Los Angeles Times Book Festival Opens

Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) - The two-day Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began Saturday at UCLA, with more than 100 author panels and events, children's activities, cooking demonstrations and an exploration of the city's Latino heritage.     

>> You can watch Amy Murphy's video report in the player to the left.

An addition to this year's festival is the Hoy Cultural Neighborhood, which aims to promote literacy in both English and Spanish among Latinos. It will include traditional Latino dancing, music and entertainment, discussions about bilingual literacy and a Latino icon costume contest.     
   
The Target Children's Stage combines performances, readings and book signings. Actress Brooke Shields and Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson from "The Simpsons" appeared, while actor Henry Winkler, Sabrina Bryan of The Cheetah Girls and retired basketball star Alonzo Mourning are set to appear Sunday.     
   
Also appearing Saturday were retired "The Price is Right" host Bob Barker, author of "Priceless Memories"; actress Tori Spelling, whose latest book is titled "Mommywood"; actress Alyssa Milano, author of "Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic"; "Dancing with the Stars" host Tom Bergeron, author of "I'm Hosting as Fast as I Can!: Zen and the Art of Staying Sane in Hollywood"; and Danica McKellar, best known for portraying Winnie Cooper on "The Wonder Years," but also the author of two mathematics books.     
   
Authors set to appear Sunday include Academy Award-winning actresses Cloris Leachman, author of "Cloris," and Marlee Matlin, author of "I'll Scream Later," along with "Brady Bunch" cast member Maureen McCormick, author of "Here's the Story."     
   
The festival is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. Parking is $9. Free shuttle bus service will be provided from outlying UCLA lots to the main festival entrances.     
   
More than 140,000 people are expected to attend what organizers bill as the nation's largest public literary festival.     
   
More information is available online at www.latimesfestivalofbooks.com or by calling 800-LATIMES, ext. 7BOOK.