Carrboro Children’s Book Launches

Carrboro, NC (April 17, 2008)—“Sometimes the best adventures in life can be found in your own backyard—especially if you live in Carrboro,” said Children’s Book author Irma Tejada to 40 third-grade students at Carrboro Elementary School on April 17.

Author Tejada and illustrator Chris Kanoy joined Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton at the elementary school to launch the new Carrboro children’s book, “A Weekend in the Paris of the Piedmont”.

At the book launch, Mayor Chilton read the book to a delighted full-house and introduced former resident Nyle Frank, who popularized the phrase “Paris of the Piedmont”.

Chilton asked the nine and ten-year-olds if any of them spoke French, or another language. Nearly half of the group raised their hands, citing Hebrew, French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese as a second language.

At the event, Tejada and Kanoy discussed how their love affair with Carrboro led them to draw and compose a story that features such local attractions as Weaver Street Market, Carrburritos, Cliff’s Meat Market and the North Carolina Arts Gallery in a way that appeals to children, adults, residents and newcomers to the area.

“A Weekend in the Paris of the Piedmont” is about Lizzy, a young girl who feels sad about her best friend’s trip to Paris. Sensing that her daughter may be unconsciously feeling envious of her friend, mom Betsy decides that becoming tourists themselves may help dispel Lizzie’s blues. The result is a weekend of discovery in their hometown of Carrboro, NC—known as “the Paris of the Piedmont”—and a whirlwind adventure that brings much joy to Lizzy and her mom.

“A Weekend in the Paris of the Piedmont” is a full-sized, bound, soft-cover book, illustrated in vibrant yellow and orange colors on the front and back cover, and illustrated in black & white on the inside, which was designed to encourage kids to color the Carrboro locales. The book can be purchased at Weaver Street Market; North Carolina Crafts Gallery and the Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau and costs $7.99.

A former CPA and hospital controller, Irma Tejada retired from UNC Hospitals in 2004. Irma is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Maryland. Chris Kanoy is a pastel artist who retired from UNC Hospitals in 2003 as the Associate Director of Hospital Epidemiology. She is an active member of the Pastel Society of North Carolina and is known for her colorful executions of local architecture, streetscapes and landscapes.

The Chapel Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau provided financial seed money for the book so that the authors could secure a publisher and help the Visitors Bureau tell the story that is Carrboro. “We look at it as a win/win,” said Laurie Paolicelli. “We have a wonderful creative book that tells visitors all that there is to do in Carrboro, and it’s written in a way that we would not naturally devise. We love the book and hope to help the authors bring the story to visitors.”

The writer-illustrator team is now at work on a Chapel Hill and Hillsborough version to offer visitors a creative look at the three towns through a children’s perspective. For information, contact Mermaid Press at 919-929-5023 or email info@themermaidsquill.com.


Did You Know?

UNC was the first state-supported university in the U.S. and enrolls nearly 30,000 students from all North Carolina counties, all U.S. states and more than 100 foreign countries.