Food Queen

The nation knows her by that distinctive voice and as the woman who brought cooking and eating into our homes, via the television set, as a pleasurable, creative activity. And because Julia Child is a local treasure, we often see her in the market where we unabashedly check out the contents of her shopping cart.

Childs will appear at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Earthling Bookshop, 1137 State St., Santa Barbara, with her biographer Noel Riley Fitch. They will discuss and sign “Appetite for Life,” a surprising account of the life and career of a remarkable woman.

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Jim Trelease, author of the best-selling “Read-Aloud Handbook” will speak to educators and parents on the topic, “Motivating Children to Make Books Into Friends” at 3:30 today and again at 7 tonight at Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Road. The fee is $5. Call 493-2179.

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A number of autographing authors will appear this week at the Thousand Oaks Borders, 124 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd.: James Michael Pratt signs “The Last Valentine” at 7:30 tonight; George Gamez will discuss and sign “Creativity: How to Catch Lightning in a Bottle” at 7 p.m. Monday, followed at 7:30 p.m. by Mayra Hornbacher, the 23-year-old author of “Wasted,” who describes her desperate fight to overcome bulimia and anorexia.

Pepperdine University professor Michael Collings will lead the monthly poetry workshop at 7 p.m. Tuesday. And Mitchell Gooze, former president of Teledyne Components, will sign his new book, “It’s Not Rocket Science: Using Marketing to Build a Sustainable Business” at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

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And lots is going on at the two Barnes & Noble bookstores. Because January is National Soup Month, Yolanda Fintor and Carla Henry will serve some hearty brews and sign their “Souper Skinny Soups” cookbook at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Ventura store, 4360 E. Main St. Popular KABC-AM talk-show host Dennis Prager will be at the Thousand Oaks store, 160 S. Westlake Blvd., at 7 p.m. Tuesday to sign “Happiness Is a Serious Problem, A Human Nature Repair Manual.”

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In Santa Barbara

Local publishers Daniel & Daniel have just released Robert Taylor’s “The Innocent,” a novel about gays in the military who served in Vietnam. The author will discuss the book at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Earthling Bookshop, 1137 State St.

* Frances Halpern and Jon O’Brien are co-hosts of “Beyond Words” at 10 a.m. Sundays on KCLU-FM (88.3 Ventura and 102.3 Santa Barbara) Ventura County’s National Public Radio station.