Ronnie's Awesome List, The Ultimate Kids Events Round-Up In Marin And Beyond.
This year, for the first time ever, we’re dedicating a whole separate day for our free family programming. And we’re showcasing it all in a venue that couldn’t be more perfect: the Berkeley Public Library downtown!
Bring your little ones, your middle-graders, your teens for a full day of interactive, unforgettable fun!
This is exactly what your little ones want when they say “read me a story.” Delightful, beautifully illustrated board books, perfect for the youngest kids who love to be read to, bring to life the wonder and mystery of mommy’s pregnant belly, our wondrous solar system, the hilarious deliciousness of bananas, and a little girl’s day filled with love.
So many books you won’t know where to start—and that’s a good problem to have, both for these prolific authors and their eager readers!
This special workshop for tweens and teens, led by Grant, will focus on Flash Fiction: short prose pieces that pack a punch.
A brilliant Palestinian-American writer shares an enchanting picture book infused with the sights, sounds, traditions, and stories of her family’s ancestral home.
Joe Cepeda (Best Worst Camp Out Ever and Rafa Counts on Papa) an award-winning illustrator of more than thirty books for children; Monica Mancillas (How to Speak in Spanglish); and Michael Genhart (Spanish is the Language of My Family) come together to share Latinx-centered stories from the heart: the ideal experience to share with your little ones. MC’d by Bri Reads!
Joe Cepeda (Best Worst Camp Out Ever and Rafa Counts on Papa) an award-winning illustrator of more than thirty books for children; Monica Mancillas (How to Speak in Spanglish); and Michael Genhart (Spanish is the Language of My Family) come together to share Latinx-centered stories from the heart: the ideal experience to share with your little ones. MC’d by Bri Reads!
Joyful, unapologetic self-expression is the name of the game for this storytime session. Carina Ho (Mighty Mara) gives us a dauntless little girl determined to dance despite her disability and her classmates’ skepticism; Hadley Davis introduces athe first figure staker to complete internationally in a hijab with Not Yet; Malik Sickstein and Paige Mason rock the house with I Grab the Mic, the first in a picture book series featuring kids overcoming challenging scenarios and building confidence, all written through the lyrical hip-hop inspired verse; and Margaret Chiu Greanias (Hooked on Books) takes us to the deep blue sea, where a bookworm fish just wants a quiet place to read and be herself. You’ll love the message of this storytime, moderated by the talented young women of Cinnamongirl Inc.
If a picture’s worth a thousand words, is a whole book of pictures that tell a story worth a million? Here to show us the magic narrative power of the visual medium are Eunice Moyle (Captain Marvel Soars), who’s illustrated fourteen books with her writer sister, Sabrina, that have gone on to sell over 730,000 copies; Shawn Harris, Caldecott Honor-winning author and illustrator (Teeny Weeny Unicorn), and C.G. Esperanza, whose Boogie Boogie, Y’all, an NPR Best Book of the Year, celebrates the beauty of Bronx graffiti.
Love is in the air, with unforgettable characters and love stories from two of today’s most celebrated and groundbreaking YA novelists, both of whom are seeing their work translated into film on the big screen. In Mason Deaver’s heartbreaking yet joyous I Wish You All the Best, Ben De Backer is thrown out of their parents’ house after coming out as nonbinary, but a new love interest, forged in friendship, points the way to a happier future. In Abigail Hing Wen’s Loveboat Forever, a sequel to her New York Times bestselling, movie-adapted debut Loveboat, Taipei, takes us on a whirlwind romantic adventure featuring young music prodigy Pearl Wong. Moderated by Sharon Levin, founder of the Bay Area Children’s Literature List.
Did you know that May is Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month? Celebrate the richness and diversity of AANHPI culture, history, talent, and tradition with dazzling illustrator Sophie Diao (We Are Golden: 27 Groundbreakers Who Changed the World); international authority on Asian cuisine Ying Chang Compestine (Growing Up under a red Flag); Dr. Amita R. Shah (Shanti & The Knot of Protection: A Rakhi Story); Anna Wong (Doubly Happy: ABCs for ABCs); and illustrator Carl Angel (Pedro’s Yo-Yos: How a Filipino Immigrant Came to America and Changed the World of Toys, with Rob Peñas). Featuring a fun interactive activity for the kids!
