Mark your calendars: the 37th annual Printers Row Lit Fest is next weekend! This year’s two-day literary extravaganza in Chicago takes place on Saturday and Sunday, September 10 and 11. The fest features close to 150 presenters, And I’m one of them. Date: Saturday, September 10 Time: 11am to 11:45 a.m. Location: Grace Place (637 […]

Check out this free online presentation I’m giving next week: Unlocking Memories and Uncovering Stories< Sponsored by the Oak Park Public Library and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Oak Park Illinois Network DATE: Thursday, May 12 TIME: 7 to 8:30 pm central time, Author, journalist and teacher Beth Finke will lead […]

When the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) selected Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound as the winner of its Henry Bergh Children’s Book Award back in 2008, my sisters accompanied my second Seeing Eye dog Hanni and me to the American Library Association convention in Anaheim to receive the award. […]

Printers Row Lit Fest is back! I’ll be sitting with Luna the Seeing Eye dog in front of Sandmeyer’s, our favorite local bookstore at 1:00 this Saturday afternoon, September 11 to chat with passers-by and sign books for any and all interested bookworms. Sandmeyer’s first honored me with a spot at their table way back […]

During our disability awareness presentations, one thing I like to get across to the school kids is that people with disabilities enjoy — and engage in — a lot of the same things they do. We just develop different skills (and sometimes use different “helping tools”) to achieve our goals. Two days ago Luna and […]