CHAPTER 510 MEDIA KIT
When the stars bloom in oakland
MEDIA KIT
about the book
When the Stars Bloom in Oakland is a portrait of twilight and daybreak. It holds what the young people in our city are thinking about and imagining. The poets featured in this anthology are the first cohort of Chapter 510's Young Oakland Poets Expedition, a program that advances the poetry writing experience for fourth graders in Oakland, beginning with eight OUSD classrooms this year. Their work is the starlight in these pages. Read this in daylight or under the covers curled up with a flashlight—these poems invite us to look a little bit closer at our everyday lives and to dream with a sense of unlimited possibility.
Fourth graders are making the transition from learning to read, into reading to learn. In this book, we see how they are making the transition from being taught to write, into writing to teach. What can their poems teach us about the human condition? About nature, animals, and the universe? About living in these times? When the Stars Bloom in Oakland answers these questions and more. Kudos, as always, to Chapter 510 for another literary win!
– Aya de León, Berkeley Poet Laureate 2024–2025
Book Release Readings and Events
The anthology will be released at Oakland Unified School District’s Elementary LitFest, an annual district-wide communal celebration of students' reading and writing accomplishments, on April 23, 2026, at La Escuelita Great Room/Dolores Huerta Campus (1050 2nd Ave Oakland, CA 94606). Chapter 510 will be distributing free copies of the book, and will host a reading by several of the young poets published in the collection. Visit https://www.chapter510.org/events/celebratelatestbookousdlitfest to learn more.
We’re thrilled to be part of Bay Area Book Festival’s YouthLit this year!
On Saturday, May 30, Join us outside the Berkeley Public library for a “living room” of youth-centered activities in partnership with Storyland Collective and the Social Justice Children’s Book Fair.
From 12:30pm–1:00pm student authors from When the Stars Bloom in Oakland will read and sign copies of the anthology.
Families can drop in anytime from 10:30 AM–3:00 PM for hands-on creative activities for all ages, plus prizes, including tickets to an upcoming Oakland Roots game.
You can find the full indoor YouthLit schedule here.
On Sunday, May 31, Chapter 510 will be stationed near the Youth Stages with books for sale, creative activities, and more!
Come celebrate these incredible young poets and spend the weekend surrounded by stories, imagination, and community.
ousd participating schools
Burckhalter Elementary
Sequoia Elementary
Redwood Heights
Acorn Woodland
Chabot Elementary
Allendale Elementary
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POEM EXCERPTS/ART
Autumn in Eritrea
By Essey Zemichael
Chabot Elementary School, 4th grade
Before fall, everyone gets a
leaf blower to clean up the
leaves that have fallen.
In Eritrea, the
leaves look bigger than a
grown-up's hand.
I let the wind
carry the leaves to somewhere
that I do not know.
If the leaves are on the ground,
I like to crunch them with my feet.
The grownups clean up the leaves and
put them in a cone shape to get scooped up into the garbage.
If you ever go to Eritrea,
you might be very excited,
the leaves are heavier than pencils.
Spooky Tulips
By Kehlani Bridges
Allendale Elementary School, 4th grade
In the beginning of fall
people’s houses are turning spookier,
some of the houses stay the same—
a brown apartment,
a one-story blue house,
purple flowers growing by the driveway
When the sun goes down,
spooky tulips start to close,
spooky tulips glow in the dark
when the moon comes out
The tulips shine in the sun
but when the sun goes down, the tulips start to close,
the tulips close row by row when the moon comes out,
the stars start to shine in the dark,
the bats come out and fly through the mist,
tulips start to open when the sun comes out
teaching artist bio
Anjali Emsellem is a writer and educator from the Bay Area. They are the co-founder of ATM, an online magazine publishing at the intersections of art, criticism, and mutual aid. They have deeply enjoyed sharing the art of poetry with people of all ages through their work as a Kindergarten teacher, at PEN America's Prison and Justice Writing Program, and in the hospice setting. Anjali holds a certificate in Foundations of Spiritual Care through the NY Zen Center and is the author of two chapbooks, Creation (2024) and In the Yawn, (2022).
illustrator bio
Dawline-Jane Oni-Eseleh is an Oakland-based visual and teaching artist. Her mixed media artwork is inspired by memory, family stories, her cultural heritage in Diaspora, and the natural world, as well as the shifting urban landscape.
Ms. Oni-Eseleh attended The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and has exhibited her work in spaces across the United States and internationally. Her illustration work has been featured in The LA Times, Science Friday, ProPublica, and Teen Vogue.
