Kristi Yamaguchi will appear at two Southern California locations to read from and discuss her new children’s book, “It’s a Big World, Little Pig!”
– Monday, March 19, at 11 a.m. at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. (626) 449-5320, www.vromansbookstore.com/
– Tuesday, March 20, at 5:30 p.m. at Whale of a Tale, 4199 Campus Dr., Suite A, Irvine. (949) 854-8288, www.awhaleofatale.com
On March 18, Yamaguchi appeared at the Japanese American National Museum and Barnes & Noble-The Grove, both in Los Angeles. Her book tour has also taken her to New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
After visiting Arizona and Utah, she will do readings in Bay Area cities, including her hometown, Fremont. The schedule is as follows:
Saturday, March 31, at 11 a.m. at Barnes & Noble, 5353 Almaden Expressway, San Jose. (408) 979-0611, www.barnesandnoble.com
Saturday, April 7, at 10 a.m. at Dale Hardware, 37100 Post St., Fremont. (510) 797-3700, www.dale-hardware.com
April 7 at 1 p.m. at Costco, 43621 Pacific Commons Blvd., Fremont. (510) 897-1092, www.costco.com
(An appearance at Costco in Novato, originally set for Saturday, April 21, will be rescheduled.)
Saturday, April 28, at 2 p.m. (reading and Q&A) and 3 p.m. (book-signing) at Danville Library, 400 Front St., Danville. (925) 837-4889, http://ccclib.org/locations/danville.html
Sunday, April 29, at 12 p.m. (during Nikkei Matsuri) at Nikkei Traditions, 219 Jackson St., San Jose. Info: http://nikkeimatsuri.org/
Saturday, May 5, at 1 p.m. (during Children’s Day) at Japantown Peace Plaza, Post and Buchanan, San Francisco. Info: www.jcccnc.org/events
In this sequel to “Dream Big, Little Pig!,” Poppy leaves her home in New Pork City to take part in an international ice skating competition in France and meets animals from other countries, including a panda from China, a crane from Japan, a kangaroo from Australia, and a poodle from Italy. Poppy learns that although these animals look different, act different, and are from different places, they are all the same at heart.
Yamaguchi won the gold medal in women’s figure skating 20 years ago at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. In addition to winning numerous skating competitions and touring as a professional, she was the 2008 winner on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.” When the show had its season premiere on March 19, Yamaguchi was among the former contestants in the audience.
A portion of proceeds from the book sales will benefit early childhood literacy programs supported by Yamaguchi’s Always Dream Foundation (www.alwaysdream.org).