An empowering conversation with one of the world’s most inspirational activists and thought leaders writing and speaking today. You’ll want to bring your daughters, sons, their friends, and your friends to hear the radically powerful message of Sonya Renee Taylor, revolutionary founder of The Body Is Not an Apology, a global digital media and education company exploring the intersections of identity, healing, and social justice through the framework of radical self-love. The author of the bestselling book by the same name and six more, Taylor will be in conversation with the extraordinary young women of Cinnamongirl Inc.
Get a bird’s-eye view into the creativity, imagination, and process of some of the most acclaimed authors working in the hottest and fastest-growing literary genre today: the graphic novel/memoir. Since 2019, sales of graphic novels have jumped over 100%, and they’re an especially infectious way to introduce kids of all ages to the joy of reading and art. Maggie Tokuda-Hall (The Worst Ronin), Pedro Martín (Mexikid), Nidhi Chanani (Shark Princess series), and Jason Shiga (the Adventuregame Series) are all brilliant creators of graphic novels/memoirs for middle-grade readers, and they’re here to share the magic. Moderated by Elaine Tai, librarian and author of Yes Means Yes: A Kid’s Book about Consent, Boundaries, & Listening to Your Body.
Our kids are inheriting the earth, and it’s never too soon to start cultivating their appreciation, protectiveness, and love for the wild places and creatures that make it so magical. This dazzling session brings together Academy Award winning director and Pixar animator Alan Barillaro (known for the Oscar-winning short animated film Piper, about a hungry baby sandpiper learning to overcome her fear of water), Tiffany Yap and Meital Smith (author and illustrator of the graphic novel Tales of the Urban Wild: A Puma’s Journey), and Nikki McClure, who illustrated a stunning picture book version of environmental pioneer Rachel Carson’s ode to clouds, Something About the Sky.
At a time when there’s so much separation and division in the world, a strong sense of community is more important than ever for kids’—and everyone’s—capacity to thrive and grow. These authors each take their own unique approach to telling the story of community. Roxanne Chester’s This is My Bag: A Story of the Unhoused shows us the realities of a diverse range of people living without shelter. Booki Vivat’s Meet Me on Mercer Street is a hilarious yet deeply perceptive portrait of a changing neighborhood. In Robert Liu-Trujillo’s Fresh Juice, a father-son grocery errand takes them all over their community: to downtown, the farmers’ market, the food co-op, and the West African grocery. And DeMareon Gipson’s Annalise’s Cough helps kids understand the impact of environmental racism. Come be part of something genuine, inclusive, and community-building.
We’re thrilled to once again present the talented youth of the Graton Writing Project, a series of writing workshops for middle-and high-school Native students from Sonoma, California, that culminates in a published anthology of their work. Each year, the students work with writing mentors to create original pieces inspired by a theme; past themes have included the nature environment and hopes for the future. environmental. Author Greg Sarris(Becoming Story), Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, will moderate this showcase of moving, powerful work from the workshop’s 2024 cohort.
From 2021 to 2023, PEN America’s Index of School Book Bans recorded 5,894 instances of book bans across 41 states and 247 public school districts. The bans show no sign of slowing down, and they’re disproportionately aimed at authors of color, LGBTQ+ authors, and women. Books about racism, sexuality, gender, and history are under particular attack. This conversation between some of today’s leading authors of books for young people—many of which tackle the subjects most often targeted for censorship—will examine how the issue impacts kids today and how we fight back. With Maggie Tokuda-Hall(The Worst Ronin), Aida Salazar (Ultraviolet), Nikki Grimes (A Walk in the Woods), Mason Deaver (I Wish You All the Best) and Dashka Slater (Accountable). Moderated by celebrated public librarian and library advocate Mychal Threets.
