fiction
Astoria Bookshop Storytime Event on Sept 21st!
Attention, people of Earth! Er…I mean, people of Queens! Well, actually, people of Astoria, Queens, specifically! On Sunday, September 21st at 11:30am, I’ll be doing a special Sunday Storytime event at Astoria Bookshop. During the event, I’ll be reading from my new children’s book Pumpkin Spice, which is out now from Penguin Random House.
Here’s the official description of the event from the Astoria Bookshop site:
Special Sunday Story Time: PUMPKIN SPICE with author Arie Kaplan
Sunday Sep 21st, 2025
11:30 AM–12:15 PM
Family Events
Join us every other Sunday for family storytime! On September 21st we welcome a special guest reader, author Arie Kaplan, with his board book Pumpkin Spice.
A delicious celebration of fall that hits all the senses, complete with a recipe for a homemade pumpkin spice blend! Little ones will love cozying up with this board book and learning all about the delights of autumn.
Stroller parking is available at the front of the store and near the register. Our restroom has a changing table. If you have any accessibility requests, please contact us at least 3 days in advance at events@astoriabookshop.com. Click the RSVP button to get an email reminder.
For more info, click HERE.
Astoria Bookshop’s address is:
36-19 30th Street
Astoria, NY
USA 11106
Pumpkin Spice was written by yours truly and illustrated by the wonderful Monique Dong. The book is available at bookstores everywhere, as well as HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.
And to see all of the other books I’ve written for Penguin Random House (which don’t involve pumpkins, spice, or any combination thereof), click HERE.
Since there’s a while between now and the Storytime event, here’s my headshot (photo by Carl Kelsch), so that you can see what I look like. If you’re at Astoria Bookshop on September 21st and the person reading from Pumpkin Spice looks nothing like this, either it’s not me, or I’ve had pretty drastic plastic surgery.
I’m Going To Be On A Panel At SDCC!
San Diego Comic Con is happening next week, and I’ll be appearing on a SDCC panel called “Writing Nonfiction About Fiction: Coffee Table Book Writers Roundtable.” It’s happening on Saturday July 26th, 2025 from 4:30-5:30pm, in Room 29CD.
The panel will be moderated by Andrew Farago, and aside from yours truly, the other panelists will be Jerry Beck, Matt Murray, and Russ Burlingame. All of us are pop culture historians, and all of us have a lot to say. During the panel, we’ll discuss what it’s like writing nonfiction books about movies, TV shows, comic books, video games, toys, and animation.
Here’s the official description of the event:
Reading comic books and watching cartoons all day is hard work! Honest! Animation legend Jerry Beck, official Smurfologist Matt Murray, pop culture writer Russ Burlingame (Best Movie Ever), writer/comedian Arie Kaplan (From Krakow to Krypton: Jews and Comic Books), and A Minecraft Movie chronicler Andrew Farago discuss the perils and pitfalls of writing nonfiction books about movies, comics, video games, toys, and cartoons.
For more info, click HERE.