The School of Education’s sixth annual Words Take Wing celebration, honoring diversity in children’s literature, is set for March 5—with author-artist Belle Yang as the speaker.

Yang’s picture books include Chili-Chili-Chin-Chin (1999), Always Come Home to Me (2007) and Foo the Flying Frog of Washtub Pond (2009). She also wrote and illustrated the adult nonfiction works Baba: A Return to China Upon My Father’s Shoulders (1994) and The Odyssey of a Manchurian (1996).

The School of Education and the Children’s Center at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento, are co-presenting this year’s Words Take Wing, with additional support from the UC Davis Children’s Hospital.

Words Take Wing, according to the organizers, invites notable authors and illustrators to share a glimpse into their art of crafting words and images that seize our hearts and minds.

“The School of Education is so pleased to offer children the opportunity to meet authors who write for them,” said Joanne Galli-Banducci, teacher educator and event chair.

She said the morning lectures are aimed at children and will be very interactive, with the Yang and the children creating a story or character together. The evening lecture is open to all ages, but will be a more intellectual exploration of the writer’s process.

Yang was born in Taiwan, spent part of her childhood in Japan, then emigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 7. She attended Stirling University in Scotland and graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in biology. She then studied art at the Pasadena Art Center College of Design and the Beijing Institute of Traditional Chinese Painting.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Words Take Wing, featuring author-artist Belle Yang

WHEN: Three lectures on March 5, all open to the public, at 9:30 and
11 a.m., and 7 p.m.

WHERE: Vanderhoef Studio Theatre, Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

TICKETS: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org. For online purchases, start at the ‘09-10 Event Calendar menu on the left-hand side of the page, then search by date or name.

MORE ABOUT BELLE YANG: belleyang.com