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Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild Story Time and Activity

A Beyond the Book Family Story Time Event

In celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, we invite families for a special story time reading and activity with June Jo Lee, co-author of “Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild.”

A special Beyond the Book Family Story Time and activity, celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month with the story of Sandor Katz and his love of fermented foods. Enjoy a complimentary copy of "Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild" and at home activities within, care of the DC Public Library Foundation and Beyond the Book. Complimentary books provided while supplies last.

For reasonable accommodations, please contact the Center for Accessibility at 202-727-2142 or DCPLaccess@dc.gov. For ASL or tactile interpretation, please allow at least seven (7) days notice.

"Entertainingly depicted... Bon appétit!" —"Starred" review, Booklist

"A triumphant celebration of food and community." —Kirkus Reviews, "Children's Books that Celebrate Queer Identity”

"A fizzy and informative celebration of fermentation that enthusiastically supports curious experimentation and food literacy." —Shelf Awareness

About The Book

Sandor Katz’s love of fermented food started with kosher dill pickles he ate as a New York City kid. As an adult, he left the busy city and moved to a queer community in the mountains of Tennessee. There, his friends grew their own food, cooked and ate together, and sometimes danced in drag when the work was done. One day, the cabbages were all, ALL ready to be harvested. What to do? Sandor tried to make sauerkraut. Delicious! He kept experimenting, finding old recipes, combining old ideas to make something new. Then, he shared what he learned in bestselling books, in classes, and with a growing group of friends around the world.

Written by award-winning authors Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee, Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild folds timely themes of ecology, community-building, and resilience into a lively biography that closes with a hands-on recipe: just chop, salt, pack, and wait for tiny, wild, invisible microbes to turn raw ingredients into zingy, zangy foods that we love. Sandor believes that making fermented foods connects all, ALL of us on planet Earth—people, plants, and The Tiny Wild. Won't you join Sandor’s crew and share your own dash of dazzle with the world?

"A new picture book about food fermentation evangelist Sandor Katz is the queer biography I didn’t know I needed—full of flavor inspiration and community…Martin and Lee’s text is a delight echoing the snap crunch and fizz of fermenting foods. Julie Wilson’s illustrations are colorful and casual reflecting the vibe of the farm community and Katz himself. Katz’ queerness is not a focus of the story but is nevertheless clear as is the queerness of his community—a lovely example of how not to make every queer person’s biography 'about' them being queer but nevertheless to make their queerness visible."

—Mombian, GLAAD Media Award-winning blog for LGBTQ parents

About the Author

June Jo Lee is a food ethnographer, studying how America eats. She’s a national speaker on food trends and consults with organizations such as Google Foods. She co-founded READERS to EATERS, a publisher promoting food literacy through stories about our diverse food cultures. She also co-authored, with Jacqueline Briggs Martin, Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix, a 2018 Sibert Award Honor Book for Most Distinguished Information Book. She lives in San Francisco. foodethnographer.com

This Beyond the Book event is generously sponsored by the DC Public Library Foundation. Beyond the Book is a literacy program centered on developing readers in kindergarten through third grade. By highlighting vibrant stories on a seasonal basis that represent the wonders of children's literature, Beyond the Book aims to inspire children and families to discover the many resources the library offers. Sign up for Beyond the Book today!

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