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!

ART SHOW--PAINTINGS BY TOM SCHEAFFER, at the Maya Moon Collective, San Diego, CA

My brother Tom Scheaffer is exhibiting his beautiful paintings at the Maya Moon Collective in San Diego, California, 3349 Adams Avenue, San Diego, CA 92116. The opening reception is Saturday, March 23^rd, 6 to 8 pm. If you are in the San Diego area, be sure to stop by to see the exhibit and have a bite to eat at the Maya Moon Cafe. The paintings will be up until the end of April.

Tom works in a colorful, expressionist/realistic style, depicting scenes in nature, especially of places in Southern California. His paintings are also inspired by his roots in the upper Midwest and summers in the North Woods at Camp Bovey in northern Wisconsin. Here are some samples of the paintings in the exhibit at the Maya Moon Restaurant.

NATURE INSPIRES ART: Paintings by Tom Scheaffer

Mission Trails Regional Park. Oil painting by Tom Scheaffer

My brother Tom Scheaffer loves the outdoors and frequently hikes at Mission Trails Regional Park near his home in San Diego, California. (See his post from January 17, 2022.) 

Mission Trails Regional Park.

Fall colors at Mission Trails.

Tom is an excellent photographer and a talented artist. Some of his work was recently exhibited at the Maya Moon Collective in San Diego .

Art by Tom Scheaffer. Pastel and white glue on  black paper. The glue makes black lines when it dries.

A recent walk at Mission Trails to see the fall colors has inspired two new works, one in pastels and the other an oil painting. Each one captures the richness and subtlety of nature's palette. The black lines on the pastel drawing remind me of the paintings of the French artist, Georges Roualt. 

BABY WHALE RESCUE: The True Story of J.J., now available as an E-Book

BABY WHALE RESCUE: The True Story of J.J., is now available as an E-Book on Amazon. It was originally published by Troll/Bridgewater Books in 1999 and is out of print. BABY WHALE RESCUE is illustrated with color photographs by Richard Hewett and photos from the Sea World of California Department of Photo Services. I am happy to have the book now available to new readers as an e-book. You can read it with a Kindle app on various devices (I use my iPad) or on your computer. 

The dramatic story was told on the evening news. Separated from her mother, a baby gray whale had been hopelessly stranded on a California beach. Fortunately, the whale was rescued and brought to SeaWorld of California in San Diego, where she was named J.J. and nursed back to health.

J.J. was the first baby gray whale to be raised in a marine park, and for months she was the park’s star attraction. But her caregivers knew that this gray whale would someday grow too large to live in captivity. Could J.J. be returned to the ocean–and learn to live on her own?

January 11, 2017 was the twentieth anniversary of J.J.’s rescue. It is considered one of the most successful rescue and rehabilitation stories in SeaWorld history.

CSLA Conference, 2016, San Diego, CA: Doorways to Diversity

Last weekend I participated in the CSLA Conference, in San Diego, celebrating the 100 year history of the California School Library Association at the beautiful Bahia Resort Hotel.

View of the bay from the Bahia Resort Hotel

Saturday was the day focused on authors and there were thirty-eight of us, with all author events coordinated by Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagen who made sure that we were treated like superstars all day long, including a delicious lunch and pre-dinner reception in her suite overlooking the bay, and arranging for hosts to make sure we were in the right place at the right time. Although the 7:30 starting time for my presentation turned out to be a tad early for most people, I enjoyed meeting lots of librarians at the author Speed Dating event (a little like human bingo) later in the morning, and at the California Young Reader Medal dinner in the evening, where we heard excellent speeches from CYRM winners Audrey Vernick and Jennifer A. Nielsen. Altogether it was a good day celebrating the love of books and reading!

With author Alexis O'Neill at the signing table after the CYRM dinner

2014 FOCAL AWARD: The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-loving Woman Changed a City Forever by H. Joseph Hopkins

Written by H. Joseph Hopkins, Illustrated by Jill McElmurry

FOCAL (Friends of Children and Literature, the support group of the Children’s programs of the Los Angeles Public Library) has chosen  The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-loving Woman Changed a City Forever by H. Joseph Hopkins as the award winner for 2014. The award will be presented at a luncheon December 6, 2014. This beautifully written book chronicles the life of Kate Sessions, who led a campaign to plant trees in San Diego, California, thus turning the city from a seaside desert to a urban garden. Colorful illustrations by Jill McElmurry convey Kate Session’s passion for plants.
I have been a member of the FOCAL Award Committee for four years, this year (my final year) as the past chair. Books that are considered for this award must have a California connection, and I must say I always learn more about my state after reading the books nominated for each year. This book gave me a new perspective on the beautiful city of San Diego and on a determined woman who followed her dream.

Katherine Olivia Sessions was born on Nob Hill in San Francisco November 8, 1857. After graduation from high school in Oakland,she entered the University of California at Berkeley in 1877, where she studied science and graduated in 1881. Her horticultural career began after teaching briefly in San Diego where she accepted a position in 1884. As owner of a flower shop and a succession of nurseries in Coronado, City Park, Mission Hills and Pacific Beach, she became a central figure in California and national horticultural circles with her landscaping, plant introductions, and classes.
It is in Balboa Park that the legacy of Kate Sessions is most obvious. She leased land in what was then called "City Park" in 1892 for a nursery. For this privilege, she was to plant one hundred trees a year in the park and furnish three hundred more for planting throughout the city. In 1902 she was instrumental in the formation of the park Improvement Committee with her friends George Marston and Mary B. Coulston. Their work resulted in assuring the park's place in the life of the community. Kate Sessions died March 24, 1940. She has come to be called the "Mother of Balboa Park" and a bronze statue of her was erected there in 1998.
(Excerpted from the San Diego History Center)