Story Time: Just Us

Zenith Bookstore presents a family story time with national children’s author Molly Beth Griffin. She will read her new book, Just Us. She will also talk about traditions, recipes, what makes a holiday special, and what happens when plans don’t work out. Then attendees will get a chance to make a family recipe card, cut out a snowflake, and have their books personally signed by the author.

Just Us tells the story of what happens when a storm prevents all the relatives from coming in for the holidays. How can it still be the holidays if everyone isn’t together? No Grandma, no aunts, no uncles, no cousins. No fun! The family will have to adapt their traditions to versions that can be done on a smaller scale–from a more manageable stew dinner, a hike in the snow, or a game of cards instead of rowdy charades. Navigating disappointment with mindfulness and gratitude, the family pieces together a holiday full of new traditions, while still acknowledging that it’s okay to miss the old ones.

Griffin is the author of several picture books including Just Us, Ten Beautiful Things, and Rhoda’s Rock Hunt, the young-adult novel Silhouette of a Sparrow, two poetry chapbooks, and a series of beginning readers. She is a teaching artist at The Loft Literary Center and a graduate of Hamline University’s MFA program in writing for children and young adults. She critiques manuscripts, visits schools, and hosts a monthly Picture Book Salon for writers and illustrators. She lives in Minneapolis with her partner and their two children where she enjoys hiking, taking photos, drawing birds, eating pastries, watching mysteries and waiting for the mail.