Kirk Cameron called the attendance for a story hour featuring his new faith-based children’s book “As You Grow” “overwhelming” after his publisher said nearly 1,000 people packed a Southern California library.
On Saturday, the 52-year-old actor hosted a story time at the Placentia Library, about 30 miles outside of Los Angeles, where his publisher told the Washington Examiner around 1,000 parents and kids showed up to hear the new book.
“All the forces of darkness are no match for moms and dads who are committed to God, and to their family, and to teaching their children,” Cameron told the crowd.
The “Growing Pains” star said that despite libraries choosing not to sponsor, announce, or promote his story times, he is renting the reading rooms, and that “people are finding out anyway,” with attendance being “overwhelming,” the outlet noted.
Nobody can stand in the way of God fearing, loving fathers and mothers!
Despite the downpour of rain, these BRAVE patriots came out to support @KirkCameron's LIVE book reading!
Thank you, Placentia! We will be back soon, California! pic.twitter.com/ugO410Tmve
— BRAVE Story Hour (@BraveBooksUS) January 15, 2023
Cameron’s publisher tweeted out footage of the crowd that turned up for the actor’s story hour, stating, “Nobody can stand in the way of God fearing, loving fathers and mothers! Despite the downpour of rain, these BRAVE patriots came out to support [KirkCameron]’s LIVE book reading!”
The Daily Wire reached out to the Placentia Library to verify the crowd size, and Jeanette Contreras, the Library Director for Placentia Library District, told us “our estimate was 700.”
Cameron and the publisher of his children’s book recently shared that thousands flocked to his story hour in Indianapolis after that library had reportedly been one of the locations that initially refused to host him, but later reversed course — something the library is disputing.
Brave Books posted a clip on Twitter showing what they said were thousands of people who turned up to the Indianapolis Public Library to hear Cameron talk about his book. After the publisher’s tweet, the library tweeted that the claim about a 2,500-person attendance was not accurate and that it was not the largest crowd the library had ever seen, stating that the door count was 750.
The “Lifemark” star recently celebrated after he said two of the libraries changed their minds about hosting a Cameron story hour and said it should send a message to Christians and conservatives “to be brave.” The actor’s publicist told Fox News that a library in Indiana and another near New York City “caved.” When they initially refused to host Cameron, he threatened legal action.
Cameron previously spoke with The Daily Wire about how public libraries that have hosted “Drag Queen Story Hours” refused to host him for readings of his book that he describes as “Pro-God and pro-family and Biblical values.”