The Mar Vista Family Center hosted its seventh annual Literacy Fair, drawing more than 500 attendees on Saturday.
This year’s theme was called Tell Me a Story and was sponsored by the Del Rey Neighborhood Council with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment and City National Bank. Among other activities, the event featured celebrity guests, who read their favorite childhood books on stage. They included actress Belita Moreno (Diary of a Wimpy Kid, The George Lopez Show), Nick Benson (Nickelodeon’s TV movie Best Player), Dan Benson (Wizards of Waverly Place), Chudney Ross (owner of Books and Cookies), author Ramon Resa (Out of the Fields, My Journey from Farm Worker Boy to Pediatrician) and Eric DeSobe (president of Del Rey Neighborhood Council).
Several days after the fair, the library was filled with children reading aloud. A 9-year-old boy named Diego was quoted as saying “My favorite part of the Literacy Fair were the books because they were good. I also liked the cookies [courtesy of Books and Cookies] because they tasted good.” He was reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, which he said “is fun and makes me laugh.”
Jeff Iftekaruddin performed songs from his new album Songs about turtles, wolves, and Stan the man: Music for kids who get it! Literacy-based arts and crafts booths were hosted by students from Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymount University and California State University, Northridge. Books and Cookies, a Santa Monica-based children’s book store featured a cookie decorating station. Star Eco Station brought several animals for children to learn about.
The Del Rey Neighborhood Council, Playa Vista Library and Los Angeles Public Library’s Adult Literacy Programpromoted reading and provided community members and event-goers with information about their programs.
