Kelly DiPucchio writes children’s books because she can’t imagine writing anything else. She’s written twenty of them so far and is just getting started. Two of her books, Grace for President and The Sandwich Swap, were New York Times bestsellers. This month, she added a new book to the shelf: Everyone Loves Cupcake.
Grace for President, published in 2008, has taken on new life during the current presidential campaign. It’s a story about a little girl who notices that there are no women on a poster of U.S. presidents. Grace decides to run for president of the student council in her school to help change that.
“Every election, the book has another life added to it,” DiPucchio says. “This year, it’s had all kinds of interest in it. Rutgers University did a program in which they sent out copies to congresswomen and mayors and senators, encouraging them to take Grace for President out into their communities and read them as part of their ‘Teach a Girl to Lead’ program.”
DiPucchio’s newest book, Everyone Loves Cupcake, deals with sweeter matters. The character Cupcake is a perfectionist – every sprinkle in place – but finds herself dealing with self-esteem issues.
Although the book deals with some serious issues, DiPucchio adds puns and comic moments to add laughter, for children reading it and for adults reading to their kids. “Because,” DiPucchio says, “it is the adult who reads the book perhaps fifty times, so you want it to be fun.”
Kelly DiPucchio will read from her books at Bookbug on Oakland Drive in Kalamazoo on Saturday, September 24, at 2 p.m. Cupcakes and other refreshments will served.
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