Monarch and Mourning Cloak: Storytime with author and illustrator Sarah Brannen

The Chicopee Public Library will host acclaimed children’s author and illustrator Sarah Brannen for an event focused on her beautiful new picture book, Monarch and Mourning Cloak: A Butterfly Journal!  Following along at a butterfly’s-eye-view, attendees will discover how they live in different habitats, eat different foods, and have different strategies for avoiding enemies and making it through the winter. A nature journaling activity will follow the presentation.

 

Books will be available for purchase and signing following the program.

 

​​This Mass Kids Lit Fest event is presented in partnership with the Massachusetts Center for the Book. For a full schedule, please visit https://www.makidslitfest.org/.

 

Sarah S. Brannen has written and illustrated over two dozen books for children, including Lolly on the Ice, Bear Needs Help, A Perfect Day and Madame Martine. She illustrated the Sibert honor book Summertime Sleepers as well as the award-winning Feathers: Not Just for Flying and Seashells: More Than a Home, all written by Melissa Stewart. Monarch and Mourning Cloak: A Butterfly Journal, created by Sarah and Melissa together, was published in March 2026. As an author, Sarah wrote Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, illustrated by Lucia Soto, and Miles Comes Home, illustrated by Forrest Burdett. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding was at the center of the Supreme Court case Mahmoud v. Taylor, and was named one of the best children’s books in the past 100 years by Booktrust. Sarah’s books have been translated into 12 languages.