At the Southwest Library Branch: Create poems, haikus and artwork with award-wining author/illustrator Javaka Steptoe!

In this lively presentation, Javaka Steptoe will talk about poems and specifically what is a haiku and discuss the science behind the poems in the book A Pocketful of Poems. What are seasons? What happens in spring? How are butterflies created? And we’ll discuss the nature that is in each of the various poems while creating caterpillars and butterflies out of craft supplies. For ages 4-8.

Javaka Steptoe won the 2017 Caldecott Medal for his picture book biography Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Little, Brown). The book won many other honors, too, including the 2017 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, and multiple starred reviews. His debut picture book, In Daddy’s Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers (Lee & Low Books, ), earned him a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, in addition to a nomination for Outstanding Children’s Literature Work at the 1998 NAACP Image Awards. Since that time, Steptoe has illustrated and/or written more than a dozen books for youth readers, collaborating with some of the top names in the business—Walter Dean Myers, Nikki Grimes and Karen English. Javaka Steptoe travels extensively reading and conducting workshops at schools, libraries, museums, and conferences across the country and internationally.

This program is part of this year’s Summer of Learning program Explore Your World!, which encourages reading and activities around science, technology, technology, arts and math. We are offering over 250 free youth programs throughout the city this summer. You can pick up a Summer Action Guide at any Library location beginning June 24th.

Library events and programs are free and everyone is welcome. Registration is required. Online registration for this program opens two weeks before the program starts and closes three business days before the program date. Make changes to your registration after that date by calling 206-684-7455 or visiting the branch.

Space is limited at library events. Please come early to make sure you get a seat. Due to the fire code, we can’t exceed the maximum capacity for our rooms.