3rd Annual Freedom to Read Queens Festival
2025 Program Content
(October 4th, 2025 – 1-4pm, doors open at 12:55pm unless you are signed up for the Guided Meditation)
**Entrance on 112th Street in the small parking area
Big Kids Program
Guided Meditation & Sound Bath
Julius Betila, Meditation Teacher / South Therapy
Anahata Resonance
This opening meditation invites us to honor the freedom to imagine, express, and see ourselves reflected in stories. Through gentle breath, sound, and guided awareness, we connect with compassion and courage, opening our hearts to the diversity of voices and ideas around us. Rooted in belonging and openness, this practice grounds us in unity so we can carry the spirit of protecting the right to read into the day’s celebrations and beyond. @anahataresonance
Know Your Rights Workshop
In today’s climate, this session equips advocates and allies with practical tools to understand legal rights and support vulnerable community members.
Parents & Policy Workshop
Alliance for Quality Education (AQE)
The Movement Is Powered By People – Support the fight for racial and economic justice for New York’s schools. The Alliance for Quality Education equips parents with tools to raise their voices, influence policy, and build collective power for educational justice. @AQE_NY
Postcard Writing
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Let’s gather to write a letter to our policymakers….
Conversation Circle
Join fellow adults in a guided discussion on how book bans and censorship affect our communities, culture, and daily lives. This circle is a space to share perspectives, connect experiences, and explore what’s at stake when access to ideas is limited.
Youth Program
Button Making
Kid's Storytelling : Beloved but Banned Books
Celebrate the beauty of stories that some have tried to silence! Authors will share readings from favorite children’s books that have been banned, helping kids see the joy, creativity, and lessons inside these powerful stories.
ABOUT OUR STORYTELLERS
JEHAN MADHANI is a South Asian–American writer and cartoonist, author of Eli and the Uncles (Candlewick Press), and Emmy-nominated TV writer with credits on Netflix, PBS, Nick Jr., and Apple TV+. She creates children’s stories that celebrate identity, culture, and imagination—pushing beyond traditional ideas of gender, family, and community. @jehancomic
THUY PETERSON is a mother, storyteller, and founder of KidsGiving Press. As a child, she was often made to feel like too much or not enough. Motherhood gave her the courage to rewrite that narrative—through books that help kids feel seen, strong, and full of possibility.
Build Your Own Noisemaker
Kids and families are invited to get creative together! We’ll provide the supplies so you can make colorful posters, signs, and artwork to share messages of joy, community, and the freedom to read.
Family Art Build
Kids and families are invited to get creative together! We’ll provide the supplies so you can make colorful posters, signs, and artwork to share messages of joy, community, and the freedom to read.
Stretch & Connect
Let’s join FoHi Improv to regroup and stretch our minds, bodies and souls, as we gather in a final circle to welcome Drag Story Hour.
DRAG STORY HOUR
Drag Artists for Expression NYC produces storytelling and creative arts programs, presented by local drag artists, in libraries, schools, and other community spaces. Through fun and fabulous educational experiences, our programs celebrate gender diversity and all forms of difference to build empathy and give kids the confidence to express themselves however they feel comfortable.
Dear Banned Book Author
A creative letter-writing activity for kids and adults to thank the authors of banned and challenged books. Share your appreciation, tell them what their stories mean to you, and let them know their voices matter.
