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Boston Globe

Hummingbird Books to host first Children's Local Author Fair

A diverse array of books and authors will be featured at the fair, from picture books that aim to teach young ones about their emotions to chapter books covering the immigrant experience in America. The fair will also include activities such as face painting, bookmark making, and a meet and greet with Cookie Mouse from 'If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.' (Unfortunately — or fortunately — Cookie Mouse is not a real mouse, but a human in a costume.) Advertisement One featured author is Anna Housley Juster, a Brookline-based licensed child and adolescent mental health clinician. She will show and read her picture book, ' In the book, the amygdala teaches kids breathing techniques and progressive muscle relaxation. The goal is not to suppress negative emotions but to learn how to navigate through them and give oneself (and others) grace in stressful situations, Housley Juster said. Advertisement 'If [kids] learned early what I know with three graduate degrees,' Housley Juster said, 'we could really make a change in how people understand how to calm themselves and what to do in a conflict.' Housley Juster's table features the book, amygdala coloring activities, and a 'How to Train Your Amygdala' calming kit, which contains toys that aid in emotional regulation for children. Bonnie Shao, a 16-year-old high school student from Weston, will display her middle-grade realistic fiction series, ' The series centers around the Xia family, who emigrated from China to America, and the barriers they overcome to adjust to their new environment. Shao, who immigrated to the United States from Shanghai at the age of 2, found inspiration for the books in her own family's experiences and oral history as Chinese American immigrants. Shao, who wrote the first book in the series at the age of 10, sought to fill the gaps in storytelling that she noticed as an avid reader. 'The Xia family is not only Chinese, but they are Chinese Americans,' Shao said. She wanted to depict cultural duality for younger audiences, as well as 'what it means to be a tween and the messiness that comes with that,' she said. She hopes that young readers will feel represented by her characters, and that aspiring young writers will feel inspired to pursue their own dreams. 'Through my author presentations, I hope to … convey the message that you don't have to wait for the 'perfect moment' if you have a story to tell,' Shao said. Advertisement Shao presents the three books of her series, the latest two self-published, at the fair, alongside five other middle-grade authors with books for readers ages 8 to 12. With all the authors' help, Dodson seeks to engage young readers with literature in an increasingly digital age. 'Kids' lives are changed by reading books,' Dodson said. 'Being able to play a central role in that — I feel so lucky.' HUMMINGBIRD BOOKS' CHILDREN'S LOCAL AUTHOR FAIR The Street Chestnut Hill. Noon to 2 p.m., Aug. 23. Free, but reservation is encouraged at Isabella Bernstein can be reached at