Celebrated Children’s Author Matt de la Peña and Illustrator Christian Robinson in Watsonville 10/21/18

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On October 21st, Bookshop Santa Cruz and the Arts Council Santa Cruz County present Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson, the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author-illustrator team behind Last Stop on Market Street, for a family event in Watsonville. They will be celebrating their new book, Carmela Full of Wishes—a story partially inspired by Watsonville, where de la Peña’s own parents currently teach. This heartfelt sibling story explores what hope looks like in a vibrant migrant community steeped in Mexican culture.

  • Date: Sunday, October 21 at 4:00 PM
  • Location: Watsonville Veterans Memorial Building, 215 E Beach St., Watsonville, CA 95076

Books sold by Bookshop Santa Cruz

At this fun-filled family event, Matt and Christian will present and sign Carmela Full of Wishes. The festivities will also include visual arts and theater activities, and food will be provided.

  • 3:30 pm   Doors open, sign-in table open & book distribution
  • 4:00 pm   Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson present Carmela Full of Wishes.
  • 5:00–6:15 pm   Book signing, plus visual art & drama activities based upon Carmela Full of Wishes
  • 6:15 pm   Free dinner & more time to meet the author and illustrator

Seating will be open, and on a first-come, first-serve basis. To request special accommodations, please e-mail bookshopevents@gmail.com by Friday, October 19th. If you have any ADA accomadation requests, please contact bookshopevents@gmail.comby October 20th.

This event is presented by Bookshop Santa Cruz and the Arts Council Santa Cruz County, and is cosponsored by the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and Pajaro Valley Unified School District Family Literacy Program.

Newbery Medal-winner Matt de la Peña and Caldecott Honor-winner Christian Robinson, two of the most celebrated names in contemporary children’s literature, deliver their second collaboration with the timely and poignant Carmela Full of Wishes. With three starred reviews and appearances on multiple “most anticipated” lists already, Carmela is set to be one of fall’s biggest picture book releases.

In the book, Carmela wakes up on her birthday, and spends most of the day searching for the perfect wish after coming across a dandelion – wishes that range from lighthearted fun, like candy, to deeply reflective of the challenges her mixed-status family faces in America, when she wishes that her father can get his papers fixed, so that he can finally come home.

For Last Stop on Market Street, Matt de la Peña became the first Hispanic author and the second picture book author to receive the John Newbery Medal “for the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children” in the award’s nearly 100-year history. In some ways, Last Stop reflected illustrator Christian Robinson’s own background, having been raised by his grandmother in an urban, diverse city. Carmela Full of Wishes incorporates elements of de la Peña’s life experience; the author was raised in working class neighborhood in a San Diego border town, with family on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Robinson utilized papel picado, a traditional Mexican folk art technique, to further enrich the book’s cultural connection to Mexican American migrant communities.

“This is the book I’ve always dreamed of putting into the world,” says de la Peña.

Watch Matt and Christian discuss Carmela Full of Wishes here:

 

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