Name: 19th Annual Family Reading Festival
Start: 2026-02-07T10:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-02-07T14:00:00-05:00
Location: 60 S High St, Akron, OH, United States, Ohio 44326

Sing, dance, and play with Jim Gill. See captive-born exotic animals up close and personal with Outback Ray. Visit with Bluey and Bingo. Enjoy literacy-rich activities and take home a new book.
Sponsored in part by Friends of Main Library.
Performances:
10:30 am - He's Back! Musician Jim Gill's Sing-along & Read-along Concert
11:30 am - Outback Ray and his amazing animal friends. See captive-born exotic animals up close and personal!
1 pm - Jim Gill, afternoon matinee performance.
Drop-In:
10 am - 1 pm - Local community organizations will share hands-on activities and information about services for families.
10 am - 2 pm - Each child in attendance will take home a free book. Sponsored in part by Children & Books.
11 am - 1 pm - Meet Bluey and Bingo!
11 am - 1 pm - Face Painting

A Sing-along & Read-along Concert with Jim Gill!
Get ready to sing, clap, and dance along during this visit by award-winning musician and author Jim Gill. Jim Gill’s distinctive music play creates the spirit of a family room in the concert hall and is an invitation to children, parents and grandparents to sing, play and read together!
Jim Gill is a musician and author with unique credentials among children's artists. Jim is a child development specialist, completing his graduate studies in child development at the Erikson Institute of Chicago with a special emphasis on the study of play. For this reason, each of Jim's recordings and books is created as an opportunity for playful interactions between a child and a caring adult. Anyone who has experienced one of Jim's family concerts knows that rather than performing for the children and parents, Jim leads them to sing and play together.
Jim has released ten award-winning CDs of music play for young children that are favorites in family rooms, classrooms and playrooms. Jim is also the author of two children's books. A Soup Opera is a silly sing-along opera inspired by concerts that Jim performs with symphony orchestras. His first book, May There Always Be Sunshine, continues to inspire children from across the country to share their heartfelt wishes and extraordinary illustrations in community VIDEO book projects that Jim carries out with libraries, school districts and other community organizations.