Every Family Expo hosted by The Children’s Trust features beloved children’s characters performing or simply walking around the event posing for pictures with adoring kids. But this August’s Family Expo featured an debut by a special character that has never made a public appearance before – Gigi the Ladybug, one of The Children’s Trust’s Book Club’s characters.

Gigi was one of the Family Expo’s most popular attractions as she walked around posing with children and even going onstage to huge cheers in between different performances on the Expo stage. Gigi and her seven Book Club friends (can you name all the Book Club characters?) exist to bring attention to The Trust’s wildly popular Book Club.

During the Expo, the Book Club sat at one corner of Miami-Dade Fair & Exposition Fuch's Pavilion and delighted young children and their parents with read alouds, sensory experiences, and even musical performances.

With close to 50,000 registered members, the Book Club for Miami-Dade children from birth to 5 years old continues to gain in popularity. Members receive a free, new age-appropriate book once a month delivered via mail. They also get reading guides and activity sheets to go along with the book to add to their literary experience and to help parents and caregivers bond with their kids while reading. To sign up for the Book Club, visit TheChildrensTrust.org/BookClub.