From boogying in the Bronx to riding horseback down the early morning streets, from visiting the moon and talking to the stars to choosing the perfect baby name and fighting for civil rights: these powerful expressions of Black joy, strength, and beauty are unforgettably brought to life in picture books by C.G. Esperanza (Boogie Boogie, Y’all and My Daddy is a Cowboy), Stephanie Seales (My Daddy Is a Cowboy), Breanna J. McDaniel (Impossible Moon), Seina Wedlick (Naming Ceremony), and Angela Dalton (To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights).
If your little one is just starting to learn the basics of reading, this session will help make it even more fun, immersive, and irresistible. Vicky Fang’s Alphabotexplores a simple A to Z roundup of robotics terms that’s a blast for beginners. Tim McCanna’s Peach and Plum: Double Trouble! is a hilarious rhyming graphic novel for early readers. And Jen de Oliveira’s Reggie: Penguin in Charge will delight beginning readers with boisterous illustrations and spunky kid penguin protagonist.
Home is a complex thing: sometimes it’s a physical space, sometimes a concept, sometimes a feeling, sometimes a person. And sometimes a blend of all these and more. These novelists explore the multiple meanings of home with poignancy and vividness. Jane Kuo (Land of Broken Promises) tells the story of Taiwanese immigrant Anna, whose family make a shocking discovery that puts their American dreams at risk. In Mae Respicio’s middle grade novel Isabel in Bloom, a girl discovers a connection between her home in the Philippines and her new home in the U.S. through a special garden. Kate O’Shaughnessy’s The Wrong Way Home tells the tale of a girl adjusting to the outside world after fleeing an “off the grid community” with her mother. Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic’s Hummingbird Season is a moving and necessary story about finding hope during difficult times, set in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. And Yamile Saied Méndez’ The Beautiful Game features a young soccer player who must find her way back not only to the game she loves, but her own sense of self and belonging.
What more delicious and kid-friendly way to learn about culture and fellowship than through food? Three authors and foodies explore the intersections between food, fun, and belonging: Robert Liu-Trujillo (author of the gorgeously wholesome picture book Fresh Juice), leading national authority on Asian cuisine Ying Compenstine (whose latest picture book, Ra Pu Zel and the Stinky Tofu, is a feminist Chinese-cuisine take on Rapunzel), and Meera Sriram, author of the highly acclaimed A Garden in My Hands and The Spice Box. This session will tickle your little ones’ ribs and warm their hearts.
Love, family, suspense, glamor and female friendship abound in the work of these authors, all of whom explore the inner and outer worlds of girls with sensitivity, humor, and their own unforgettable voices. In Aya de León’s Untraceable, the gripping prequel to her Undercover Latina , a young plus-size Black teen goes on the run with her mom and learns that her parents are spies. Grace K. Shim grew up as one of only two Korean students at school in her small Oklahoma town, and now she writes about the Korean girl protagonists she wishes she’d been exposed to as a kid. Like Riley Jo in Not Your Average Jo, a Korean American teenager from Arkansas, attends a prestigious boarding school in Los Angeles to pursue her indie rock dreams. And Dale Wells’ The Queer Girl is Going to Be Okay, a Publishers Weekly best book of 2023, is a touching and joyous story of queer friendship and girlhood set in Houston. Moderated by diverse children’s literature expert and award-winning author Archaa Shriastav .
Dragons, demons, bullies, curses, and…puppies, oh my. These picture-book authors and illustrators will tell spellbinding tales of the “monsters” among us—some of which aren’t so scary after all—and the love, courage, and cuddles that help us all pull through. With Charlotte Cheng (Roar-Choo!), JaNay Brown-Wood, PhD (Mahogany: A Little Red Riding Hood Tale), J.P. Takahashi (Tokyo Night Parade), Rev Valdez (Bunso Meets a Mumu), and Donna Gwinnell Lambo-Weidner (There Are No Dragons in This Book).
We all know science is real. It’s also—surprise, surprise—fun and fascinating! This storytime brings the wonders and applications of science gloriously alive for young readers, featuring Ashley Benham-Yazdani (Cosmic Wonder: Halley’s Comet and Humankind), Helen Taylor (How to Eat in Space) and Kerry Aradhya (Erno Rubik and His Magic Cube).
