Art Donation to the 2018 ABC/CBC Silent Art Auction at BookExpo

I have donated a giclee print of an illustration from my book A Wombat’s World to the 2018 ABC/CBC Silent Art Auction to Benefit ABFE and Every Child a Reader. The auction will be held May 30th in New York at the Javits South Concourse in conjunction with BookExpo. I am pleased to be able to contribute to this worthy cause.

ABC Children's Group (ABC), a program of the American Booksellers Association (ABA), is dedicated to growing and expanding the reach of children's books. ABC serves independent bookstores, authors, publishers, and illustrators, and develops unique education, events, and communications to further that purpose. ABA is a not-for-profit trade association devoted to meeting the needs of its core members-independently owned bookstores with storefront locations. It exists to protect and promote the interests of independent retail book businesses, as well as - through American Booksellers for Free Expression (ABFE) - to protect the First Amendment rights of every American.

Every Child a Reader is a 501(c)(3) literacy charity dedicated to inspiring a lifelong love of reading in children and teens across America. Every Child a Reader's three major national programs are: Children's Book Week, celebrating 99 years this April 30-May 6, 2018; the Children's & Teen Choice Book Awards; and the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature program, in partnership with the Library of Congress. The 2018-2019 National Ambassador is Jacqueline Woodson.

LA’s BEST visit to Young Authors at Grant Elementary School, Los Angeles, CA

Coloring rain forest animals

Two weeks ago I spent an hour with a group of very enthusiastic young authors in kindergarten and first grade at Grant Elementary School in Los Angeles who are participating in the LA’s BEST after school young author program. I had a chance to see some of their “I Am...” books which they had just completed and their notebooks for a new project, “An ABC Christmas.” Each student read one sentence for me from the ABC book. For the letter “B” one student wrote, “I like Christmas bells.” Then I read to them from my books A Zebra’s World, Wiggle and Waggle, and A Day and Night in the Rain Forest. At the end of the hour the children colored their own pictures of a toucan and monkeys in the rain forest. I was pleased to see how excited they were about learning about animals. It was a fun and full afternoon.

Page from an "I Am...." book