Yep will speak to about 300 eighth-graders in the multipurpose room at Holmes Junior High School in the morning. In keeping with the School of Education's goal to be closely integrated with local schools, the organizing committee has also planned opportunities for schoolchildren to meet with Yep the day before his lecture. Students in one of the school's language arts courses are currently studying Yep, she added. 'For the prospective teachers we're preparing,' Galli-Banducci said, 'it's critical they know worthy authors and illustrators who touch the lives of children through literature.'

'He gives a lens to that perspective,' she said. Yep was asked to present the first lecture, Galli-Banducci said, because of his sensitive portrayal of the outsider's perspective and the cultural adjustment that comes with crossing boundaries - from a child with a physical disability to the immigrant experience. 'The committee endeavors to invite authors and illustrators whose work supports children's efforts to find their voice, cultures and traditions,' she said. Joanne Galli-Banducci, a lecturer in the School of Education, said the new lecture series is proposed as an annual event in which children's authors and illustrators will share a glimpse into their art of crafting words and images. Yep is also author of 'When the Circus Came to Town' 'The Imp That Ate My Homework,' winner of the Georgia Children's Book Award and 'The Magic Paintbrush.' A division of the American Library Association awards the Newbery Medal and Newbery Honors annually to the authors of the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children. He has received two Newbery Honors, for 'Dragonwings' in 1976 and for 'Dragon's Gate' in 1994. The author of more than 60 books, Yep is noted for his contributions to multicultural children's literature. And a UC Davis library exhibit will feature his works through March 25.

Yep's visit to Davis will also include meetings with children at Patwin Elementary School and Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior High School on Tuesday, Jan. His public lecture will be the first of the School of Education's Children's Literature Lecture Series, 'Words Take Wing: Honoring Diversity in Children's Literature.' Titled 'My Father's Watch,' it will explore time and its uses in children's historical fiction and fantasy. Laurence Yep, one of the most respected Asian American authors of children's literature, will deliver the inaugural lecture of a new series at the University of California, Davis, on Wednesday, Jan.

The Magic Paintbrush by Laurence Yep