Lightbulb Heart

Video Premiere! In commemoration of International Earth Day, I am pleased to premiere a new video in collaboration with www.pocketsofbooks.com & Kids in the Hive. The Boy Who Was Fire is a children’s book written by Marcus Kahle McCann & illustrated by Zita Varga. ... It begins with a small fire born to a tree and a bolt of lightning. This is a lyrical story of growth, redemption, and new beginnings. Appropriate for ages 5 years and older. I am moved by what it might look like if we put our fears of the unknown aside and lean into each other with compassion, recognizing the beauty and humanity of the person in front of us.

KIDSBOOKSTAGRAM AGAINST AAPI HATE The recent attacks on Asian American elders, and now the brutal and violent murder of 8 people, including six Asian women in Atlanta is terrorism that must not be allowed to continue. Anti-AAPI hatred is rooted deep in our racist history, it goes back to the time of the invasion of North America. This coupled with the myth of the model minority has allowed far too many people to be complacent about this violence. ... This pandemic has only further fueled violent hatred towards the AAPI community. We as a community must take action. Money and resources are required to ensure the safety of Asian Americans NOW. We must also continue to amplify the voices of Asian Americans speaking out on this issue. We have set an initial goal of $10,000 to raise funds for Chinese Affirmative Action, the registered charity of @StopAAPIHate - These funds will go directly to their account. Together the book loving community can come together to donate, share, and speak out against Anti-AAPI racism, misogyny, and hatred. We should not have to wait until a tragedy like this to start listening, but we certainly can’t wait a moment longer to address this issue. The safety of our Asian siblings is at stake and we must take action now, it is far past due - sharing books will never be enough to dismantle the systems of oppression that have allowed this to happen. Kids Bookstagram Against AAPI Hate GoFundMe is here https://gofund.me/a8b63639 and in my bio, please consider donating. Organized by @inclusivestorytime @thetinyactivists @readwithriver Amplifying: joannahowrites teachandtransform chung.woolrim michellekimkim annie_wu_22 kimsaira ...and so many more ***DO NOT enter their spaces or DM to process your grief, DO follow, like, share, and amplify. We are consciously not tagging in order to not overwhelm their notifications, and they are not specifically involved in the Kids Bookstagram Against AAPI Hate fundraiser.*** #StopAAPIHate #AntiAsianRacism #IAmNotAVirus #StopAsianHate See more

MARCH 20: In honour of International Earth Day, please join Kids In the Hive and Lightbulb Heart for a video premiere of the book "The Boy Who Was Fire," written by Marcus Kahle McCann and illustrated by Zita Varga (hard copies available from https://www.pocketsofbooks.com/books). The video will be available on the Kids in the Hive and Lightbulb Heart YouTube channels (links in event details).

As a very special thank you for reading along with me this year, @kids.inthe.hive and I will release a book video on March 20 to coincide with International Earth Day! ID: Turquoise text against a yellow background with dotted confetti reads International Earth Day reader’s gift arriving March 20. Underneath is an open-faced grey, white, and coral colored cartoon book with a turquoise plant growing out of the pages. #storylady #storytime

Happy 3rd birthday to my story baby, Lightbulb Heart! I consoled myself that I had at least gotten to eat cupcakes and read aloud with kiddos and @girlcancreate at the Paper Bag Princess events @epicbooks when birthday #2 got sidelined by lockdown last year. I didn’t want to let yet another year go by without marking the hurdles, disappointments, and joys I’ve encountered. I started a YouTube channel and more intentionally locally lending my library, wrote (and rewrote) a ton..., and began a couple of local and cross-border collaborations that have been incredibly rewarding one of which you’ll get to see the fruits of on March 20! (More on that later) Special shout out to the beautiful @asharedtable Storylab folx for keeping me going and inspired throughout this last year. ID: Yellow text against a turquoise background with dotted confetti reads Lightbulb Heart is three! An inset photo of Amber, a smiling white woman with curly hair wearing a yellow cardigan, who leans her head on her hand and elbows on a stack of children’s books. She sits on park steps and is crowded by turquoise and coral cartoon balloons.