Since 2005, more than 15,000 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 hosted New York Times best selling author and Newbery winner Linda Sue Park at the UC Davis Mondavi Center as part of the School Matinee event series. Park is the winner of the 2002 Newbery Medal for her book A Single Shard (2001), as well as 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.

Sutter Health is a proud sponsor of Words Take Wing.