AAPI Children’s Literary Festival

Celebrate AAPI heritage month with an exciting event featuring readings, meet-and-greet sessions with authors and illustrators, panel discussions, and writing and illustration workshops. The festival will serve as a unique gathering place for writers, illustrators, publishers, and fans of AAPI literary works.

The  AsiaStore will be packed with AAPI titles for all ages. Each child will receive a sketchbook and drawing kit!

List of events
1:00 PM Book Reading by Anu Sehgal, author of I am a Lotus.

1:15 – 2:00 PM Young Voices, Wise Words: An interactive session featuring authors and kids shaping literary futures.

Aram Kim, author and illustrator of Sunday Funday in Koreatown
Loan Le, author of The Pho Love Story
Michele Wong McSween, author of the Gordon & Li Li series
2:00 – 2:30 PM Book signing and meet and greet with featured authors and illustrators.

2:30 – 3:15 PM Writing Workshop with Veera Hiranandani, author of Amil and the After.

Who’s Story, is it? In this workshop, young writers will learn about character development through the craft technique of point of view. Veera Hiranandani will discuss examples that she has used in her books with different points of view (first, second, and third person). Participants will also learn how and why a writer chooses a certain point of view for their main character, participating in exciting writing prompts to practice their new skills!

3:15 – 4:00 PM Illustration Workshop with Shinyeon Moon, illustrator of LaoLao’s Dumplings.

What’s in their head? In this workshop with Shinyeon Moon, artists will learn how to create a unique portrait of their character. Participants will use symbols to determine their character’s likes (or dislikes), and we will focus on how to best depict a character’s emotions by drawing their expressions.

4:00 – 4:45 PM Cook Book and Recipe Documentation with Priya Krishna, New York Times best-selling author and creator of Priya’s Kitchen Adventures.

Culture, Literacy, and Food! Priya Krishna will read from her book, share a recipe, and give tips on how children can document their own recipes. This session will conclude with a yummy dumpling tasting!