About the Program

The Texas Book Festival’s Reading Rock Stars program is a hands-on literacy initiative that sends nationally recognized authors into Title I elementary schools in Texas to inspire young readers with dynamic presentations and send them home with the most empowering experience of all – owning their very own book. The Texas Book Festival funds and coordinates the author visits and donates the books to the children as well as a set of books to each school’s library.

The program currently serves schools in Austin, the Rio Grande Valley, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and El Paso with a strategic plan to grow the number of schools served in each geographic area.

Impact

Since the inception of the program, the Texas Book Festival has donated more than 162,000 books to students in Title I schools and provided 730 author visits.

Featured Authors and Illustrators

Visit our Reading Rock Stars Authors & Illustrators page to see which of your favorite children’s book creators have joined us for Reading Rock Stars over the years!

Photo Gallery

Our Reading Rock Stars Photo Gallery highlights some of the many wonderful memories we have from school visits in regions across Texas.

Want to bring Reading Rock Stars to your school?

The Reading Rock Stars program is available to Title I Elementary schools in Austin, the Rio Grande Valley, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and El Paso.

Austin: The application window for Austin area schools is now closed. Schools that submitted a Reading Rock Stars application for this region will be notified of their status by the end of July.

Rio Grande Valley: The application window for Rio Grande Valley schools is now closed. Schools that submitted a Reading Rock Stars application for this region will be notified of their status by the end of July.

Houston: The application window for Houston schools is now closed. Schools that submitted a Reading Rock Stars application for this region will be notified of their status by the end of July.

Dallas: The application window for Dallas schools is now closed. Schools that submitted a Reading Rock Stars application for this region will be notified of their status by the end of July.

Fort Worth: The application window for Fort Worth schools is now closed. Schools that submitted a Reading Rock Stars application for this region will be notified of their status by the end of July.

El Paso: El Paso is not open to new applicants in 2023.

For information on applying to Reading Rock Stars or financially supporting the expansion of the program, email michelle@texasbookfestival.org.

Video by One Story Productions