‘What Makes a Full Life?’
In the company of books, Marla's spirit smiles.
Marla Frazee Will Share That Answer and More at This Year’s Family Reading Night.
Of all the authors and illustrators who have been featured at our annual Family Reading Night event, none has a more special relationship with our community than Marla Frazee. She was the first author our organizers brought to town to help children make the connection that books are written and illustrated by real people. That was back in 2003 during her book tour for “Roller Coaster.”
She returned five years later as our guest at the 2008 Family Reading Night to share “A Couple of Boys have the Best Week Ever,” which went on to win a Caldecott Honor.
Then in 2017, she came to town to celebrate the opening of Neighborhood Reads bookstore, and during the Covid 19 Pandemic, she did a virtual presentation for the bookstore to share “The Farmer and the Clown” with families in our community.
Right from the start, Marla developed a real love for our community.
“It’s such a book-loving town, and I love that . . . It’s such a warm place . . . and so beautiful”
“It’s such a book-loving town, and I love that . . . It’s such a warm place . . . and so beautiful,” she said. “The first couple of times I came to Washington… it felt like everybody knows everybody. It felt unique to me in that way.”
After that initial visit, Marla went on to develop a deep friendship with local book enthusiasts Dawn Kitchell and Chris Stuckenschneider, so much so that when the Community Literacy Foundation was launching the “Book Buddy” program that provides donated children’s books each month to 35 school libraries across the area and the Washington Public Library, Marla created the program’s reading bee mascot, “Clover.”
“Marla has been to Washington so many times and made such connections here that it feels like she’s one of our own,” said Dawn Kitchell, Family Reading Night chair and owner of Neighborhood Reads. “When it came time to plan our 25th Family Reading Night event, it was only natural to invite Marla.”
“And because it’s been eight years since she was physically here last, and 13 years since she was at Family Reading Night, this time around she will be meeting and sharing her books with a whole new group of young children,” Kitchell said.
‘Accidental Companions’
Back in 2009, Marla illustrated a book written by Liz Garton Scanlon, “All the World,” that showcases the value in the things we see every day, both big and small — “Rock, stone, pebble, sand, body, shoulder, arm, hand, a moat to dig, a shell to keep, all the world is wide and deep.”
“All the World” was recognized with a Caldecott Honor for Marla’s illustrations, and the message of the book stayed with her. More than a decade later, when the Covid-19 Pandemic changed the world as everyone knew it, she revisited that message in a deeper way with a new book that she authored and illustrated, “In Every Life.”
“I’d been thinking about the blessing for years and years, trying to figure out what it was I wanted the book to say. But it was only when there was a collective crisis happening that I began asking the questions that propelled the book itself,” Marla said. “What, no matter who we are or where we live, are the most important things? What do we all have in common? What makes a full life?”
Released in 2023, “In Every Life,” like “All the World,” went on to receive a Caldecott Honor. Now, looking back, Marla describes the two books as “accidental companions.”
“The two books just felt like they belonged together in some ways,” she said.
They share a theme, a feeling, and at this year’s Family Reading Night event, they will share a stage. Both books will be among the titles Marla will discuss as our featured author/illustrator.
Montage of Frazee Favorites
A multi-award-winning author/illustrator, Marla has more than 25 books to her name. Longtime fans will know many of them from her three previous visits to Washington: Marla is the illustrator of “The Seven Silly Eaters,” by Mary Ann Hoberman; the New York Times bestselling “Clementine” series; “Stars” by Mary Lyn Ray; and “Everywhere Babies” by Susan Meyers. Her wordless picture book “The Farmer and the Clown” won the 2015 Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Picture Book and a Best in Book Illustration Award from the National Cartoonist Society—and is the first book in “The Farmer Books” trilogy.
She is the author and illustrator of “A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever,” “Roller Coaster” and “The Great Zapfino.”
But she may be most well-known for her book, “Boss Baby” (and its sequel “The Bossier Baby“), which was turned into a DreamWorks animated feature film and TV series.
Marla’s presentation at Family Reading Night will focus on a variety of her books, including “In Every Life,” “All the World,” “A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever,” “Roller Coaster” and “The Great Zapfino.”
As always, Marla will be creating a few illustrations as she talks about her books, why she wanted to be a children’s book author/illustrator, and where she finds her inspiration.
After her presentation, Marla will be meeting with families and signing copies of her books. Neighborhood Reads will have an assortment of her titles available for purchase.
New Children’s Poetry Book
Marla’s newest book, which will be released in mid-March, is a 96-page children’s poetry book, “How Elegant the Elephant,” featuring the poetry of Mary Ann Hoberman
Hoberman, whom Marla had previously worked with on “The Seven Silly Eaters,” actually passed away before the book could be finished. For Marla, it was special to be paired up again for Hoberman’s final project.
All of the poems feature different animals, and Marla came up with the idea of illustrating them like they were all staying at a Palm Springs-like hotel named, “The Elephant.”
“That gave me the ability to play with what the animals might be doing while they’re on this vacation and why all of these animals are together,” she said. “I had never done a book about a variety of animals, so it was a different project for me.”
The book is geared toward children ages 2 to 8, and the poems are really fun when they are read aloud, Marla noted.
Once it’s published, you can find copies of “How Elegant the Elephant” at Neighborhood Reads in downtown Washington.
Devastating Wildfires
The mother of three grown sons and the grandmother of two young grandsons, Marla lives in Pasadena, Calif., very close to where wildfires have devastated entire communities with many families losing everything they owned.
“The ash, dust and toxic air has been consuming everybody,” she said. “Everybody here knows multiple people who have lost everything . . . It’s so common, that when I go anywhere, I ask, ‘How did you fare?’ I hear the story and sometimes people are OK, but sometimes it’s devastating.”
The Eaton Fire was very close to Marla’s home, and in fact destroyed schools that her sons had attended as children. People have been making donations and taking up collections to provide new books that can be distributed to schools and to families in the community.
“My three sons attended St. Mark’s School in Altadena (Preschool to 6th grade) and it is totally gone,” she said. “So many of the students, teachers, and staff have lost their homes as well. The students have relocated to a new space while the long process of healing and hopefully rebuilding gets underway.”
Kitchell said the event planning committee will collect donations at the event to benefit the Emergency Rebuild Saint Mark’s Fund. Donations directly to Saint Mark's School are tax deductible and can be used immediately by the school. She said families purchasing books also will have the option to “round up” to make donations and a portion of Marla’s book sales at the event will be donated to the St. Mark’s Fund.
Free Family Reading Celebration
The 2025 Family Reading Night will be held Friday, March 7, at Washington Middle School. Doors will open at 5:30 pm and the event is free and open to everyone.
Following Marla’s presentation, families can visit dozens of reading rooms to listen to stories being shared by community, school and student leaders, including the Washington Town & Country Fair Queen & Court, Mayor Doug Hagedorn, WHS girls soccer and football teams, theater guild, choir and FFA; current and retired educators from SDOW and St. Francis Borgia, local musicians and the Washington Volunteer Fire Department. Stories will be read again this year on The Yellow Bus and children will meet book characters including Curious George and his buddy, the Man in the Yellow Hat. Washington Police officers will wrap up the night with their annual book skit.
Throughout the night lots books will be given away. Families who read together the week leading up to the event and bring their completed reading logs will have the opportunity to win bookstore gift cards. Reading logs are available at neighborhoodreads.com.