BOOK SIGNING AT FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY CELEBRATION, Palms-Rancho Park Library, Los Angeles, CA

At my book signing table.

Last week was a busy week for me with an art exhibit, two school visits, and a book signing. On Saturday, May 25th, a beautiful sunny day, I signed books at the 41st Anniversary celebration of the  Friends of the Palms-Rancho Park Library, held in the park next to the library. Families came to enjoy music, yoga, face painting, games, chess, stories, and a bubble machine. Everyone got snacks and a free, gently used book from the Friends of the Library collection of donated books. I enjoyed talking to parents and children about my books and my life as an author and illustrator. It was a fun way to celebrate the dedicated support that the Friends provide for the library year round. The Palms-Rancho Park Library, a branch of LAPL, is my neighborhood library. I have been going there for nearly fifty years to check out books. 

AUTHOR VISIT AT GOLDEN VIEW SCHOOL, Huntington Beach, CA

On May 24 I had an enjoyable visit at Golden View School in Huntington Beach, California and gave presentations to the Pre-K, K, and 1st and 2nd grade students. I was pleased with the good response to my program and the students' enthusiastic participation in the "Lion Hunt" and singing the Wiggle and Waggle song. They also helped count down the launch of the rocket as I read My Friend from Outer Space. 

The visit was sponsored by the Huntington Beach Friends of the Children's Library (FOTCL), a group that has been supporting author visits to the schools for many years. This year FOTCL donated $100 to the school to purchase copies of my books for their library. Now the students at Golden View can continue to enjoy my books in years to come. I thank Larry Hersh and Sandy de la Fuente, volunteers with FOTCL, who helped make the arrangements for this visit. And I thank librarian Alina Jiminez-Newton and principal Lori Florgan at Golden View for organizing the day, coordinating the book orders, and helping with the technology. And I especially thank the lower grade teachers for welcoming me and  providing delicious snacks in the teachers' lounge.

MY ART ON EXHIBIT AT UCLA: The Silvia Winstein UCLA Emeriti/Retirees Arts and Crafts Exhibit 2024

Illustrations from A Day and Night on the Prairie (top) and A Day and Night in the Forest (bottom).

I had a fun day yesterday at the Silvia Winstein UCLA Emeriti/Retirees Arts and Crafts Exhibit 2024, held in the Faculty Center on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, I enjoyed talking with the other twenty-four artists and seeing their work, which ranged from paintings and drawings, to photography, sculpture, ceramics, and jewelry. I exhibited illustrations from my books A Day and Night in the Forest and A Day and Night in the Prairie.  They are giclee prints of my original cut paper art. After setting up the show in the morning, it was open to the public for viewing from 11am to 4pm, with a festive reception at 2pm. It was my first time to join this group. I thank the Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center and Shirley Ho for all the organization that makes this annual event such a success. 

All the artists who exhibited in the show. (Photo by Albert Hsu.)

AUTHOR VISIT AT WPC PRESCHOOL, Los Angeles, CA

Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets.

This morning I had an enjoyable visit with the children at the Westwood Presbyterian Church Preschool, Los Angeles, California, an annual event. Many of my books are in the school library. Earlier this spring all of the classes had raised painted lady butterflies, which provided an opportunity for me to discuss my book BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6. With the two-year-old and three-year-old classes, I also read WIGGLE AND WAGGLE accompanied by my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets. With the four and five year old classes I shared A ZEBRA’S WORLD followed by a group Lion Hunt, and then read MY FRIEND FROM OUTER SPACE and THE TERRIBLE HODAG AND THE ANIMAL CATCHERS. I was impressed by how good listeners the children were as I read the stories. I thank Director Bri Naiman for coordinating my visit and for being an enthusiastic Wiggle and Waggle puppeteer. 

It has become a tradition that I read this Hodag book at my visits to the WPC Preschool.

MY ART ON EXHIBIT AT UCLA MAY 21: Silvia Winstein Arts and Crafts Exhibit--Save the Date!

