SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL at ALA, Displayed in the Combined Book Exhibit

SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL displayed at the ALA Combined Book Exhibit, June 2025

With many thanks to Colleen Paeff for stopping by the Combined Book Exhibit booth at the American Library Association annual conference in Philadelphia two weeks ago and taking a photo of my book SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL Growing Up in the 1950s at North East Neighborhood House, Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was thrilled to see it so prominently displayed! I hope that some of the children's librarians attending the conference were able to see it and make the connection to my children's books. I know Colleen through two of my book discussion groups in LA and was glad she could be my eyes and ears at the conference. Colleen, a brilliant new nonfiction author, was at ALA signing her books The Big Stink and Firefly Song.

ALA COMBINED BOOK EXHIBIT: Look for SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL!

This year the annual American Library Association convention is in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and, as usual, the exhibit hall will be filled with publishers' booths promoting all their latest books. You can find my memoir SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL: Growing Up in the 1950s at Northeast Neighborhood House in the Combined Book Exhibit, Booth #1838, which features independently published books. Although my book is for adults, I think it will be of interest to teachers and librarians who know me as a children's book writer. The roots of my career can be found in my childhood.

Click HERE for a map of the exhibit floor and Booth #1838. You can find both the paperback and ebook of SETTLEMENT HOUSE GIRL in the Combined Book Exhibit booth. For an ebook preview of the first chapter of the book click on the link on the Combined Book Exhibit webpage for the book.

Book Description

A chronicle of children's book author Caroline Arnold's childhood living at a settlement house--from nursery school and after school clubs to summers at camp. A window into life at mid-century and Caroline's future as a writer and illustrator.

Book Review 

"The narrative presents a wealth of historical information as well as an insider's view of an uncommon subject matter." BookLife Prize review

ALA CONFERENCE IN SAN DIEGO: Book Signing of PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6

American Library Association at the Convention Center, San Diego, CA

I had a great day yesterday at the American Library Association conference at the Convention Center in San Diego, California. The exhibit halls were filled with hundreds of booths and the aisles crowded with librarians and library people from all over the country. 

With Andrea Brown in the Charlesbridge booth at ALA

In the afternoon, for more than an hour, a steady stream of people came as I signed copies of the new paperback edition of PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 in the Charlesbridge booth. Many thanks to Donna Spurlock, Director of Marketing, for setting up the signing and to Lindsay Atkins for making sure that everything ran smoothly. And thanks to my agent Andrea Brown for assisting at the signing table as I signed books and chatted with librarians. I was pleased to hear how much they enjoy using my books with kids.

With Lindsay Atkins in the Charlesbridge booth at ALA

The evening before I attended a lovely party at the home of Kelly Sonnack celebrating Andrea and the agency she has built over the last forty plus years. I was one of Andrea's first authors when it was just Andrea. Now the Andrea Brown Literary Agency has grown to fifteen agents with hundreds of authors! Congratulations Andrea!

With Andrea Brown

BOOK SIGNING of Planting a Garden in Room 6 at ALA in SAN DIEGO, June 30th. SAVE THE DATE!

A week from today at 2pm I will be signing my book PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 at the San Diego Convention Center in the Charlesbridge booth  (#1823) on the exhibits floor of the American Library Association annual conference. Planting a Garden in Room 6 and the other two Room 6 books, Hatching Chicks in Room 6 and Butterflies in Room 6 are newly published this year in paperback. If you are going to be at ALA that day, I hope to see you there!

BOOK SIGNING AT ALA in WASHINGTON, DC

In the Junior Library Guild booth at ALA in Washington, DC

I had a great day on Saturday at ALA in Washington, DC, signing KEEPER OF THE LIGHT in the Abrams booth and PLANTING A GARDEN in the Charlesbridge booth, and cruising the aisles of the exhibit hall to see all the publishers' new books! 

In  the Abrams booth at ALA

Many thanks to Nina Greuner, publisher of Cameron Kids, and everyone in the Abrams booth for hosting me in the booth and keeping the signing line going smoothly. 

In the Charlesbridge booth at ALA

And thanks to Donna Spurlock, Meg Quinn, Lindsay and Jaliza, and everyone in the Charlesbridge booth for coordinating my signing there. At both booths we ran out of books before the hour was over! It was great meeting librarians from so many places.

