This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
For Vanesse Lloyd-Sgambati, organizer and founder of the upcoming African American Children’s Book Fair, giving kids an opportunity to read outside of their classroom and connect with the books they read is the best way to enhance their reading skills.
“In my grandfather’s generation, [reading] was a privilege,” Lloyd-Sgambati said. “In mine, it’s a right.”
That’s why, in 1992, Lloyd-Sgambati first organized the African American Children’s Book Fair out of the John Wanamaker department store in Philadelphia. Now, the fair has grown into one of the largest events for African American children’s literature across the country, attracting over 3,000 attendees annually.
The fair will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Community College of Philadelphia’s gymnasium, 17th and Spring Garden Streets. The event is free and open to the public.
A long list of African American authors and illustrators of children’s books, many award-winning, will be on hand to present and sign their books.
“The things that make this fair grow after 23 years are the participants and types of books they’re bringing to the table,” said Lloyd-Sgambati.
“Aside from the public library, you can’t find many culturally diverse books in the city, so this creates an opportunity for people," she said. "[Here,] kids also get the opportunity to meet with authors and illustrators.”
Every author brings something that is unique and different to the fair, Lloyd-Sgambati said, including author Jerdine Nolen, whose family stories were shared in her book In My Momma’s Kitchen, and A. G. Ford, a New York Times bestselling children’s book Illustrator and recipient of two NAACP Image Awards.
Free books will be given away while supplies last, and the fair’s corporate sponsors will also give books to educators who attend. Children can also take part in many hands-on workshops that will deal with cartoons, crocheting, and dealing with bullies.
For kids who don’t like to read, Lloyd-Sgambati said, she encourages parents and mentors to ask children about their interests and give them a book based on those interests. Children will begin to read on a regular basis when they find books that they like, she said.
Lloyd-Sgambati recalled her own discovery of reading as an interest as a child during the "Soviet Union drills" held at her school. Hiding under her classroom desk during the civil defense drills and being told, “The Russians are coming from Moscow!” she wondered what Moscow was. The next time the local bookmobile came to her school, she chose a book on Moscow, even after her classmates teased her, saying she would never go there, so there was no point in reading about it.
Five years ago, Lloyd-Sgambati did go to Moscow, and she remembered the information she had read about it in her childhood book. Her driver was so impressed with her understanding of the city and Russia that she was introduced to some locals and shared her own culture as an African American, a perspective that the locals had only ever seen on TV.
“This can happen for all our children. The possibilities are endless when you’re able to read,” she said. “The best way to engage a child is to find things they like to read outside of normal coursework.”
Lloyd-Sgambati said that parents who first came to the book fairs as kids themselves 23 years ago are now bringing their own children. She’s often in awe when she sees a child walk in excited about getting a book and reading, she said.
“That smile on a child, that ownership of a book changes the experience of reading,” Lloyd-Sgambati said.
Shannon Nolan is an intern at the Notebook.