Kids Read Comics, Ann Arbor, MI, July 7-8!

This coming weekend is one of my favorite comics events: KIDS READ COMICS!

If you live anywhere near southeast Michigan, I hope you'll join us for this FREE kid-focused event! This year, the festivities take place in and around the Ann Arbor District Library (Downtown Branch). There are activities for kids and teens running throughout the entire weekend, and I will have a table in the Artist Alley where you can buy books, artwork, and T-shirts! I'll be happy to sign any books you bring from home, too!

Vitals: Kids Read Comics Celebration July 7-8 Ann Arbor District Library, Downtown Branch 343 South 5th Avenue Ann Arbor, MI 48104 (734) 327-4200 Directions

Here are the events I'm doing over the course of the weekend:

SATURDAY JULY 7

10:30 am – 11:30 am Comics Quickfire! Part drawing jam, part fast-paced game show! Volunteers from the audience are paired off with (or against) professional cartoonists in a series of fun-filled drawing challenges! Comics Quickfire attendees are encouraged to participate, even if they can only draw stick figures or make silly suggestions. Featuring Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), Chris Houghton (Reed Gunther), Gale Willams (Patbird & Galesaur), Jerzy Drozd (The Front) & more! AADL Multi-Purpose Room – All Ages

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm Turn Your Life into a Comic! Raina Telgemeier, author of the graphic memoir Smile, shows how everyday moments of your life can be made into a comic strip! LOCATION: Robot Repair & Supply – 826 Michigan (115 East Liberty Street) – All Ages

SUNDAY, JULY 8

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm Comics Quickfire! Part drawing jam, part fast-paced game show! Volunteers from the audience are paired off with (or against) professional cartoonists in a series of fun-filled drawing challenges! Comics Quickfire attendees are encouraged to participate, even if they can only draw stick figures or make silly suggestions. Featuring Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), Chris Houghton (Reed Gunther), Gale Willams (Patbird & Galesaur), Jerzy Drozd (The Front) & more! AADL Multi-Purpose Room – All Ages

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Interactive Graphic Novel Theater A live comics reading involving lots of audience participation and silliness. Raina Telgemeier (Smile) and Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy) will perform chapters from their all-ages graphic novels, including a scene from Raina’s upcoming book Drama! Illustrated panels will be projected onto a large screen for all to see, and volunteers from the audience will be chosen to play some of the characters. AADL 4th Floor Meeting Room – All Ages

All of the programming can be found here. There is so much to do, it's kind of mind-boggling! Come for a few hours, or come for the weekend.

And, if you're interested in how this sort of event comes together, the four organizers of KRC (a comics writer, a librarian, a comics retailer, and a cartoonist/teaching artist) were recently interviewed in an episode of the KIDS' COMICS REVOLUTION podcast! If you've ever wondered how to organize a comics event in a library, this is a great resource.

I'll be flying straight from Michigan to California for San Diego Comic-Con, but I'm going to put my schedule for that in a separate post. Needless to say...it's going to be a fun couple of weeks!