VISIT TO THE MILL VALLEY PUBLIC LIBRARY, Mill Valley, California

Children's Room of the Mill Valley Public Library, Mill Valley, CA.

On a recent trip to the Bay Area in Northern California, I visited the beautiful Mill Valley Public Library, tucked among the redwoods in the town of Mill Valley in Marin County. The large windows of the library look out onto Mill Park, a grove of giant redwood trees along Mill Creek, which was roaring with water after a week of heavy rain. In the early days of Mill Valley the water power of the creek ran a sawmill. Today the  trees are preserved as a public park.

Redwood trees in Mill Park, Mill Valley, CA.

My parents lived in Mill Valley for thirty-seven years and I often visited both the redwood grove and the library. On the day of my recent visit (during the Christmas holidays) the library was busy with families and people checking out books. When I looked at the catalog I found that the library has 44 of my books in its collection. I was pleased to see that a number of them were checked out, including my book about Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, Keeper of the Light: Juliet Fish Nichols Fights the San Francisco Fog. 

Entrance to the Mill Valley Public Library.

HUMBOLDT COUNTY CHILDREN'S AUTHOR FESTIVAL: Four Days Celebrating Books and Reading

Author visit at Ambrosini School, Fortuna, CA, for the Humboldt County Children's Author Festival

I am home now in Los Angeles and am thinking about all the amazing events of last week. It was wonderful to be back in beautiful Humboldt County for the Humboldt County Children's Author Festival.  I sensed an extra level of enthusiasm for the festival after waiting an extra year since the last festival because of Covid. Special thanks go to Festival coordinators Joan Williams, Becky Giacomini, and Linda Lorvig.

My art from A Day and Night in the Desert on exhibit at the Morris Graves Museum, Eureka, CA.

The Festival Committee and the dozens of volunteers do such a good job making sure that everything goes smoothly. From the opening reception and art exhibit, to the Thursday night potluck and student performance, to the Sky Walk at the Zoo and Banquet on Friday, to the book signing at the Humboldt County Library on Saturday, everything was great. 

Author visit at Cuddeback School, Carlotta, CA.

My schools (Ambrosini on Thursday and Cuddeback on Friday) were terrific. The students were enthusiastic and asked great questions. I thank Kim Gans, the librarian at Ambrosini, and Principle Blaine Sigler at Cuddeback for helping to prepare the students for my visit. At Ambrosini, each class had focused on one of my books and created a poster for display on the walls of the MPR. 

 

Mural by 1st graders inspired by Keeper of the Light

I was especially impressed by the first graders' mural of my new book Keeper of the Light. One of the students from that class came to the library on Saturday with his family and proudly told me that he had drawn the giant bell. 

Redwood Sky Walk at the Sequoia Park Zoo, Eureka, CA

On Friday afternoon, after we had finished our school visits, we had a special tour at the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka of the new Redwoods Sky Walk. This was a special treat, especially to have a guided tour by the zoo director. I learned, among other things, that the park has the distinction of having the tallest redwood in an urban area anywhere in the world!

 

At the Carson mansion, site of the Friday night banquet.

Friday evening was the traditional banquet, held at the elegant Carson Mansion at the edge of Humboldt Bay, a chance to celebrate with community members--at my table there were three librarians--and to hear each author give a short talk. The challenge is keeping one's remarks to less than 3 minutes!  

At the Saturday book signing at the library with author/illustrators Bob Barner and Bethanie Murguia.

On Saturday, at the library, I made a point to take pictures of all the authors (including a selfie of me)--in our colorful Take Flight With Books t-shirts. 

This year's festival theme was Take Flight With Books. The display at the Humboldt County Library featured my books A Zebra's World, A Moose's World, and Hatching Chicks in Room 6 next to a giant papier mache balloon.

The special thing about the Humboldt County Children's Author Festival is spending time with the other authors and getting to know the local volunteers who are involved in making it happen. Special thanks to Peter Springer for arranging my travel. I have been coming to the Festival since 2007 and enjoyed it every time.

 

Take Flight With Books Poster. Cake by Ramones (dessert at banquet)

Again, to all the volunteers and members of the committee, thanks so much for inviting me again to be part of the Author Festival! It is always a highlight of my year.

For more about the festival and its history, take a look at Peter Springer's blogpost.