MY ART ON DISPLAY AT THE UCLA EMERITI/RETIREES ARTS AND CRAFTS EXHIBIT

On Tuesday, May 19th, I was one of 23 artists exhibiting at the annual Silvia Winstein UCLA Emeriti/Retirees Arts and Crafts Exhibit at the UCLA University Club in Los Angeles, California. I showed prints of my cut-paper book illustrations. Many thanks to Chair Kay Deeney and all the people who make the event happen. This year's featured artists were Shirley Ho, calligraphist, and Craig Schoenbaum, photographer.

The tradition of the show began many years ago when Sylvia, the young widow of UCLA Chemistry Professor Saul Winstein, had a tea for some friends and displayed several paintings. Artistic emeriti friends and spouses were so enthusiastic that Sylvia organized and supported what has become a very special yearly celebration. 

The event is  jointly presented by the UCLA Emeriti Association, the UCLA Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center, and the UCLA Retirees Association. 

READING WIGGLE AND WAGGLE: “BOOKS AND BAGELS” at Apricot Lane Farms, Moorpark, CA

Signing books at Apricot Lane Farms "Books and Bagels" event.

I spent last Saturday morning at Apricot Lane Farms in Moorpark, California, sharing my books at an event for children and parents called “Books and Bagels”. While seated on blankets on a grassy lawn and munching on breakfast, they listened to me talk about being an author and about my books. 

We were in the midst of a thriving organic farm, so it was fitting for me to share my Room 6 books, HATCHING CHICKS IN ROOM 6, BUTTERFLIES IN ROOM 6 and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 and also WIGGLE AND WAGGLE. At the end of the program I signed copies of WIGGLE AND WAGGLE and PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6, which were for sale in the Garden Shop.

Note: Directions for making stick puppets, singing the Wiggle and Waggle song, and other wormy activities are downloadable HERE.

I thank Liz Davis, Tours and Events Manager, for inviting me to share my books at Books and Bagels and who coordinated all the details of my visit. It was a pleasure to read my books and I was pleased that so many people bought them afterward. I also thank Kristen Nordstrom, who put on my Wiggle and Waggle sock puppets and acted out the story as I read aloud. She also was a great help handing out materials at the end of the program. (Everyone took home supplies to make their own Wiggle and Waggle stick puppets.) Kristen is a teacher at the school on the Apricot Lane Farms campus. She is also a children’s book author and shared her book Mimic Makers at a previous Books and Bagels program.

Kristen Nordstrom with my Wiggle and Waggle puppets.

The Books and Bagels program is a great way to celebrate books and reading and for families to discover the amazing plants and animals of Apricot Lane Farms. You can go to their website to find out more about it and how to visit.

Entrance to the Garden Area of Apricot Lane Farms

SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL Now Available at the LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY

I was delighted to discover that my memoir, SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL: Growing Up in the1950s at North East Neighborhood House, Minneapolis, Minnesota, is now available at the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL). It is on the shelf in the Social Science/Philosophy Department of the Central Branch (call number 360.61A752.) If you don’t want to go downtown to check out the book, you can put it on hold and have it delivered to your local branch.

Although I grew up in Minnesota, I have lived most of my adult life in California and the LAPL is my home library.  I am pleased that they have approved the book for their collection. It took two plus years! Most of my 170 books for children are already on the shelves. Now, readers who know my children’s books will be able to find out what my life was like as a child.

Los Angeles Public Library

SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL is already on the shelves of the Hennepin County Libraries in Minnesota and many other libraries across the country. You can check to see if it is in a library near where you live.

Celebrate ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE MONTH by reading my book, EASTER ISLAND: Giant Stone Statues Tell of a Rich and Tragic Past

The month of May is national Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and the perfect time to read my book EASTER ISLAND: Giant Stone Statures Tell of a Rich and Tragic Past. You can look for it in your library or download it to your Kindle. I was inspired to write the book after a visit to Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui) where I had the opportunity to walk among the giant statues and learn about the people who made them long ago.

Few places in the world are as mysterious or intriguing as Easter Island, a tiny, isolated outcrop of volcanic land that lies in the Polynesian region of the Pacific Ocean. When Europeans first stumbled on the island--landing on Easter Sunday 1722--they found a rocky, treeless coast lined with rows of giant stone statues, and a quiet farming and fishing community. Since then, this remote island has raised many questions. Who were the first inhabitants and where did they come from? How did they live? And why did they create such huge stone structures?

This book explains how the answers to many of these questions have been uncovered by archeologists or found in legends and family histories. In about 400 A.D., a small group of seafarers reached the uninhabited island and established a new settlement incorporating many of the traditions found elsewhere in Polynesia. They developed a rich and complex culture that lasted for more than a thousand years. Today large jets traveling between Santiago, Chile, and Tahiti stop at Easter Island several times a week. Thousands of people come to the island each year to see the ancient giant stone statues and to explore what has been called the world's largest open-air museum. Continued study of this remote island will help us gain a better understanding of its people and their history, as well as the fascinating story behind the giant "living faces" that line its shores.