Just in time for the Easter season, Jim Shields, of Lexington, will sign copies of his new children’s book “Welcome Baby Bunnies!” on Saturday, March 12, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea.
Few Animals can capture the attention and imagination of children like soft and cuddly bunnies, and this story tells how a mother bunny decides to build her nest one night at a meadow’s edge. The book presents numerous life lessons in beautiful rhymed verse, combined with subtle introductions to numbers and basic colors, making it a story that children can learn from and enjoy for years to come.
Shields grew up on a small dairy farm in Warren County, Tennessee. Having written since he was a teenager, Shields continued his creative writing for a local newspaper and in his college courses at Berea College. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, Shields has pursued a pharmaceutical career in Kentucky since 1970. In his business travels, he has discovered that he can write and compose almost anywhere.
“My writing voice is really how I think – and it has evolved into a sort of style that I currently use,” he said. “Most of my writing just happens – sometimes even in the middle of the night.”
Books by Shields are regularly available at the Kentucky Artisan Center, located at 200 Artisan Way, just off Interstate 75 at Berea Exit 77. The center’s exhibits, shopping and travel information areas are open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the cafe is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea currently features works by more than 700 artisans from more than 100 counties across the Commonwealth.
Special exhibits on display include “Great Impressions: Prints by Kentucky Artisans,” through Sept. 10, 2016, and in the lobby, “Kentucky Clay: A Continuing Tradition” through June 30. For more information about events call 859-985-5448, go to the center’s website at: http://www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov
The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is an agency in the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
(story provided by Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet)
