“Mole Is Not Alone”: Spring Storytime with Children’s Authors Maya Tatsukawa and Hanna Cha

Join the Peabody Institute Library for a special event with acclaimed children’s author and Mass Book Award-Honoree Maya Tatsukawa, who will present Mole Is Not Alone and her brand-new book, Otter Carries On! Maya will be joined in conversation by author-illustrator Hanna Cha. Mole is invited to a party, which is very worrisome. What if the party is too rowdy for Mole? What if Mole doesn’t know anyone there? What if Mole is just too shy to make friends? Mole worries through the tunnels, around Snake’s burrow, under the forest, past Bear’s den, and all the way to Rabbit’s door. But despite all those worries, maybe Mole can find a quiet way to make friends . . . In this cozy picture book about friendship, Mole anxiously decides to journey through underground tunnels to attend a party. With warm and sweet illustrations, every page of Mole Is Not Alone is an invitation to look and look again. Readers can follow Mole’s tunnel as it connects from one page to the next, learning along the way that everyone can make friends, even if some parties are quieter than others. This program is sponsored by the Mass Book Awards Speakers Bureau and is presented in collaboration with the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Maya Tatsukawa is a children’s book author, illustrator, and designer residing just out of Boston with her cat/studio manager. When she's not designing, illustrating, or thinking about children's books, you can find her baking cream puffs, eating ice cream, or searching for the perfect scone. She is the author and illustrator of Sunday Pancakes, which was a 2023 Mass Book Awards Honors title, Mole Is Not Alone, a 2024 Mass Book Awards Honoree, The Bear in My Family, and Otter Carries On (2025). Hanna Cha is a Caldecott Honor award-winning illustrator and writer with several books under her belt. She is the creator of her first book Tiny Feet Between the Mountains and illustrated Circle Round by Anne Sibley O’Brien. She was also the recipient of the Caldecott Honor and the APALA winner for The Truth about Dragons by Julie Leung and also part of the Junior Library Gold Standard Selection for The House Before Falling Into the Sea by Ann Suk Wang.