DALTON, Ga. — Kerri Smith, 3, eyed all of the activity Saturday at Burr Performing Arts Park with wonder.

Men and women dressed as storybook characters roamed the park in downtown Dalton as children from toddlers on up scampered along the lawn, played bean bag toss and took turns sliding down the hill near the stage on pieces of cardboard one of them had discovered.

“She’s a little shy, but she’s having a good time,” said her mother, Jill.

Saturday was Children’s Day at Burr Performing Arts Park, an event which brought together several community groups to celebrate children and to recognize their importance to the community’s future.

The celebration included the eighth annual Readers to Leaders Book Blast, which organizers described as a celebration of early reading and literacy.

“In the past, we’ve had the Book Blast in July at the Mack Gaston Community Center,” said Stephanie Hogshead, child development and early learning coordinator for the Northwest Georgia Healthcare Partnership, which sponsors the Book Blast.

“This year, we decided to make it a collaborative effort between the Dalton-Whitfield County Public Library, the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia and others and to make it a summer reading kickoff,” Hogshead said. “We’ve got games and activities for kids, free books. There’s storytelling and reading to children. It’s just a fun afternoon.”

The event also included literacy workshops for teachers and Strolling Thunder, a march in which parents pushed strollers with their children on board from Burr Park to the Whitfield County Courthouse to show their support for infants and toddlers.

Darla Chambliss, director of the Northwest Georgia Regional Library System, and Brandy Wyatt, library administrator at the Dalton-Whitfield County Public Library, were on hand to support the event.

“Obviously, reading and summer reading are very important to us,” said Wyatt. “Signups for our summer reading challenge began May 28. It’s for all ages, kids and adults. There’s prizes for those who complete their reading challenge. It’s a fun way to keep kids reading in the summer, and if they see their parents reading, too, it helps them understand how important reading is.”

Julia Cagle was there with her daughter Charlie, 11 months.

“Obviously, with a baby, early literacy is very important to me. I’m also a school teacher, so I know just how important it is for parents to read to their children before the kids are old enough to read themselves because that helps the kids learn to love reading,” she said. “When we look at kids when they come in for kindergarten or even pre-K, we see things that have gone on before that can do so much to shape them and to get them prepared for school.”

Dalton Mayor Dennis Mock presented a proclamation recognizing Saturday as Children’s Day.

“It’s important as an elected official that I show my support for events like this,” he said. “Taking care of the babies and children, taking care of our future generations makes this a better community. “