Fox and Porcupine, pp 16-17, A DAY AND NIGHT IN THE FOREST

The annual Sylvia Winstein Arts and Crafts Exhibit is a long-standing campus tradition. This year the Emeriti Association and UCLARA are collaborating to highlight more creative work than ever from emeriti and retiree members and their spouses. 

Save the date: Tuesday, May 21 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Morrison Room of the UCLA Faculty Club. The exhibit offers the rare opportunity to both see the work and meet the artists. The 28 artists will be exhibiting sculpture, photography, oil painting, watercolor, ceramics, weaving, calligraphy, and jewelry. The featured retiree artist is Michelle Shin, whose primary interest is oil paintings of natural scenes in California and in Korea. She had a solo exhibition in Seoul in July 2023 and was part of a group show in New York City in November 2023.

I will be exhibiting giclee prints of illustrations from my books A DAY AND NIGHT IN THE FOREST and A DAY AND NIGHT ON THE PRAIRIE (Picture Window Books, 2015).

Fox and Skunks, pp 12-13,  A DAY AND NIGHT ON THE PRAIRIE

BOOK SALES BENEFIT CAMP BOVEY, Article in the Northeaster Newspaper

Many thanks to reporter Alex Schlee for his excellent article in the May 3rd issue of the Northeaster Newspaper in Minneapolis about my book signing event on April 18th at East Side Neighborhood Services. (See my post of April 29th on this blog for my report of the event.)  Alex's article begins:

Of all the things Caroline Scheaffer Arnold remembers from her youth living at the Northeast Neighborhood house, the recreation programs offered there stand out the most. Among the memories of her childhood, those of Camp Bovey shine particularly bright. The settlement house’s summer campground in northern Wisconsin occupies a joyful place in her mind as well as in several chapters of her recently published memoir, “Settlement House Girl” (featured in the April 3 edition of The Northeaster). 

Camp Bovey is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, coinciding neatly with the release of Arnold’s book in December last year. Though “Settlement House Girl” doesn’t predominantly focus on Camp Bovey, Arnold still regaled fans with tales from her time there at a book signing and celebration of the camp at East Side Neighborhood Services (ESNS) on the evening of April 18. 

For the rest of the article click HERE. As Alex points out, celebration of Camp Bovey's 75th year continues, including an outdoor dance party at ESNS called "Beats for Bovey" scheduled for June 15th. Check the ESNS/Camp Bovey website for updates and more information.

Settlement House Girl is available online at Amazon, or you can buy copies of the book at Eat My Words bookstore on 13th Street in Northeast Minneapolis.

Signing books at ESNS. Photo by Alex Schlee, Northeaster Newspaper

VISIT TO THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF BERGEN, Bergen, Norway

In the library of the International School of Bergen with Jules Crossley-Nilsen and teacher. We are holding books that I donated to the library.

While my husband Art attended his meetings at a scientific conference in Bergen, Norway, I took a taxi to the International School of Bergen in Sandlihuagen, a suburb of the city, for a tour of the school. I enjoyed the opportunity to visit several of the classrooms and meet the children and teachers. (Classes are taught in English.)  I went into first, second, and third grade classes and the children tried to guess how many books I had written. They were amazed to learn that it is 170! One student asked me if I was famous. I told him that my books are in libraries all over the US and in many parts of the world. So, I can say that my books are famous. I was thrilled to discover that one of the teachers has a copy of my very first book--Five Nests! It was published in 1980. It was part of her mother’s collection of books from when she was a school librarian in India.

I thank Jules Crossley-Nilsen, the librarian and Community Ambassador at ISB for arranging my visit and coordinating my tour of the school. I donated several of my books to the library and Jules told me that she plans to order more. They are a good fit for Earth Day and other parts of the curriculum. I know that this is a busy time of year at the school and I appreciate that I was able to visit. I hope there will be a chance for me to come back some time in the future or possibly to arrange an author visit by Zoom.