Author: Isabel Roxas and Conrad Benedicto

Pick up your Golden Ticket at 1:00 p.m. in the Children's Marketplace for a free book bundle. 40 tickets are available.

1:00 p.m. - 1:50 p.m. Isabel Roxas: Team Pom reading and zine workshop.* Capacity is 30 participants max, Eventbrite registration recommended. Book signing in Children’s Marketplace follows at 1:45 pm. Recommended ages 8+.

3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Conrad Benedicto reads “Musalaya’s Gift” and kulintang performance. Recommended ages 12+. Book signing in Children’s Marketplace follows at 3:30 pm.

Isabel Roxas is a storyteller and graphic artist. She loves to draw and write stories about curious misfits, young characters who defy the odds and funny animals.She has illustrated several books for young readers, including Our Skin: A First Conversation about Race by Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli (ALA Notable Book 2021, School Library Journal BEST BOOK 2021), and Day at the Market by May Tobias-Papa (2010 winner of the Philippine National Book Award).Her latest book, The Adventures of Team Pom: Squid Happens was selected for the Society of Illustrators Original Art Show and is an EGL Award Finalist.

Isabel was born in Manila, Philippines, was raised on luscious mangoes, old wives' tales, and monsoon moons. She now resides in New York City with her husband and several adopted plants.

Conrad J. Benedicto is a teacher, author, and kulintang musician who studied with Master Danongan Kalanduyan from 1997 to 2016. Benedicto was Master Kalanduyan’s apprentice within the Alliance for California Traditional Arts’ Apprenticeship Program in 2007 and again in 2013. He teaches social studies, environmental education, and kulintang music at Balboa High School in San Francisco. In 2018, Conrad received an individual artist grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission to compose original kulintang music for his project called, “Kulintang Dialect.” Musalaya’s Gift is his first fantasy novel.