Strong press for All About Korea, Stories, Songs, Crafts and More!

My latest book, All About Korea, Stories, Songs, Crafts and More is receiving lots of postive press. Below and to the left are links to a few of the articles. I hope you enjoy them!

Naver, Korea's largest news portal

Choson Daily, Korea's largest newspaper

Loomis News

Granite Bay View

TV Interview/ Come on out to the Pacific Rim Festival!

Below is my recent TV interview on ABC. I talked with Sacramento and Company's Guy Farris about my latest book, All About Korea, Stories, Songs, Crafts and More.  I hope you enjoy my TV debut!

http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=137346

Come on out to the awesome celebration of Asian cultures, the Pacific Rim Festival! It will be held on Sunday, May 22nd from 10:00 am to 5:00pm in  Old Town Sacramento.

I will be there signing All About Korea and my other books. I hope to see you there! 

Wonderful School Visits and a Lively Cultural Fair!

The school year has started off with a bang. I've already visited a number of schools and have presented at the lively Chinese Cultural Faire held in Sacramento's historic Chinatown.  Now I'm packing my bags as I will soon head to Indonesia.  I'm presenting at and attending the Ubud Writer's Festival in Bali, doing school visits to Indonesian school and......(most importantly) spending time with my oldest son and his family and sharing in the arrival of their youngest child.  Whew! What a month! 

Below are pictures from my visit to the warm and friendly Dudley Elementary and from the lively cultural fair, as well some really sweet letters from the students of Dudley Elementary.

Thank you for the letters kids! I loved them all, even though I only posted a few!!!!! Remember, book can take you anywher.  If you send me an email about the kind of books you enjoy reading or what you are writing about and I'll promise to write you back. My email address is abowler@surewest.net.

Dear Ann Martin Bowler,
          Thank you for coming to our school today. I liked the story Adventures of the Treasure Fleet.  My favorite part is when the animals got to China. The one instrument I likes was from Java. I liked how the Emperor told us to say, "Yes, your magesty!" I also likes it when they had a celebration.
                                                              your fan,
                                                               Bensen
Dear Ann Martin Bowler,
           Thank you for coming to our school toady. I thought your story was very good! You are righht, book can take you anywhere you want to go. My favorite part was when you had my teacher Ms. Wosax on the stage playing a character. That was super funny, but she did a good job, don't you think? I am very happy you came. I am typing a story on the computer now. I'm more inspired to do my story.                                                                                    Your fan, Seraiyah

Dear Annie,                                                              Thank you for coming to our school today. We really liked the story. Er liked the way you let us play with the instruments.  And we all enjoyed the play you played. We want to hear that story again! Thank you for everything!                                            

                     Sincerly, Tania                                                                                                       

Two Asian Festivals & Some Food for Thought

It's been a busy week! I camped in Yosemite for five days with my son Jacob's sixth grade class. At left are the hearty 12-year-olds who made it to the top of Yosemite falls. It was a tough hike but the view was absolutely amazing!
Yosemite is spectacular this spring! I could feel the ground shaking at night from all the water falling down the mountains. I can't wait to go back!

On Saturday, I participated in the Asian Pacific American Authors Celebration in Foster City. Young and old, it was a delightfully enthusiastic  crowd. A special thanks to Sophie Wong, Mas Hongo and  Philip Chin for their help with this fun reading! 

I would like to acknowledge Florence and Mas Hongo for their tireless work encouraging multicultural understanding through literature. As the pair that created and has supported the Asian American Curriculum Project for more than thirty years, you are inspirations to me! Thanks to Leonard Chan, Martin Jung and all of the AACP's volunteers for your work as well!

Then on Sunday, I participated in Sacramento's Pacific Rim Festival. I was delighted to see so many folks in Old Town Sacramento enjoying Asian food and culture. I had many young readers fascinated by my books and musical instruments. I also enjoyed meeting Liz Wong, who recently traveled to the Treasure Fleet museum in Malacca: she was really excited to discover Adventures of the Treasure Fleet! 

      Now that I am home, I was really interested to read a post on bias and/or racism within children's literature. The post was by Tarie Sabido, a teacher, book reviewer and passionate advocate of Kid Lit. She currently lives in the Philippines, and she recently participated in an international Kid Lit event in Singapore. Her insights are definitely food for thought. More on this topic soon......

Do You Have The Reading Bug?

I visited a lovely children's bookstore in San Carlos recently. The Reading Bug is sparkling new with a helpful, enthusiastic staff. They offer a wide-range of children's books, including a fine selection of multicultural books.
I encourage you to stop by if you're in the south Bay area!  http://www.thereadingbug.com/