On May 1, 2010, the Northern California Children’s Bookseller’s Association (NCCBA) will hold its second annual Kids Otter Read Day Around the Bay, a celebration of the San Francisco Bay Area’s thriving children’s book community.  Hosted by independent children’s booksellers, with appearances by more than 50 local children’s authors and illustrators, this is a not-to-be-missed event for readers of all ages.

Started in 2009, Kids Otter Read Day features simultaneous appearances by local children’s authors and illustrators at independent bookstores around the San Francisco Bay Area.

We are so excited to host this event at The Reading Bug for the following authors.  Get a chance to talk to each author in person one-on-one and participate in a fun reading and art activity with each author!  Light refreshments will be served.

 JENNIFER HOLM- The well known author of BabyMouse!  Draw comics with her one-on-one!

 CYNTHIA CHIN-LEE- Read and participate in a fun Q & A!  Learn how to draw a self portrait!

 CHRISTY HALE- make a collage in the style of her book, East West House!

 ANN MARTIN BOWLER- Read Gecko's Complaint, play musical instruments from around the world and make an art project based on Geckos! 

 This event is recommended for ages 4 to adult 

Adventures of the Treasure Fleet: China Discovers the World (Hardcover)

By Ann Martin Bowler, Lak-Khee Tay-Audouard

$19.95

ISBN-13: 9780804836739
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Tuttle Publishing, 2/2007

Adventure of the Treasure Fleet is the amazing story of seven epic voyages and its larger than life commander, Admiral Zheng He." The Admiral led 300 gigantic ships in the fifteenth century, from China all the way to Africa, visiting place like Siam, Sumatra, India and Arabia on the way! That adventure took place 85 years before Christopher Columbus expedition.

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Babymouse #12: Burns Rubber (Paperback)

By Jennifer L. Holm, Matt Holm, Jennifer L. Holm

$6.99

ISBN-13: 9780375857133
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House Books for Young Readers, 1/2010

Other Editions of this Title

Jennifer's latest in the Babymouse series! In the twelfth title in the popular Babymouse series, the little rodent dreams of entering and winning the biggest soapbox race of the year. She has to make her own vehicle, but all she makes is a mess until her friend Wilson helps her. More than just a situation, the story takes a surprising turn when, at the last moment, Wilson needs her help, and it’s Babymouse who comes to the rescue. As usual, the pink-accented, black-and-white drawings are full of action, humor, and feeling, and kids will enjoy the wry classroom and schoolyard backdrops as much as Babymouse’s big fantasies. Grades 4-6. -Booklist

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Akira to Zoltan: Twenty-Six Men Who Changed the World (Paperback)

By Cynthia Chin-Lee, Megan Halsey, Sean Addy

$7.95

ISBN-13: 9781570915802
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Charlesbridge Publishing, 7/2008

Other Editions of this Title

This fine collective biography celebrates 26 famous men from the arts, the sciences, sports, and politics, with special emphasis on peacemakers, including Mohandas (Gandhi) and Nelson (Mandela). Each one-page celebration includes a brief, eloquent profile; a quote from the subject; and a mixed-media illustration (for Langston Hughes, a photo of the poet is set against the illustrators' dark, glowing rendering of a Harlem neighborhood).

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The East-West House: Noguchi's Childhood in Japan (Hardcover)

By Christy Hale

$17.95

ISBN-13: 9781600603631
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Lee & Low Books, 8/2009

As a child, the famous Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi moved “from East to West and back again.” This picture-book biography, with handsome double-page pictures in mixed media and collage, shows and tells how his mixed heritage and diverse experience enriched his work, even though he suffered from loneliness and rejection.

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