Since 2005, more than 14,000
Sacramento-area school children have benefited from Words Take
Wing: Honoring Diversity in Children’s Literature. This annual
celebration, held each February, gives students the opportunity
to hear about the personal journeys and creative processes of
acclaimed authors and illustrators of diverse children’s
literature whose stories about Native American heritage, Asian
culture, African American culture, and Latino identity, among
many others, allow them to explore a wide range of perspectives
and world views.
On February 25, 2020, Words Take Wing will host New York Times
Bestselling author and Newbery winner Linda Sue
Park at the UC Davis Mondavi Center as part of
the School
Matinee event series.
Linda Sue Park is the winner of the 2002 Newbery Medal for
her book A Single Shard (2001), a story about an orphan
boy in a 12th-century Korean potters’ village. The prestigious
Newbery Medal is awarded annually for the most outstanding book
for children and young adults. Park was born in Urbana, Illinois,
and grew up outside Chicago. The daughter of Korean immigrants,
she has been writing poems and stories since she was four years
old, and her favorite thing to do as a child was read. She is
also the author of Project Mulberry (2005), When My
Name Was Keoko (2002), A Long Walk to Water (2010),
The Third Gift (2011) and many other picture books and
novels. Park believes one of the vital functions of books and
literature is to “offer readers visions of the amazing, colorful
diverse world we live in.”
Sutter Health is a proud sponsor
of Words Take Wing.
