Shig Yabu (left) with Norman Mineta and former Sen. Alan Simpson

Shig Yabu and Willie Ito, the author and illustrator of the childrenﾕs book Hello Maggie! (Yabitoon Books), will make two appearances in the Bay Area:

･ Saturday, April 19 (during the Cherry Blossom Festival), at the National Japanese American Historical Society, 1684 Post St. in San Francisco Japantown. There will be a meet-and-greet at 1 p.m., a reading and illustration demonstration at 1:30 p.m., and book-signing from 2:15 to 3 p.m.

･ Sunday, May 4 (during Nikkei Matsuri), at Wesley United Methodist Church, 566 N. 5th St. in San Jose Japantown. This event is sponsored by Suzume no Gakko and Heritage Source. The two will sign books from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Hello Maggie! is about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, and is based on the authorﾕs own experiences.

Internees were not allowed to take their pets with them to camp. The book's protagonist, a young boy, adopts a magpie, Maggie, who has fallen out of its nest. The bird becomes the boy's friend and is embraced by his family and the larger camp community - ironically enjoying freedom within the confines of the Heart Mountain camp in Wyoming.

Yabu later became the first executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of Camarillo. Ito, also a former internee, was an animator with Disney, Hanna Barbera, Warner Bros. and others.