Saturday, May 17, 2025 • 10 AM–3 PM
Museum Courtyard
Free & Open to the Public
A Day of Learning and Community at the 8th Annual Ruby Bridges Reading Festival
This special event celebrates reading, diversity, and community—all in a vibrant, family-focused atmosphere. Perfect for children from pre-K through elementary school, the festival offers something for everyone, from inspiring storytelling to kids activities that make learning come alive.
🎨 Kids will be delighted by exciting entertainment like face painting, balloon animals, a live puppeteer, a bubble machine, and magic shows.
📚 Every child will have the chance to take home free books to build their personal libraries, and educators with valid school ID can receive complimentary books for their classrooms.
💬 Through engaging stories and fun, interactive experiences, families will explore the importance of inclusion, kindness, and standing up for what’s right.
Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate literacy, civil rights, and the joy of being together. It’s a day your family won’t forget!
Featured Authors
- Civil rights icon Ruby Bridges, who also authored Dear Ruby: Hear Our Hearts, along with Through My Eyes, Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story, This Is Your Time, and her 2022 release, I Am Ruby Bridges
- Dr. Michael G. Long – author of youth books on Bayard Rustin and civil resistance include Unstoppable: How Bayard Rustin Organized the 1963 March on Washington and Troublemaker for Justice
- Martha Kelly, Memphis illustrator, printmaker, painter, and author of M is for Memphis
- Andrea Williams – author of Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues
