ABC’s Saturday: Art, Books & Children 2018

Posted by Mari on Tuesday, May 22, 2018

The Arts Fest is the unofficial kick-off of summer in Iowa City, so be sure to bring your whole family down to Clinton Street for all of the fun, free activities perfect for children of all ages.

On Saturday June 2nd, 11 am-3 pm, we are celebrating Art, Books and Children, or the ABC’s, during the Iowa Arts Festival! Mark your calendars now for this annual event, formerly known as Children’s Day, produced by the Iowa City Public Library with Summer of the Arts. Due to construction in the Ped Mall, all of the children’s activities will be concentrated on Clinton Street between the College Street crosswalk and Washington Street, with the Family Stage at the south end and the bookmobile at the north end. This is a great time to sign up for the ICPL’s summer reading program—Libraries Rock! and visit the ICPL bookmobile!

Learn about art, music, science and more with activity booths from local groups and enjoy a show on the Family Stage. With live performances, arts and crafts, fun activities, and the ICPL Bookmobile, there’s something for everyone!

The fun doesn’t end on Saturday! On Sunday, check out the Children’s Global Village, featuring activity booths representing different countries and cultures. Find out more about the Arts Festival, ABC’s: Art, Books and Children on Saturday and Children’s Global village on Sunday from Summer of the Arts!

Renowned children's musician Dino O'Dell

Family Stage Schedule:

11:00 AM After School Specials

11:45 AM Dino O’Dell

12:30 PM Herky and the Hawkeye Cheerleaders

1:15 PM Dream Divas

2:00 PM Family Folk Machine

Activity Booths:

ICPL Bookmobile and Summer Reading Program Sign-up
Recycled Craft and Games with the 100 Grannies
Mason Bee Habitats with Green Iowa AmeriCorps and Iowa City Park and Recreation
Furry Friends with Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center
Rock Painting with the Iowa City Public Library
Make Your Mark with the City of Literature
Tiles for a Mural with Big Picture Young Artist Studio
Paint the Town with ICPL and Blick Art Materials
Making Music Together with the Preucil School of Music
Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois
Iowa Children’s Museum
Spin Art with Johnson County 4-H
Jingle Bracelets with West Music
Summertime Shrinky Dinks with ICPL

About the Author

Mari has the best job in the library because she gets to plan children's programming, create displays, do preschool storytimes and take the bookmobile out to the Iowa City schools. She enjoys reading kid and adult fiction, true crime and memoirs.

Mari Recommends

Even monsters go to school
by Lisa Wheeler
jE Wheeler
Picture Books
"A grown-up monster describes in rhyming verse how monsters of all types go to school, and so must this child monster, no matter how glum about the prospect."--

I happened upon this book on the bookmobile, and realized it's a sequel to "Even Monsters Need to Sleep" which is also very good. Lisa Wheeler has taken all of the classic pop culture monsters, such as Bigfoot, (the monster of) Frankenstein, the Loch Ness Monster and put them in the universal childhood experience of the first day of school. Chris Van Dusen, illustrator of the Mercy Watson series and one of my all-time faves, fills the pages with bright, bold clear images and clever and subtle bits of humor. And on top it all it rhymes! -Mari