Author Visits
I'm happy to arrange a visit to your school, synagogue, or community center. I live in Hong Kong, but make regular trips to the United States. I'm also available via Zoom.
To arrange a visit, please reach out through my contact page and we can work on creating the ideal program for your group together.
Here are some samples of talks that I can give:
What Does Memory Smell (and Taste) Like?
Ages 6–10
There are so many picture books centered around food. Why is this so? What is the connection between smell and memory? What does food tell us about characters and the worlds that they inhabit? This talk will explain the science behind the link between smell and memory and discuss the connection between food and culture. It will center around a deeper exploration of my books Lily's Hong Kong Honey Cake and Mixed-Up Mooncakes and future book projects as well.
Materials required: Projector
How History Inspires Narrative
Ages 12+
I will discuss how Hong Kong and Shanghai history inspired me. The talk will explore how and where to research historical topics and how to craft a narrative using history. As the process of creating historical fiction is the same for picture books and novels, this talk will focus on my picture book Lily's Hong Kong Honey Cake as a jumping off point. Students will learn a lesser known World War II history (the Jews in Shanghai and Hong Kong).
Materials required: Projector
What Is Home?
Ages 6–10
What is home? How do we define home? Does that change? Can two places be home? Is home necessarily a physical place? This talk, particularly relevant to an international city like Hong Kong, will dive into the theme of home in picture books focused on my books Lily's Hong Kong Honey Cake and Saliman and the Memory Stone. This will be an interactive talk where together we will explore and try to define what it means to be home.
Materials required: Projector for talk. Add-on workshop: projector and craft supplies (markers, crayons, pencils, scissors) and printouts of a paper suitcase, supplied as a PDF. For younger children, I will send some PDF images (pets, toys, books, food) that they can paste to help them with the process. I will ask some of them to share their work.
How We Talk About the Pandemic in Picture Books
A look at Alone Together on Dan Street and other picture books written about the pandemic, to see what we can learn. It's a lesson on empathy, building community, and finding a silver lining.
The Jews of China
While Zhen Yu and the Snake is set in Kaifeng, Jewish history in China isn't limited to this community. This talk takes you to the communities of Kaifeng, Shanghai, Harbin, and Hong Kong — who the Jews of China were/are, how they got there, and what their lives were/are like.
The Texts behind the Text
There's a whole lot of animals on the ark, and not just two of each kind. There's also a whole lot of Jewish text packed into this picture book. A look at the texts behind the picture book text.
What are folklore/traditional tales? Why are they important?
Zhen Yu is a retelling of a story in the Talmud and Naamah is a retelling from the Hebrew Bible. This talk looks at both (or one) of the stories and the story behind the story.
What is it like to create a picture book 'alone together'?
A talk about the process of writing and publishing a picture book, how I got started, and where I get ideas from.
Picture Book Readings
Available with another program or on their own.