A busy summer Saturday!

There were several book events happening simultaneously in Honolulu on Saturday (July 19th). Try as I might, and only successfully in the realm of my imagination, I have a hard time being in two places at once. Alas, I am a mere mortal slave to things like time…and traffic.

The first was an all afternoon story time event hosted by The Honolulu Navy Exchange and the Read It Loud Foundation with Clifford the Big Red Dog featured as a special guest. A big colorful carpet was laid out on the second floor of the department store’s toy section, welcoming children to sit and wait for the stories to begin. There were balloons and book displays and several plushie versions of Chip & Cookie, characters created by famed cookie-maker Wally Amos to encourage parents to read to their children and promote literacy in development.

Following the sale of his “Famous Amos” brand, Wally Amos moved to Oahu for some R&R– except he’s been anything but idle! He’s back to baking and has opened a store that sells delectable mini-cookies by the pound. He even reads aloud to children regularly at his store/bakery in Kailua (see here for a schedule of his Saturday story sessions).

Also attending the event was Tammy Yee, the author and popular illustrator of several local picture books, to sign autographs and talk to fans and children about creating picture books. She is one of my favorite artists from the islands and has garnered much acclaim on the mainland and internationally as well. Check out her webpage in our link section! Reviews and feedback on some of her books are forthcoming.

The second event was being held all the way at Aina Haina public library, and I didn’t quite make it there in time. Lynde Lakes is a published author and member (former president) of the Romance Writer’s Association Hawaii Chapter –see their webpage in HBB’s link list and favorite sites! Lynde held a one hour presentation on the challenges of getting published using her book Billboard Cop as an example. I am very sad to have missed such a useful presentation but look forward to more events hosted by RWA Hawaii.