*By Kristi Pallack, guest writer from Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona

Environmental themed festivals don't scream, "bring your kids!" They typically involve workshops, lectures and piles of information thrown at you from every which way. But this weekend we offer GreenFest, as family friendly as you can get! Everywhere you go this Saturday, you'll find something for the kiddos to do while you meet amazing exhibitors who will help you and your family go green!

Panda Girl Scout saves her bamboo environment in this cartoon by Nadira Mitchell of Troop 645 and fourth grader at Holladay Intermediate Magnet School.

Bookmans is a proud sponsor of the Northern Arizona Book Festival happening from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, April 16 at the Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff. The 14th annual book festival will feature award-winning authors, literary panels and a new book fair.

Leading up to Saturday check out a geocaching event open to children of all ages from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, April 15 at the Arboretum in Flagstaff. After the main festival there is an authors’ breakfast meet-and-greet and book signing at 10 a.m. Sunday, April 17 in our Bookmans Flagstaff cafe!

What's almost as cool as a big book festival? An intimate breakfast with award-winning authors! If you don't already know, the Northern Arizona Book Festival is being held from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on April 16 at the Coconino Center for the Arts in Flagstaff.

Jamie Ford

The day after an inspiring day of panels and readings, Bookmans Flagstaff is excited to host a free breakfast meet-and-greet with the festival authors at 10 a.m. Sunday, April 17 in our cafe. This is your chance to hobnob with athors like Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet! Or maybe you're a poet and would like to chat with Michael Collier, director of the Breadloaf Writer's Conference and recipient of numerous awards in poetry, including two NEAs!

Michael Collier

Maybe you aspire to write mysteries or science fiction fantasy novels? Pick the brain of Carol Berg or Nancy Pickard! Want to chat with this year's OneBookArizona winner? Carolyn O' Bagy Davis will likely be present to discuss Hopi Summer: Letters from Ethel to Maud. This is also your chance to sample some of our great coffee and pastries in the Bookmans cafe. Don't miss it!

Tucsonans tired of typical corporate silver screen offerings for their children have the opportunity to share their love of international and independent films with their children during the 20th Arizona International Film Festival, which began April 1 and runs through April 20. With the help of Film Fest insider information, Bookmans encourages everyone to check out these family films.

Shiver me timbers! Our increasingly successful Bookmans Treasure Hunt: The Search For Local Business Booty has us shouting from the rooftops. Many thanks to the Local First Arizona business that hid the prize package including Tower Theater tickets and to our devoted fans who used their noggins and the clues to find the booty (you sprogs brought tears to our eyes). Though we distributed no doubloons, each prize package was worth $65 and in this economy we could all use some awesomely free stuff.

I wanted to be Nancy Drew when I was a kid and my brother aspired to be a sleuth to rival the Hardy Boys. Bookmans treasure hunt is your chance to gumshoe your way to glory using only your wits, Twitter account and transportation.

Did you know that on average we throw away 3.5 pounds of garbage every single day? Or that recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a television for three hours? Keep Phoenix Beautiful educates the Phoenix community on these simple ways to keep the planet clean and green. Keep Phoenix Beautiful has been working since 1982 to promote the preservation and protection of our environment in the beautiful City of Phoenix.

This treasure hunt is a success because of you clever pirates. So, thank you, but don't think we're going easy on you! We want to give you a prize package worth $87, but you gotta work for it. Pack some aspirin because these brain teasers are gonna be tough, but don't fret there'll be a pot of local business gold at the end of this rainbow.

Supporting local businesses strengthens our local economy and a strong economy means a stronger community. As part of our commitment to local businesses and the community, Bookmans Entertainment Exchange is a member of Local First Arizona. Their ShiftAZ campaign encouraging shopping at local businesses has inspired us to use our noggins, crank up our creativity and find a fun way to support other companies while bringing you added value via our Bookmans Treasure Hunt: The Search for Local Business Booty.All aboard me mateys because we have set sail for adventure and prizes that even a scallywag wouldn’t hawk.

 

Someone released an army of skeletons this morning. No, really. But there may be a store employee around here who can find a used copy of Necronomiconexmortis and get this all squared away. We can square away pairs of tickets for ten people to this weekend's Cult Classic Army of Darkness presented by Bookmans and The Loft Cinema showing at 10 p.m. showing Friday, April 29 or Saturday, April 30.

Book Man made a special appearance yesterday in Chandler to present Weinberg Elementary with a giant check for $15,000! Weinberg Elementary was one of over 75 Arizona elementary schools that participated in our fifth annual Bookmans' Reading Challenge. We were fortunate enough to participate in an assembly recognizing individual students for their above and beyond reading accomplishments, but also for the librarians responsible for collecting and counting the forms and worked tirelessly to motivate the students and staff for this three month long contest. The students who excelled within the school received special recognition and a limousine ride to Peter Piper Pizza for lunch.

This elementary school read 274,164 books with an average of 432 books per student. Weinberg Elementary plans on putting their winnings towards a desperately needed library renovation. There are no words to describe the sounds of the joyful screams that came from the children when Book Man unwrapped the check. Being at the school meeting the students, teachers and parents who made the success of the challenge possible reminds us why community involvement is important -- not to mention a provides a chance to increase literacy and a ignite a love of reading.

For more pictures visit Flickr.