Celebrate reading as a family!

Whether you are a toddler, a teen, a teacher or aspiring children's book author, there is something for you to see and do at the Tucson Festival of Books.

This year's lineup of events for children and teenagers ranges from crafts to performances to writing workshops. Little ones can meet characters from some of the well-loved children's books or enjoy a puppet or theater performance or even read a book to a trained therapy dog.

Check out the Festival's website and plan to bring your family to share in the festivities, including these:

• Children's book author Jon Scieszka, author of "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs," will talk about how boys and girls are literate in different ways and how to inspire more boys to read - and why this is good for everyone.

• Author Mac Barnett will lead a "genre mash-up" writing workshop for youth ages 9-12. Kids will learn how different genres work and how to combine them to create new kinds of stories.

• Young people age 10 and up who like to draw can learn to draw characters that matter to us from children's book illustrator and storyteller Guy Porfirio.

• Author Stella Pope Duarte will share Mexican folk tales for a family-friendly audience.

• Teen author Janette Rallison will share the "rules" of writing young adult fiction and the basics of plotting, characterization and point of view in this writing workshop for youth ages 13 and up.

Mark your calendar

Did you know that last year's book festival raised $200,000 to promote literacy in our community? You can make that happen again this year by attending the Author's Table Dinner, Friday, March 12, on The University of Arizona campus.

This is your chance to dine and socialize with dozens of America's leading authors - and to hear from one of its top radio personalities, Scott Simon. Each table at this relaxed, business-casual evening will include one of the authors who will be speaking at the Festival that weekend.

Tickets to The Author's Table Dinner are $125 each, $55 of which is tax-deductible. You can order tickets online at the tucsonfestivalofbooks.org website. You'll be given the option to pay by credit card or PayPal account.

Meet author Jon Scieszka

Jon Scieszka is author of "The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Fairy Tales" and "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs."

He taught elementary school for 10 years and has been writing for kids for the last 20 years. He is our first-ever National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.

Scieszka will join writers and illustrators Mac Barnett, Adam Rex and Chris Gall in a panel discussion on humor in children's writing at the Festival of Books.

Meet author Matt de la Peña

Matt De la Peña is the author of the award-winning young-adult books "Ball Don't Lie" and "Mexican White Boy."

De la Peña will present a workshop about how, as a former reluctant reader, he became a writer and how he weaves his life experiences into his writing for teens.

His next novel, "I Will Save You," will be published in October.

Be a Festival volunteer!