Children’s author Betty Bauer will read from and autograph her newly-published book Tamika and Friends on May 24 and 25, at Mesa Verde National Park’s Visitor and Research Center.

Tamika and Friends is a story of three Ancestral Puebloan children whose families migrated from Mesa Verde in the late 1200s, each in a different direction. The historical fiction can serve as an upper elementary school study guide about Pueblo life in the Southwest. It contains a glossary, a map, illustrations, photographs, graphics, and excerpts from the author’s journal while researching at Mesa Verde National Park. For this book, Bauer teamed with Robert E. Matthews, the same Colorado artist who illustrated her 2006 picture/counting book Bison and Burro. Both titles will be available for purchase at the holiday weekend book signings.

Bauer will autograph books both days from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and will give short readings at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 3 p.m. All activities will be held in the Visitor and Research Center bookstore just off U.S. 160 at the Mesa Verde National Park exit. Visitor and Research Center entrance and parking is free.

Betty Bauer, a former primary school teacher and a Mesa Verde National Park 2010 Artist in Residence, writes children’s stories about raising sheep as well as her travels through national parks and on the Lewis and Clark Trail. She especially enjoys interacting with young people and sharing her writing and journaling ideas. Bauer annually tutors on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and Utah. She comments that it is hard to pick a favorite grade level as K through 12 students have all shown a love of books, writing, and hearing about new experiences. While in Mesa Verde National Park at the end of May, the author will meet several local school tours to share her latest book and the process of producing it. Drawing from the students’ thoughts on the Mesa Verde story, she will equip the school groups with several techniques for writing up their trip and for tapping their own creativity.

Bauer’s book signings and readings are offered by the nonprofit Mesa Verde Museum Association (MVMA) in partnership with Mesa Verde National Park. MVMA is the park’s innovative educational partner that inspires life-long stewardship of the Mesa Verde region’s cultural and natural heritage. Through the operation of park and Cortez bookstores, low-cost workshops, free lectures, and special programs, visitors of all ages gain a new, behind-the-scenes understanding of Mesa Verde. Proceeds from all association programs support Mesa Verde National Park. Learn more at www.mesaverde.org.