Continuing its book launch series, the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) will host a reading of “Jemma and The Mermaid’s Call,” a new children’s book by local author Laura VonDracek and illustrated by Matthew King.

Book cover of 'Jemma and the Mermaid's Call' features drawing of mermaid with an emerald green tail swirling in a blue sea.

The community event will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 13 on the museum patio at the Santa Barbara Harbor. It will include a reading from the book followed by a family art activity, creating mermaid bookmarks.

The program is free to attend, but registration is required by emailing reservations@sbmm.org, or visiting https://sbmm.org/santa-barbara-events/.

“Jemma and The Mermaid’s Call” is the story of a plucky mermaid who loves living in her ocean world. Whether exploring for treasure or swimming along with her marine friends, she delights in the underwater landscape and bountiful sea life, until one day when darkness encompasses her home.

As she swims off to investigate the mystery, she bumps up against the huge problem above her — a giant floating island of trash. Not knowing how to solve this far-reaching dilemma by herself, she calls together all the sea life and Mer tribes of the world and, as a group, they hatch a plan to clean up the mess.
 
The author, who is also an artist, was born and raised in New York and now lives in Santa Barbara where she can often be found walking and cleaning up along local beaches while searching for sea glass to incorporate into her artwork.

VonDracek has been journaling for much of her life, and sees writing as an important part of her creative life.

“Approaching the blank page from a stream-of-consciousness place has always allowed me to let thoughts and feelings flow freely and find their way onto the page and then into visual form,” she said.

As a swimmer, Von Dracek has long been fascinated by mermaids, and as a lover of all waterways and the earth itself, she said it seemed fitting for her to include personally meaningful elements into th story.

“As the condition of our earth and its waterways, along with the life within them, is facing environmental harm, we must all do what we can to clean-up our earth, our oceans, and our homes so we can continue to enjoy the beauty and life they offer us,” she said.

Autographed copies of the hardcover book, designed for children ages 4-9, will be available the day of the event for $24.99.

For more, visit https://lauravondracek.com/.