HOUSTON — Houston has never been shy about telling its own story, and this weekend one of the city’s most familiar voices traded the radio studio for a library chair, a children’s book and a room built for imagination.

Houston radio personality, Texas Radio Hall of Famer and children’s author Madd Hatta brought the Houston Public Library’s Local Author Storytime Series to a spirited close Saturday, August 15, at the McGovern-Stella Link Neighborhood Library. The final stop capped a three-library August tour centered on Kase’s Little Adventures, Hatta’s recently published picture book inspired by his son, Kase, and created to introduce young readers to family, ancestry, entrepreneurship and the power of believing in their own ideas.

 

The series also made a larger point: in an age of screens, scrolling and shrinking attention spans, the neighborhood library can still hold a room.

Throughout the tour, Hatta brought the kind of energy Houston audiences have known for more than three decades — only this time, the microphone was joined by pages. The August series included stops at The African American Library at the Gregory School, Alief-David M. Henington Regional Library and, finally, McGovern-Stella Link. The interactive experiences combined reading with family conversations and opportunities for children to engage with the ideas behind the book.

At the heart of Kase’s Little Adventures is a smart, curious child learning lessons about family, imagination and entrepreneurship. It is a kid-friendly premise carrying a very Houston message: start with what you have, appreciate where you come from and never be afraid to build something bigger.

“We are thrilled to welcome Madd Hatta to our libraries, as we celebrate the power of storytelling for kids, families, and adults,” said Houston Public Library Director Sandy Gaw. “Madd’s passion for inspiring young readers aligns beautifully with our mission to nurture imagination, curiosity, and lifelong learning.”

For Hatta, the library setting carries some personal history. He has recalled visiting libraries with his father as a youngster and checking out everything from nursery-rhyme books to golf videos and information about making records in the music business. That makes his return as an author wonderfully full-circle: a boy who once entered the library looking for possibilities is now helping another generation find theirs.

“Libraries are one of the few places where every family can walk through the door and have access to books, information and opportunity, regardless of their circumstances,” Hatta said. “Kase’s Little Adventures is about ancestry, entrepreneurship and helping children believe that their ideas matter.”

That message has special resonance in Houston, where public libraries have long served as democratic community spaces — places where children and families can explore knowledge without a velvet rope, expensive membership or requirement that a youngster already know what he or she wants to become.

Fatherhood Gets a Starring Role

Hatta’s storytime journey also placed fatherhood front and center. His emphasis on encouraging fathers to read, learn and spend meaningful time with their children gives the project an added dimension beyond literacy. A book can build vocabulary, but a parent reading that book aloud can build confidence, connection and memories.

Kase’s Little Adventures itself grew from Hatta’s desire to document part of his son’s childhood while creating something capable of inspiring other children. The book explores themes including ancestry, imagination, entrepreneurship, fatherhood and legacy.

That is where this story becomes bigger than storytime.

The final page of Houston Public Library’s Madd Hatta August tour may have been turned Saturday, but its larger story is still being written — in every child who checks out another book, every parent who makes time to read aloud and every youngster who begins thinking, maybe my idea matters, too.

In a city famous for transforming big dreams into bold realities, Madd Hatta and Houston Public Library offered Houston’s youngest dreamers a wonderfully simple starting point:

Open a book. Honor your story. Imagine what comes next.

 

 

Website: Houston Public Library — HoustonLibrary.org

Events Calendar: Houston Public Library Events