Ballet Folklorico, crafts, music, games and of course, books! The Santa Clarita Public Library invites the entire community to this year’s Día de los Niños/Día de los Libros event at the Canyon Country Community Center on Saturday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

This family-friendly event, Día de los Niños, celebrates the importance of literacy for all children from all backgrounds and encourages the connection of children and their families to diverse books, languages and cultures.

This year, the Library is excited to have the award-winning author and illustrator, Mirelle Ortega as the keynote speaker for the event. Ortega won the Pura Belpré Honor Award this year, which recognizes a Latino/Latina writer or illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms or celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. At the event, Ortega will share her picture book, “Magic: Once Upon a Far Away Land” and speak with attendees about her work as an author and illustrator from 11 a.m. to noon.

In addition to the keynote speaker, all attendees can look forward to a day of fun-filled activities. Performances from the local Innovation Show Choir and Ballet Folklorico Luna Tapatia will be taking place throughout the day, in addition to a variety of vendors with resources and information for the community. Library staff will also be leading crafts like paper flowers and toucan creations, just in time for Mother’s Day.

At the event, children and teens can also gear up for the annual Summer Reading Program and even submit a design for the brand-new bookmark. One lucky design will be chosen as the featured artwork on the official 2023 Summer Reading Program bookmark. All attendees will also take home free books and giveaways.

Canyon Country Community Center

18410 Sierra Highway,

Santa Clarita, CA 91351

For more information on the Día de los Niños/ Dia de los Libros event, please visit SantaClaritaLibrary.com.