The annual Brooklyn Book Festival returned for its second in-person festival since the pandemic over the weekend of October 1. The festival was held at the Brooklyn Commons with adjustments made for inclement weather to shift events indoors. Children’s Day on Saturday, October 1, included panels for readers of varying ages, read-alouds, activities, and vendors for guests to grab new books. We’ve gathered a selection of photos from the festival.
Mac Barnett (r.) and Shawn Harris (l.) give a reading of their graphic novel The First Cat in Space at Brooklyn Heights Library after a rainstorm brought Center Stage events indoors.
Panelists (from l.) Kyle Lukoff, Brandy Colbert, and Maulik Pancholy discussed “The Truth About Banned Books.”
The “All About Romance” panel brought together YA romance authors (from l.) Debbie Rigaud, Dustin Thao, Casey McQuiston, and moderator Sayantani DasGupta. for a conversation on favorite tropes, building their casts, and representing different perspectives in the romance genre.
The “Not What It Seems” panel took place at the Center for Brooklyn History after a location shift. (From l.): moderator Eliot Schrefer and panelists Angeline Boulley, Emily X.R Pan, and Victoria Lee discussed crafting the perfect plot twist and considering representation when creating their work.
Illustrator Raúl the Third read from his picture book El Toro & Friends: Team Up on the Center Stage for Children’s Day.
(From l.): moderator Jessica Goodman, and authors E. Lockhart, Tashie Bhuiyan, and Ayana Gray spoke to a packed room about the joys of BookTok, online community, finding your niche, and creating content that’s authentic to you for the “What’s Up with #BookTok” panel.
Vera Ahiyya gave a reading of her book KINDergarden, illustrated by Joey Chou, to an audience of young readers.
