Star Wars Reads Day was a roaring success at Little Shop of Stories in Decatur, Georgia. This was the big event for the Atlanta metro area, featuring Ashley Eckstein (aka Ahsoka Tano) as the main guest.
The crowds had formed by about 9:30 with excited kids in Jedi and Ewok costumes. The street musician who always hangs around the square was working his way through Star Wars pieces. Vader came out not long after with the best reaction ever: the kids all yelled out “Yay!” while simultaneously backing up.
Once inside, the 501st and Rebel Legion worked their magic greeting the kids. The display of Star Wars books quickly got picked through. (Which was the whole point, right?)
Little Shop knows how to run kids’ events. Upstairs, Ashley visited with whoever wanted to speak to her. The best part was watching a young lady of about thirteen or fourteen who wore the parts of her Ahsoka costume that she’d gotten done. You could see that she worships Ashley. It was really sweet.
They also had a Jedi training station where they wisely burned off excited energy by saying a Jedi had to be strong of body. They had the kids doing jumping jacks and sit-ups. They then made lightsabers out of drinking straws and duct tape. (Great and easy party idea.)
They also had a station to make origami Yodas. (Those books quickly disappeared.) Naturally, the adults had a harder time than the kids making them.
The official activities wrapped up with a trivia contest where the adults had to resist the urge to participate so the kids could win prizes.
My only complaint would be a lack of giveaways like bookmarks. The store had gotten just a few buttons and no giveaway t-shirts. (I would love to have grabbed something.) It would also be nice to associate it with some sort of outreach activity. Like why not ask people to donate to RIF?
But overall, it was a great idea. There will be lots of people reading Star Wars books tonight. Hopefully they’ll do it again next year.
It is a great idea… bummed that I missed it but hope I can make it next year!