Sunday: Brooklyn Book Festival with Paul Tough, readings for kids

Book Festival crowd by ##http://flickr.com/photos/mtkr/##mtkr##

Now in its third year, the Brooklyn Book Festival is offering up a packed schedule of book-related readings, performances, and activities on Sunday. Visit Brooklyn Borough Hall anytime between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. for free events featuring prominent authors, public intellectuals, and some of the borough’s up-and-coming writers, including the high-school-aged poets of Urban Word NYC.

I’ll be checking out writer Paul Tough and Geoffrey Canada in the Borough Hall Courtroom at 11 a.m. as they discuss reading and social change and, presumably, “Whatever It Takes,” Tough’s new book about the Harlem Children’s Zone, which Canada founded.

Borough Hall Plaza will feature readings and activities for kids and teens all day; featured authors in the “children’s plaza” include Mo Willems and Marilyn Singer, who wrote Brooklyn favorite “Didi and Daddy on the Promenade.” On the “Youth Stoop,” teens can hear from the authors of “Cheetah Girls” and “The Spiderwick Chronicles” (not all at the same time); a panel discussion by leading graphic novelists might engage reluctant teenage readers. And if you or your kids get excited by a book, you won’t have to go home empty-handed — local bookstores will be there to sell you whatever you want.

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