It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Bethany Hegedus, co-owner and creative director here at The Writing Barn. She co-authored a picture book with Arun Gandhi, Grandfather Gandhi, which combines stories from Arun Gandhi’s childhood with stunning visuals (courtesy of illustrator Evan Turk). The book released on March 11, and has since been speculated as a Caldecott Medal contender.
Shortly after the release, Bethany left for the East Coast to tour her book in Massachussetts, Rhode Island, New York, and Washington, D.C over the course of two and a half weeks. Her trip included school visits, stops at Books of Wonder and Hooray for Books, and a talk at Unity of New York. At the Unity talk, over 230 copies of Grandfather Gandhi were sold in one hour!
One of Bethany’s blog posts, “Learning About Lightning,” gives more details about her school visits and exploring the book’s themes with students at elementary schools. The children Bethany met took the Live Your Life as Light pledge, which advocates turning the fire of anger into passion for doing good in the world.
For more on the long road from Arun’s childhood to the finished book, check out Bethany’s “Journey to the Picture Book” post.
You can also view photos from one of Arun and Bethany’s bookstore visits and read about the first in-person meeting of Arun, Bethany, and Evan on the Grandfather Gandhi blog.
Bethany’s back in Texas now, and settling back in to the day-to-day happenings at the Barn. However, for those of us who don’t live on the East Coast, Bethany and Arun are going to participate in a live virtual reading!
Qlovi, the company behind an innovative new e-reading and writing platform, is hosting a multi-author reading stream on April 4. The virtual event called Q+A (Qlovi+Authors) is free and open to anyone with access to the internet. Each author will read from one of their new books, streamed live using Qlovi’s online educational technology.
Bethany and Arun will read at 12 p.m. CDT, but several other notable authors will be reading selections both before and after this segment. Tyler Whitesides will read from his new book “Janitors” at 11 a.m., and author/illustrator John Rocco will read from his “Super Hair-O and the Barber of Doom” at 1 p.m.
The streaming event features authors for children of all ages, from Kindergarten to eighth grade. There’s something for everyone! Readings start at 8 a.m. CDT.
To secure your virtual spot for these readings, register on Qlovi’s Q+A homepage.