Judy Sierra

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Judy Sierra is not only an award-winning popular author of more than 30 picture, poetry and folklore books, but she is also an Oregon author. And a puppeteer. And a storyteller. And Deschutes Public Library’s 2014 Story Star.

She will present a free family program at the Tower Theatre at 1 p.m. Saturday and a workshop for adults on writing for children at the Downtown Bend Public Library at 3 p.m. Saturday. Here are just a few of her gems.

“E-I-E-I-O: How Old Macdonald Got His Farm (With a Little Help from a Hen)” is a hilarious rhyming romp explaining that Old MacDonald started out with just a yard he didn’t want to mow. But when a clever hen helps him to look at the environment in a different way, he ends up with an ecologically sound farm and what has become unquestionably the favorite song for all children. Matthew Myers’ clever illustrations reveal the expressions of everyone, from goat to neighbor.

“Wild About Books” tells of a librarian who mistakenly drives her bookmobile into the zoo, where she introduces the inhabitants to the joys of — you guessed it — books. “Giraffes wanted tall books and crickets craved small books, while geckos could only read stick-to-the-wall books.” Marc Brown, best known for his “Arthur the Anteater” series, is the perfect illustrator for this delightful story.

The Big Bad Wolf is determined to tell his version of what really happened, but the three pigs don’t trust him and keep calling out, “Tell the Truth, B.B. Wolf,” which is also the title of Sierra’s pun- and fun-filled rewrite of the famous folk tale.

Other fairy tale heroes appear in the story, and they all have trouble believing that the wolf finally wants to say he’s s-s-s-s … Well, you’ll have to read the book to see if he can say it.

Understanding how to rhyme and knowing the sounds of the alphabet letters are early literacy skills that help children learn to read. Both are prevalent in “There’s a Zoo in Room 22,” which explains in verse how young students enjoy — sometimes — having 26 animals in their classroom. From Amanda Anaconda to a zorilla (read the book to find out what that is), this books has plenty of nonsense.

Free tickets to hear Judy Sierra at the Tower Theatre are available at all Deschutes Public Libraries. For the adult workshop, please register at www.deschuteslibrary.org/events.

— Recommendations from Heather McNeil, Youth Services Manager, Deschutes Public Library