FREE Storytime with Elena Arévalo Melville at Cambridge Central Library
Mon 17 Feb 2025 | 10:30am - 11:00am
Join author Elena Arévalo Melville for an inclusive and interactive story time with her book Elki is Not My Dog illustrated by Tonka Uzu, and published by Scallywag Press
When a small group of children befriend a stray dog, the entire community is inspired to become involved. Elki does not have a home – she is a stray dog who finds kindness in the company of a little group of children. Elki can’t tell us where she came from, or what home used to be like or how come she’s here now because she is a dog. Overcoming language barriers however requires one thing that children have in spades: empathy.
This event will incorporate British Sign Language signs provided by the Sensory Support Team at Cambridgeshire County Council, who will interpret the story in British Sign Language (BSL) and Sign Supported English (SSE), and provide an uncontracted Braille copy.
Venue: Cambridge Central Library
Duration: 30min
About this event
This event is delivered in partnership with the Festival of Stories and Cambridge Arts Festival
Free and all welcome; book your free place or just come along on the day! Parents/carers to stay with their children at all times.
This event will be held in the children’s section at Cambridge Central Library, which is at the rear of the first floor of the library. Baby changing facilities are available, and there is an area to leave buggies in the children’s library. The library is wheelchair accessible and there is Blue Badge parking in the Grand Arcade shopping centre. There is an accessible toilet with radar key access.
For full details of Central’s facilities, please visit our website. You can also visit Euan’s Guide and AccessAble for more detailed accessibility information about this venue.
Author Biography
Elena Arévalo Melville is a Latin American award winning author and illustrator born in Guatemala, who came to children’s publishing in the United Kingdom rather the long way, via architecture, migrating, painting, and parenting.
Her internationally published work as an author deals with themes of belonging, community, empathy and identity. As an illustrator Elena’s work seeks to draft emotional an inner worlds through expressive and experimental mark making and colour.
Elena loves sharing her love of books, drawing and creativity with audiences of all ages in events in schools, libraries and festivals. She relishes the opportunities to inspire children and to celebrate their ideas in both words and pictures.
