Picture Book Parade

This sea­son, if you vis­it Min­neapo­lis’ Mid­town Farm­ers Mar­ket, you’ll stroll by a har­vest of pic­ture books by Min­neso­ta authors. Pic­ture Book Parade — a new ini­tia­tive by children’s authors Sarah War­ren and Cather­ine Urdahl—will present a dif­fer­ent sto­ry stroll each Sat­ur­day, from May 1 through Octo­ber 30. The strolls are set up at the entrance to the mar­ket, and read­ers walk by a row of signs, each with a two-page spread of the fea­tured book. These diverse exhibits invite reflec­tion, con­ver­sa­tion, cel­e­bra­tion, and pride for all families.

The strolls are self-guid­ed and will be avail­able dur­ing the reg­u­lar hours of the mar­ket — 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sat­ur­days. Many of the strolls will include a vis­it from the author, along with a vari­ety of fun activ­i­ties. Fam­i­lies can pick up spe­cial BINGO cards to track their par­tic­i­pa­tion in the season’s strolls — and receive prizes!

Sarah and Cather­ine want to reach read­ers where they are, by bring­ing books into non-tra­di­tion­al pub­lic spaces. They hope to con­nect artists with their read­ers — a chal­lenge in the era of COVID, when libraries and book­stores have been unable to host tra­di­tion­al events. Sarah and Cather­ine cred­it Hen­nepin Coun­ty librar­i­ans for help­ing spark the cre­ation of Pic­ture Book Parade. They plan to con­tin­ue work­ing with librar­i­ans on future initiatives.

Most of the strolls are fund­ed by a grant Sarah received from the Min­neso­ta State Arts Board. A local out­door sign com­pa­ny prints book spreads direct­ly onto signs. Pic­ture Book Parade worked with indi­vid­ual artists to secure per­mis­sion from publishers.

For more infor­ma­tion and a sched­ule of Mid­town Mar­ket sto­ry strolls, vis­it www.picturebookparade.com