Second Star to the Right is happy to host some of our favorite local authors for a Picture Book Storytime Party! Featuring Brittany Cicchese, Carmela Coyle, Jolene Gutiérrez, and Jamie Siebrase (read more about their books below, and click their names to visit their websites).

Storytime Party will include snacks, activities, and of course storytimes! Great fun for the whole family, so RSVP to not miss out.

ABOUT THE BOOKS:

The Kitten Story: A Mostly True Tale Illustrated by Brittany Cicchese

When a cat-loving family decides to bring home a pet, their quest reveals the highs and lows of everyday family life in this heartwarming story—perfect for kitten lovers and everyone who’s ever longed for a pet.

Finally, it's time for this family to adopt a pet of their own! But big decisions remain to be made. The two children, Tulip and Rosie, definitely want a kitten. But Daddy insists an older cat is best. No one can agree about what name to give the new family member, either. When Mommy and Rosie visit a shelter to choose their pet, yet another problem arises and they must go home empty-handed. This deftly paced story from best-selling author Emily Jenkins—winsomely narrated by Mommy, who just wants to find peaceful solutions—highlights themes of finding family unity among realistic conflict and overcoming disappointment. Readers will rejoice along with the family as, finally, they welcome home their very own, absolutely wonderful kitten.

Something Spectacular: A Rock's Journey by Carmela Coyle

Have you ever held a rock in your hand and wondered: How did this come to be?

Carmela LaVigna Coyle’s new picture book takes readers on an epic journey through time. Through ice ages, meteor showers, and earthquakes, readers experience the formation of an ancient treasure. Meanwhile, somewhere in the present, a little girl sets out on a hike with her family.

The two parallel stories collide when the little girl finds something SPECTACULAR on the side of a trail—a treasure forged over the course of hundreds of MILLIONS of years all leading to this very moment—the discovery of a precious heart rock. Illustrated with Carly Allen-Fletcher's lush and vivid paintings, Something Spectacular is a geologic adventure with heart and wonder. The perfect book for rockhounds young and old.

Too Much! An Overwhelming Day by Jolene Gutiérrez

A reassuring rhyming picture book about sensory overload and what you can do when everything is too much!

When feelings go on overload,
I pause and breathe
and all is . . . slowed.

Sometimes everything is too much! Too loud, too bright, and all too overwhelming. Writing from her own experience with sensory processing disorder, award-winning teacher-librarian Jolene Gutiérrez’s compassionate picture book explores the struggles of a sensorily sensitive child and how they settle themselves. Joined by Angel Chang’s beautiful color illustrations, young readers will learn that it’s OK if some days are too much. An extensive author’s note to caregivers and educators explores sensory systems, sensory processing issues, and specific information about how to support kids with overstimulated nervous systems as they learn to soothe themselves.

Tonight! A Bedtime Book by Jamie Siebrase

Every night at bedtime a little boy imagines he’s a different animal as his mother attempts to put him to bed. “I’m a baby lark,” he tells her. The mother then says to him that baby birds are called hatchlings and it is time for this hatchling to go to sleep. “But hatchlings don’t sleep in beds, they sleep in nests,” she says. And so it continues as the boy imagines he is a baby mountain lion, bighorn sheep, chipmunk, coyote, skunk, and moose. This is a twist on “goodnight” books that also teaches about animal families and their habitats.