It was a great pleasure to host a storytime and craft session with Kathleen Choi at Turtle Books in Brookline Village, Massachusetts. This is a new bookstore, dedicated solely to children’s books!
Kathy read Giving Thanks with Halmoni: Celebrating Chuseok, the Korean Harvest Festival, illustrated by Sook Nyul Choi, with a beautiful craft creating a Korean wrapping craft. She also had a second craft, which escapes my memory.
I read two picture books, Barbed Wire Between Us, and then we acted out Sumo Joe. Despite the rainy weather, we had a good crowd that spanned generations. We had families with young children, coupled with my friends from our Drawing for Pleasure Class taught by Martin R. Anderson at the Brookline Senior Center. A good time was had by all!
Check it out here:
My thanks to another wonderful picture book author, Lisa Vachol Perron, who came to our event and took the photos for this video!
p.s. Related posts:
Teacher’s Guide for BARBED WIRE BETWEEN US
6 Picture Books About Gratitude, Culture, and Intergenerational Connection
Red Comet Press Bookstore Crawl
I’m doing a Storytime at the 3rd Annual Greater Roxbury Book Fair (May 17)
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My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
- ⭐ Starred review from Kirkus
- ⭐ Starred review from Publishers Weekly
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal
- Kirkus: The Most Anticipated Children’s Books of Spring 2026
Free and downloadable guide:
Barbed Wire Between Us Teacher’s Guide
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Gold Award
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
The Traveling Taco:
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Silver Award
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court
- ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- 2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award Middle Level Honoree
- Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
- 2024 Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children’s Literature Winner
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2025
- Recommended Reading for the Social Justice Literature Award 2025 (International Literacy Association)
- Pennsylvania Mountain Laurel Book Award Nominee 2026-27
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal!
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Nautilus Silver Winner, Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book
- Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bank Street College’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
