on Friday, May 3 at First Baptist Church of Decatur. Renowned authors, Kate Dicamillo, LaDarrion Williams, and Rebecca Ross, will be delivering keynote speeches and discussing their latest literary works throughout the festival. 

The Decatur Children’s Book Festival will continue May 4 and 5 at the Decatur Recreation Center and the Decatur Library. It will feature 25 exhibitors: Alaina Sanford Illustrations, Alliance Theatre, Audrey Galex, Barefoot Books, Child Friendly Cities Initiative, Emory Children’s Center-Vaccine Research Clinic, Gregg Schigiel, Jacqueline Leigh, Jane Price Harmon, Janice Miller, JSJ Enterprises and Publishing, Moonflower Press LLC, Ms. Gwen the Firefly, My Black is Golden, Picture Perfect Reads, PM Press, The Alkhemist’s Stone, The Science of Fun Camp, TJ Williams, The Wren’s Nest, The Write Brothas Entertainment LLC, Charis Books and More, Eagle Eyre Book Shop, and Little Shop of Stories Summer Reading Program. 

The Decatur Children’s Book Festival takes place alongside the Decatur Arts Festival and in partnership with the City of Decatur, Decatur Arts Alliance, Decatur Tourism Bureau, Decatur Downtown Development Authority, the DeKalb County Public Library, the DeKalb Library Foundation, the Georgia Center for the Book, and Lenz. 

Since opening in 2005, Little Shop of Stories has become a nationally recognized and award-winning children’s bookstore. In addition to hosting top authors and illustrators throughout its history, Little Shop of Stories has also helped develop children’s programming for the Decatur Book Festival, and continued to help grow children and teen programming for the festival. 

Events on May 4-5 will be free. Tickets to the Decatur Children’s Book Festival keynote event on May 3 can be found on Eventbrite. 

For more information, visit DecaturChildrensBookFest.org or contact the Decatur Children’s Book Festival at [email protected].