Third annual Mass Kids Lit Fest returns May 3-9

NORTHAMPTON — Massachusetts Center for the Book has announced the return of Mass Kids Lit Fest, the vibrant children’s book festival now in its third year, from May 3-9.

The festival overlaps with Children’s Book Week, a national celebration of literature and reading. Families can meet acclaimed Massachusetts authors and illustrators, enjoy hands-on activities and experience the magic of reading at events across Western Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Center for the Book is committed to providing free, high-quality programming for young readers — especially in gateway cities and rural communities. The festival’s footprint grew nearly threefold in 2025, reaching almost 1,200 children and their families, according to organizers.

“We are excited to expand our reach even further this year through our partnerships with public schools across the region,” said Courtney Andree, executive director of the Massachusetts Center for the Book. “With reading scores continuing to fall, and with fewer and fewer kids picking up books in their free time, this is a critical moment to spark excitement around reading.”

The 2026 festival is presented in collaboration with libraries, museums, cultural organizations, nature centers, after school programs, and public schools across the four Western Massachusetts counties. The event expanded to the Berkshires last year.

This year’s partners include the Berkshire Botanical Garden, High Five Books, Hitchcock Center for the Environment, Mead Art Museum, The Mount, Odyssey Bookshop, R. Michelson Galleries, Somehow School, Sip413, Springfield Museums and the Zoo in Forest Park, as well as schools and public libraries in Agawam, Amherst, Ashfield, Chicopee, Clarksburg, Colrain, Easthampton, Greenfield, Lenox, Longmeadow, Monson, Northampton, Pittsfield, South Hadley, Springfield and Sunderland.

Festival week consists of more than two dozen events, ranging from author-led story times and writing workshops to hands-on activities and interactive programs. Highlights include a protest sign-making workshop with Rachel Kats, author of “Rise Up!: Powerful Protest in American History,” at Amherst College’s Mead Art Museum on May 7, turtle time with Mary Wagley Copp — author of “Yoshi’s Big Swim” — at the Hitchcock Center in Amherst on May 9, and an animal heroes story time with Heather Lang, author of “Supersquads!” at the Zoo at Forest Mark on May 8.

Mass. Center for the Book Program Assistant Emma Kristjanson-Gural told Reminder Publishing Mass Kids Lit Fest has successfully connected the state’s children’s authors with kids in the region at school and through public events.

“We’re seeing a decline in literacy rates right now, so it becomes ever more important to organize author events, which are an especially powerful tool to encourage children to read,” said Kristjanson-Gural. “We do events not only for young kids, which are really impactful for them as they’re learning to read, but also events for kids in middle school where they get to ask questions directly to an author they admire. It’s really important for them to be able to see that reading is something larger and it can connect them to the world and to other people. We see so much benefit to having these in person events where the kids get to meet the author. We see kids smiling and having a great time, and it’s really meaningful to be able to provide that.”

The Massachusetts Center for the Book is a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring a love of reading, honoring the rich literary culture of the commonwealth, promoting unrestricted access to books and libraries and fostering literacy and learning, according to the organization. Founded in 2000, the center is charged with developing, supporting and promoting cultural programming to advance the cause of books, libraries and reading in the state.

“I think we’re really trying to bring reading into the forefront of people’s minds and connect them to their libraries and to award-winning local authors,” said Kristjanson-Gural. “It’s very exciting to see the impact of that, to see families engaging with books and to see young people who might want to write something of their own one day get to ask questions to an author. That’s really our goal here, to create a memorable experience that kids can look back on and remember fondly and take with them into their reading journey.”

For more information on the Massachusetts Center for the Book, or on this year’s Mass Kids Lit Fest, visit www.massbook.org.