Sometimes, the darkness can illuminate the imagination—especially in these beautifully wrought novels for teen readers. New York Times bestselling author Traci Chee’s gut-wrenching fantasy Kindling tells the tale of postwar “kindlings,” a corps of elite, magic-wielding warriors whose devastating power comes at the cost of their own young lives. Darcie Little Badger’s A Snake Falls to Earth, longlisted for the National Book Award and winner of the Newbery Award, is a breathtaking saga of Indigenous futurism that draws from the author’s knowledge of Lipan Apache storytelling. Sarah Lariviere’s Riot Act is an alternate history set in 1991 in which theatre kids fight for freedom of expression, while Brittany N. Williams (That Self-Same Metal) melds the world of fae with the grit and excitement of Shakespeare’s London acting troupe; and Sandra Proudman’s anthology Relit, featuring sixteen award-winning and bestselling YA authors, reimagines classic tales through fantasy and science fiction, anchored by a Latinx point of view. Moderated by Laura Gao.
Fire up your middle graders’ imaginations with an enchanting session full of fantasy, intrigue, and the beauty of invented worlds. Featuring Kalyn Josephson(author of This Dark Descent, about a family that breeds enchanted horses), Lisa Moore Ramee (author of the middle grade fantasy Map Maker), Misa Siguira ( Momo Arashima Breaks the Mirror of the Sun, the latest installment in a series filled with the gods and monsters of Shinto mythology), and Kamilla Benko ( The Unicorn Legacy: Tangled Magic). Moderated by the talented young writers of Cinnamongirl Inc.
Family is forever, and three picture-book authors show us exactly why and how, with heartwarming stories centered on the familial love and bonding to be found in everything from chores to spelling bees to bedtime stories. With Lori Sugarman-Li (Our Home: The Love, Work, and Heart of Family), Michael Genhart (Spanish Is the Language of My Family), and Hannah Moushabeck (Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine).
It’s never too early to encourage and nurture our boys to get in touch with and express their emotions in constructive, effective ways. Art and creativity are wonderful tools to access, model, and talk about emotions in a way that makes kids feel understood, seen, and heard. This session brings together authors Stephen Bramucci (whose Race for the Ruby Turtle is an adventure story that speaks to kids struggling with ADHD), Byron Graves (whose award-winning Rez Ball presents a deeply personal look at grief), Pedro Martin (author of the acclaimed graphic memoir Mexikid), and Aida Salazar (whose latest novel Ultraviolet calls to mind Judy Blume crossed with Jason Reynolds). Each of these authors’ books features boy protagonists grappling with emotions any young reader can relate to. Moderated by beloved Oakland second-grade teacher and master storyteller Peter Limata.
If your little ones love animals (and who doesn’t?), you can’t miss this storytelling session featuring some of the funniest, cutest, cleverest animal-centric picture books around that’ll have your kids entranced. With Megan Mcdonald (Bunny and Clyde, about a rabbit and chipmunk duo who walk on the wild side), Shawn Harris (The Teeny-Weeny Unicorn), Mac Barnett (The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza, in collaboration with Shawn Harris), and Nidhi Chanani (author of the early-reader graphic novel series Shark Princess).
We’re thrilled to once again present the talented youth of the Graton Writing Project, a series of writing workshops for middle-and high-school Native students from Sonoma, California, that culminates in a published anthology of their work. Each year, the students work with writing mentors to create original pieces inspired by a theme; past themes have included the nature environment and hopes for the future. environmental. Author Greg Sarris(Becoming Story), Chairman of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, will moderate this showcase of moving, powerful work from the workshop’s 2024 cohort.
We’re proud to once again feature the remarkable young women of Cinnamongirl, a transformative Oakland-based program that empowers, guides, and nurtures the creativity and leadership of Black girls. Write Your Story, now in its fourth year, is an exciting year-long program that brings creative writing masterclasses and artistic mentorship to young women of color, ages 12 to 18, and collects and publishes their work in a bound anthology. Come hear the original work of 2024’s cohort, along with some of the amazing WOC mentors they worked with.
Ronnie's Awesome List, The Ultimate Kids Events Round-Up In Marin And Beyond.
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