Free Children’s Book Festival Offers Weekend of Family Fun

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Johnstown, PA (March 24, 2025) – Looking for a fun way to spend the weekend with your children? The Learning Lamp and 1st Summit Bank present the 16th Annual Children’s Book Festival on Saturday, March 29, and Sunday, March 30. Doors open each day at 10 a.m. with festival activities running until 4 p.m. at the Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center at 411 Third Avenue in Johnstown

The Children’s Book Festival provides children in grades PreK – 6 and their families with a FREE, interactive, and engaging literary experience that inspires in children a love for books and the arts, encourages parents to read to their little ones, and gives families access to affordable new and used books to build home libraries of their own. Every child who comes to the festival walks away with a free book.

Headlining artists include:

• Jarret J. Krosczka – JJK, as he’s been known since childhood, is the New York Times bestselling author/illustrator behind more than 40 books including his wildly popular Lunch Lady graphic novels, select volumes of Star Wars Jedi Academy series, and Hey, Kiddo – a National Book Award Finalist
• Karma Wilson – A New York Times bestselling children’s author, Karma is known for inspiring young readers with her picture books and sharing the basics of writing and rhyme. Some of her popular books include Bear Snores On, Hello Calico, and A Dog Named Doug.
• John Patrick Green – John is the New York Times bestselling author of the smash hit book series the InvestiGATORS. The full-color, laugh-out-loud graphic novels follow Mango and Brash, a super spy alligator duo who fight the forces of evil.
• Pat Lewis – A Pittsburgh-based cartoonist and illustrator, Pat works alongside John as the genius behind the illustrations of the InvestiGATORS: Agents of S.U.I.T. book series, among other children’s, young adult, and adult novels. His artwork can also be seen in numerous issues of Highlights for Children. Pat’s live caricatures and unity illustrations are sure to be a festival favorite!
• Entertainment Guest, WonderSpark Puppets – The New York City-based group will take center stage, dedicated to spreading joy, igniting imaginations, and sharing laughter through their exceptional puppet performances. With a global reach, the company has toured internationally, bringing their captivating productions and puppetry workshops to festivals across the U.S. and Asia.

The festival also features 16 regional authors and a fun scavenger hunt with clues to those authors’ books, crafts, free furry book buddies for little ones to read to at home, hands-on workshops for the next generation of aspiring authors, illustrators, and puppeteers, plus hundreds of entries in a regionwide bookmark design contest and the chance to win baskets of books and four day-passes to DelGrosso’s Park & Laguna Splash! For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/CBFJohnstown.

The Learning Lamp is a nonprofit organization with a mission to engage all children in the support they need to succeed. We deliver high-quality programs that are affordable and accessible to families of all income levels. In 2023, The Learning Lamp and our school-based division Ignite Education Solutions directly served 37,524 children and adults. In addition to our own program locations, we worked with 87 public and private schools in 36 Pennsylvania counties. We also supported 473 child care and community-based youth organizations with free or nearly free shared resources, positively impacting another 44,190 children statewide.

 Our programs include: child care and preschool, after-school programs, tutoring, SAT prep, school staffing, alternative education programs for at-risk students, online learning, credit recovery, drug and alcohol prevention programs, and grant writing and project consulting for schools.