Thalia Kids Book Club Camp

The Thalia Kids Book Club Camp is for kids (9–14) who love to read!

We look forward to welcoming Thalia Book Club Campers to Symphony Space this summer! We have an incredible line-up of diverse books and a slate of compelling guest authors who are eager to connect with our extraordinary campers. Campers will get to meet and engage with these authors in the company of new friends who also can’t get enough of a good read.

Thank you for joining us for Camp 2024! The 2025 camp session is tentatively scheduled for:

Week 1: July 7-11, 2025 for ages 9-11
Week 2: July 14-18, 2025 for ages 12-14

Registration will open in January 2025!

Here's what you can expect from the Thalia Kids Book Club Camp:

There will be 5 featured books each week.
There will be an interactive visit from the author of each of those books, including discussions and hands-on activities.
Book-related games, activities, and field trips.
Reading, drawing, writing, and visiting time with other book-loving campers.
Guest authors will sign each camper's book.
The hours will be 9 AM – 4:00 PM EST. Campers will be admitted as early as 8:30 AM.
Once we receive your registration and payment, we will send a confirmation. You receive an email with the book list for the week(s) you registered before the camp session begins.
Camp families are responsible for purchasing the books required for the week(s) of camp.

Catch up on Camp Activities on the TKBCC Blog!

Read the camp Blog

Questions about Camp?

Camp FAQ's

Camp Fees

The Thalia Kids Book Club Camp fee is $700 per week, per camper.

Please note that $100/fee is non-refundable in case of cancellation.

Guest Authors

Author guests have included a diverse line-up of established writers and illustrators alongside emerging talents, each with a unique perspective on books and writing.

Some of the highlights have included a rare visit with Norton Juster to discuss his classic The Phantom Tollbooth, intimate conversations with Award-winning authors Kate DiCamillo (The Tale of Despereaux), Rebecca Stead (When You Reach Me), R.J. Palacio (Wonder), Linda Sue Park (Wing & Claw series), Peter Brown (The Wild Robot), Jason Reynolds (The Boy in the Black Suit), and Lauren Oliver (Liesl and Po); bestselling authors Adam Gidwitz (A Tale Dark and Grimm), Gail Carson Levine (Ella Enchanted), Pseudonymous Bosch (The Secret series), Maile Meloy (The Apothecary), Wendy Mass (Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life), Chris Grabenstein (Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library), and Nova Ren Suma (The Walls Around Us); as well as introductions to writers such as Claire Legrand (Some Kind of Happiness), Leila Sales (Once Was a Time), Neela Vaswani (Same Sun Here), Daniel José Older (Shadowshaper), and Renée Watson (This Side of Home).

Campers have also met with illustrators including Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate), Chris Raschka (Seriously, Norman!), Sophie Blackall (Missed Connections), George O'Connor (Olympians), graphic designer Chip Kidd, and Percy Jackson cover artist John Rocco, who led a workshop on cover design.

Other book related activities included a book-making workshop with the Center for Book Arts, cartooning with graphic novelist Matt Phelan (The Storm in the Barn), and an exploration into comic books with Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy) and Raina Telgemeier (Ghosts).

Field Trips

Each week, Thalia Kids Book Club campers go on a couple of adventures around the city with our author guests. In the past we got the chance to go on a top-secret field trip with Brian Selznick (author/illustrator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret) to the Queens Museum of Art and the old World’s Fairgrounds to hear about Wonderstruck a year before the book was published, we spent an afternoon at the Bronx Museum of Art with the National Book Award nominee Rita Williams-Garcia (One Crazy Summer), and made a trip to The Colbert Report to meet with a team of comedy writers.

In addition, campers visited with editors, designers, and publicists at Penguin Random House Children's Books, where they received a surprise visit from Christopher Paolini (Eragon). Other trips have taken us to the Park Avenue Armory, the South Street Seaport, Trinity Cemetery, the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art, The Joffrey Ballet School, The Cooper Hewitt Museum, The Museum of the Moving Image, The Tenement Museum, and the New York Hall of Science, among many others.

A Typical Week At Camp

Wondering what a typical week at camp looks like? Click here to see a week from 2023, or check out the Book Club Camp Blog!

Questions?

If you have any questions at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us:

[email protected]

"An awesome place to make friends, learn, have fun, and meet authors all at the same time!"
Camper
"An amazing camp where you use your imagination and have fun with people who understand you and your writing."
Camper
"I felt that a lot of thought and care went into making the camp a quality experience. The books and authors were amazing. The counselors were enthusiastic and related well to the kids."
"My daughter loved it! She was with people who love books as much as she does and she was challenged in a fun and creative way. The only camp she loved every day!"

Join Our Mailing Lists

The Thalia Kids Book Club Camp is for kids (9–14) who love to read!

Here's what you can expect from the Thalia Kids Book Club Camp:

Catch up on Camp Activities on the TKBCC Blog!

Questions about Camp?

"An awesome place to make friends, learn, have fun, and meet authors all at the same time!"

"An amazing camp where you use your imagination and have fun with people who understand you and your writing."

"I felt that a lot of thought and care went into making the camp a quality experience. The books and authors were amazing. The counselors were enthusiastic and related well to the kids."

"My daughter loved it! She was with people who love books as much as she does and she was challenged in a fun and creative way. The only camp she loved every day!"