“We focus on culture and we focus on literacy,” stated Nury Castillo Crawford, the founder of the Little Book Spot. She continued, “The Little Book Spot is a nonprofit organisation committed to increasing the literacy rate, not just here locally in Georgia, but also in the nation by giving attention to the discrepancies and the gaps of literacy, growth, and progress for our children. Crawford is the author of several books, including “What is Going on in the World?”, “Marisol”, “Together We Thrive”, and many more.

“We focus on ensuring that the books and literacy resources that we share with the community are a representation of our community. The Little Book Spot is the celebration of all children in all communities so that we can all grow together,” Crawford explained. 

The El Gusanito Book Festival was held on November 10th, 2024 at Plaza Las Americas in Lilburn, Georgia. The event invited different authors and organisations to showcase their work towards literacy. “We host 3 different events throughout the year, including the El Gusanito Book Festival!” according to Nury Castillo Crawford.

One of the featured authors at the El Gusanito Book Festival was Dr. Valencia Weaver, author of the Wynter Skye Series. It is a series about a young girl named Wynter Skye and her doll, Summer Rayne, who enjoy going on adventures together. The series is very imaginative, playful, fascinating, and relatable for young girls. At the book festival, Dr. Weaver gave advice to kids who aspire to become authors. She said, “You have to read books yourself. That way you will know how to write and be comfortable with writing. So long as you are reading a lot of books, it will help you with your grammar and your books.”

Leslie Clark, author of multiple books and founder of CAMsDEN Publishing also had advice for kids who would like to become authors. If you want to write a book, she says, “Do it. No one can tell your story better than you do.” Clark continued, “We want you all to tell your story. You all have very unique experiences and without your voices, we won't be able to learn if future generations will be benefitted by what you have experienced.”

Through writing, Nury Castillo Crawford concluded, “We have more in common than we do differences.”