Listening to Trees--A Book's First Month

On October 22, 2024, my new nonfiction picture book Listening to Trees: George Nakashima, Woodworker was launched into the children's book world. 

Author Holly Thompson with Listening to Trees
Picture book biography Listening to Trees: George Nakashima, Woodworkerby Holly Thompson, illustrated by Toshiki Nakamurapublished by Neal Porter Books/Holiday House

Listening to Trees jacket

Written in haibun form combining haiku and prose with extensive back matter, Listening to Trees was published by Neal Porter/Holiday House Books, and soft launched while I was in Tokyo at an SCBWI Japan event shortly before the book's official birthday. This was the first time illustrator Toshiki Nakamura and I had met.

I arrived back in the U.S. just in time for the George Nakashima Peace Award event at Nakashima Woodworkers in New Hope, PA and the first book signing. 

Listening to Trees on a George Nakashima table

Next was a reading with Q&A at An Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA; author visits in a California school and college and a meeting at the Japanese American National Museum; a reading, talk and haiku writing at the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown, PA--which features a Nakashima Reading Room and furniture pieces by George Nakashima and daughter Mira Nakashima; the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) conference in Boston and signing 100 copies for attending educators at the booth for the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA). 

Nakashima Reading Room at the Michener Art Museum

I've also been zipping about bookshop to bookshop signing copies of Listening to Trees (call ahead to see if they still have signed copies in stock):

MA: Porter Square Books, Cambridge; Brookline Booksmith, Brookline; Odyssey Bookshop, S. Hadley

NYC: Kinokuniya, NYC 

PA: Farley's Bookshop, New Hope; Michener Art Museum, Doylestown

DC: Politics & Prose (Conn. Ave.)

LA: Japanese American National Museum shop; Children's Book World, LA 

After the November holiday week, I'll continue with stock signings, author visits, and traveling about to share Listening to Trees and George Nakashima's life journey with students, educators, museums, libraries and arboretums. 

AND...for an introduction to Listening to Trees, reserve to join me with Boston MFA art curator Asako Katsura for a free online event with Japan Society Boston on December 10 at 6 pm. 

Listening to Trees and a George Nakashima table and chairs at the MET NYC