San Francisco Celebrates Children and Books

San Francisco, CA-Close to a 1,000 Bay Area children and families will celebrate Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros (A Celebration of Children and Books) on Sunday, April 27th at Mission Dolores Park in San Francisco. This annual event honors children and their families, and promotes literacy, language, and culture.

Free and open to the public, Día provides each child with the opportunity to see live performances, participate in high quality art activities, and leave with a book of their very own. The theme of this year's celebration is "Planting the Seeds of Reading."

"By making culturally relevant books available to children of all backgrounds, Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros allows children to see themselves reflected in literature and, in doing so, fosters enthusiasm for reading," says Janet del Mundo, Sales and Marketing Manager of Children's Book Press.

Of the scheduled performers, Omulu Capoeira Guanabara will bring together dance, music, acrobatics and martial arts with a performance of the traditional Brazilian artform known as capoeira. In addition, Colibri - Lichi Fuentes and Alisa Peres - will perform music from Latin America by mixing singing with a variety of folk instruments.

Families can also participate in various activities from face painting and stencil drawing to envelope book making and paper flower collaging. Activities are provided by Bay Area Discovery Museum, Childhood Matters, Mission Cultural Center, Mission Learning Center, Our Family Coalition, Precita Eyes, SCRAP-Scroungers' Center for Reusable Art Parts, SF Children's Art Center, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, San Francisco State University's Jumpstart Program, and ZEUM.

San Francisco's Día began in 1999, after the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a resolution declaring April 30th as "El Día de los Niños-Celebrating Young Americans." Since then, Día has grown dramatically, with events joining families in towns and cities across the country.
Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros-San Francisco is a collaboration of Bay Area nonprofits and community organizations that are committed to literacy and education.

The following organizations have volunteered their time and services to make this event possible: Bay Area Discovery Museum, Childhood Matters, Children's Book Press, KQED Education Network, Mayor's Office of Community Development, Mission Learning Center, Nuestros Niños, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, and San Francisco State University's Jumpstart Program.

Event sponsors include: Bissap Baobab, City National Bank, First 5 San Francisco, Latino Community Foundation, San Francisco Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families, Sixth Street Studios and Young Audiences of Northern California.

Día de los Niños, Día de los Libros San Francisco
Sunday, April 27th, 2008
1:00-4:00 pm
Mission Dolores Park (Dolores St. @ 20th)
San Francisco, CA

In case of rain, the event will be at SF Bahá'í Center
170 Valencia St. @ Duboce
For general information, call 415-575-3535 x14
http://www.mlcsf.org/communityprograms.html  top^