I also stopped by the Junior Library Guild booth and posed for a photo with PLANTING A GARDEN IN ROOM 6 which was a Spring selection.

Everyone in the convention center was required to be vaccinated and wear a mask (although I took mine off briefly for the photos.) Everyone, including me, seemed happy to be at a live, real person event!

MARK YOU CALENDAR FOR MY BOOK SIGNINGS AT ALA, June 25, Washington, DC

I am planning to be at the American Library Association (ALA) conference in Washington, DC, at the end of June. I will be signing Keeper of the Light: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog in the Abrams booth on Saturday, June 25th, 11:00-11:30 am. I will sign  Planting a Garden in Room 6: From Seeds to Salad in the Charlesbridge Booth the same day, June 25th at 2pm. 

If you are going to be at ALA and have time to stop by, it would be great to see you!

 

REVIEW in BOOKLIST of KEEPER OF THE LIGHT

 The following review of KEEPER OF THE LIGHT appeared in Booklist, April 15, 2022.

Keeper of the Light: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog.

By Caroline Arnold. Illus. by Rachell Sumpter

Apr. 2022. 40p. Cameron Kids, $18.99 (9781951836375). PreS–Gr. 3

 

In 1902, Juliet Fish Nichols became the lighthouse keeper on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. Written in first person from her point of view, this fictional narrative describes the actual woman’s solitary life, spent reading, writing reports in the log book, and maintaining the lamp that guided boats at night, as well as the machine that rang a heavy bell, warning sailors away from the island when fog hid it from view. Early one morning, her bed thrashed “like a boat in a storm.” The 1906 earthquake had struck San Francisco. Months later, when the bay was crowded with ships, the bell-ringing machine broke down. Grabbing the mallet, she struck the bell twice every 15 seconds throughout the night, saying, “The fog is fierce, but so am I.” Though not inherently dramatic, the story is well told and interesting. Sumpter contributes illustrations portraying a confident young woman within colorful surroundings including the lighthouse, her hillside garden, and the sun setting over the bay. An attractive picture book celebrating a lighthouse keeper's dedication to her work.

 

CELEBRATING NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK: My First Library

Central Avenue Library, Minneapolis, Minnesota, built in 1915

National Library Week (April 3 - 9, 2022) is a time to celebrate our nation's libraries, library workers' contributions and promote library use and support. First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and observed in libraries across the country each April.

I have been going to the library ever since I can remember. When I was four years old my family moved to Northeast Minneapolis and family trips to the public library on Central Avenue were a Saturday morning ritual. While my parents picked out their books in the main room upstairs, my brothers and I scoured the shelves in the downstairs children’s room. I liked story books like Madeline, Curious George and Ferdinand. Steve loved books about trains. Peter liked sports and Tom picked out books about animals. Later, back in our apartment at North East Neighborhood House, we crowded onto the sofa or one of our beds and listened as our parents read to us. 

Among our favorite books was Minn of the Mississippi by Holling C. Hollings, packed with facts and detailed illustrations about everything from the history of the Earth to cell division. Minn, a snapping turtle, travels the length of the Mississippi River from its headwaters in northern Minnesota to the Delta in Louisiana. It was easy to imagine the story. We caught snapping turtles lurking in the reeds along the shore at Camp Bovey. The Mississippi River was just a few blocks from our home at North East Neighborhood House, its deep waters rushing over St. Anthony Falls, powering the flour mills flanking the riverbanks. Every kid, including me, could rattle off—MI-SS-I-SS-I-PP-I --as proof of their spelling prowess. When I was thirteen, our family visited the Mississippi’s source in Itasca State Park, where Minn begins his journey south. I attempted to cross the narrow stream that pours out of the lake. But walking across the Mississippi isn’t so easy. I took off my shoes and got halfway to the other side, but the rocks were slippery and the water swift. I lost my footing and fell in. 

Note: The Central Avenue Library building that I remember from my childhood was built in 1915 with funds from Andrew Carnegie. It was torn down in 1971 and replaced with a modern glass and brick building, then remodeled and enlarged in 2011.