STORYWALK AT THE PARK: SATURDAY by Oge Mora, Los Angeles, CA

SATURDAY, written and illustrated by Oge Mora

On a recent visit to my neighborhood library, the Palms-Rancho Park branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, I discovered a StoryWalk tale posted around the basketball court of the adjacent park. Hanging on the fence around the court were seventeen poster-size panels with pages from SATURDAY by Oge Mora, a charming picture book about a young girl, Ava, and her mother on a Saturday outing.

StoryWalk at the Palms-Rancho Park branch of LAPL

Because Ava’s mother works during the week, Saturday is the special day they spend together. As the story proceeds, we learn about their day.

What is your favorite day of the week? What makes it special?

The panels on the fence are conveniently hung at child level. Many of them include questions inviting children to engage with the story. Here are some of my favorites:

A visit to the hair salon.

Is it loud or quiet around you? What sounds do you hear?

What do you think will happen next?

What have you done today? Can you tell the story of your day?

The book is illustrated with Oge Mora's charming cut-paper illustrations. In 2021 she was the featured speaker at the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California’s fall gala, held on Zoom that year because of the pandemic. I was fascinated to hear about her technique and see her studio, especially since I also have used cut-paper to illustrate some of my books. See my blog report HERE.

Oge Mora, Author/Illustrator

The Storywalk Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.

The StoryWalk Project was adapted for use by the Los Angeles Public Library with funding from the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.