For its second year, Wordstock: Portland’s Book Festival will return to the Portland Art Museum and at venues in the surrounding South Park Blocks area. The event features on-stage author interviews and discussions, children’s programming, young adult events, pop-up readings, an extended book fair, writing workshops, live music, food trucks and a beer and wine garden. Read on for our top picks for families this year!

Wordstock

Portland Art Museum
1219 SW Park Ave
Portland, OR 97205
literary-arts.org/event/wordstock-portlands-book-festival
Sat Nov 5, 9am-6pm

All attendees 17 and under receive FREE ADMISSION. Adult tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Adult tickets include a $5 voucher that can be used toward purchases at the book fair.

Workshops

This year, Wordstock will have two free kids’ workshops!

Jam Comics Workshop for High School Students
Crumpacker Library
Portland Art Museum
11:30-12:30pm
literary-arts.org/product/jam-comics-workshop-for-high-school-students

This workshop for high school students focuses on the basics of clear visual storytelling and challenges everyone to follow those guidelines in a collaboration.

Interactive Poetry Workshop for Middle School Students
Crumpacker Library
Portland Art Museum
1-2pm
literary-arts.org/product/interactive-poetry-workshop

In this poetry workshop for middle schoolers (grades 6-8), bilingual (Spanish and English) poet Bettina de León Barrera provides opportunities to write poetry, collaborate, innovate and share.

Pop-Ups

Only 15 minutes long, these pop-ups around the festival are great for when you’re short on time and perfect for kids’ attention spans.

Clockbreakers
Portland Art Museum
1:45-2pm
literary-arts.org/organizer/kate-ristau
Author Kate Ristau will read from her middle grade series, Clockbreakers, which follows Charlie, an eleven-year-old girl in a wheelchair who gets a key to go back in time.

Storytime: Giraffes Ruin Everything
Portland Art Museum, Miller Gallery – James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation Stage
12-12:30pm
literary-arts.org/organizer/heidi-schulz-2

Author Heidi Schulz will read from her first picture book, inspired by a run-in with a rude giraffe. Spoiler: friends come in all shapes and sizes and giraffes are not so bad, after all.

Eats

All that reading makes a person hungry! Wordstock will offer food truck vending from Bunk Truck, Pip’s Original Doughnuts, Ruby Jewel, Tamale Boy, Tastebud and the Whole Bowl.

Best kid picks: Tillamook Grilled Cheese from the Bunk Truck, any pizza slice from Tastebud and a lemon cookie sandwich with honey lavender ice cream from Ruby Jewel.

Discussions and Readings

This is the heart of Wordstock: great authors reading and discussing their books. These books will spark your child’s imagination and give you fodder for bedtimes stories all winter long.

OPB’s Think Out Loud: Sherman Alexie
10-11am
Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall – Meyer Memorial Trust Stage
literary-arts.org/event/opbs-think-out-loud-sherman-alexie

Sherman Alexie discusses his first picture book, Thunder Boy Jr., about a boy trying to decide who he is, with Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Dave Miller, host of Think Out Loud.

Middle Grade: Reality Bites
4:15-5pm
Portland Art Museum, Miller Gallery – James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation Stage
literary-arts.org/event/middle-grade-reality-bites

Middle school can be tough. Roseanne Parry, who teaches in the graduate-level Book Publishing program at Portland State University, moderates authors Kathleen Lane and Jason Reynolds in a discussion on the ups and downs of middle school.

Storytime: The Ugly Dumpling
10-10:30am
Portland Art Museum, Miller Gallery – James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation Stage
literary-arts.org/event/storytime-the-ugly-dumpling

A storytime favorite around town already, Stephanie Campisi will read from her book The Ugly Dumpling, where an ugly dumpling discovers its true identity and realizes that being different is beautiful after all.

Storytime: Cloth Lullaby: The Woven Life of Louise Bourgeois
2-2:30pm
Portland Art Museum, Miller Gallery – James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation Stage
literary-arts.org/event/storytime-cloth-lullaby-the-woven-life-of-louise-bourgeois

Come see a book about art in the Art Museum! Amy Novesky will read from her book about tapestry artist Louise Bourgeois She worked with fabric throughout her career, and this biographical picture book captures the relationship between mother and daughter and illuminates how memories are woven into us all.