Junior League of Greater Lakeland

The Junior League will host its annual World of Reading Festival in Barnett Family Park on Saturday, April 15th, 2023, from 9:00 AM-1:00 PM.

This free event is open to children of all ages and their families!

“Where will reading take you?” is the continued theme! The spotlight book tents will be focused on the setting or topic of the books. The tents will endeavor to make their featured story come alive.

Each tent will feature a craft for the children to create and take home. Once each child has completed the tent activity and received a stamp on their passport, they will select a book (first come, first serve) from the Spotlight Book Tent of their favorite book of the four tents and then also will select an AR book from the Junior League book area to take home for free! Children’s musical guru, Jack Hartmann, will perform at the event! We will also have Tony the Balloon Guy and Jaya Hart, who will be face painting and other family fun.

In addition to the activities and spotlight tent book giveaways, two featured authors will be autographing and facilitating meet and greets at the event. David Ousley, author of Diligent Derek, and Amanda Green, author of The Adventures of Jackson – Jackson’s Cucumbers, will be signing books and giving away free copies of their books to the first 700 participants! They will also each be reading from their books twice during the event.

Contact the World of Reading Committee if you have any questions.

This program is partly funded by a grant from Florida’s Natural Growers Foundation, Inc. of Lake Wales, Florida.

Thank you to our sponsors!