Children's book author Hazel Rochman will present the 31st Annual Arbuthnot Honor Lecture on April 16.

Rochman, an advocate for multicultural literature for the young, will present "A Stranger Comes to Town" at 3 p.m. in the Rome Commons Ballroom, South Campus.

Born and raised in South Africa under apartheid, Rochman was a journalist there until 1963 when she left the country. A noted critic and reviewer, she is currently editor of Booklist, the American Library Association's review magazine. Rochman received the 1994 G.K. Hall Award for Library Literature for her book, Against Borders: Promoting Books for a Multicultural World. Rochman believes "the best books can make a difference in building community."

May Hill Arbuthnot, for whom the lecture series is named, co-authored the Curriculum Foundation Readers - better know as the "Dick and Jane" series - published by Scott, Foresman and Co. Arbuthnot's greatest contribution to children's literature was her textbook, Children and Books, first published in 1947. She also was editor of Childhood Education and Elementary English. Her other works include The Arbuthnot Anthology of Children's Literature and Children's Books Too Good to Miss. Arbuthnot died in 1969.

Scott, Foresman and Co. established the lecture series in her honor in 1969. The series is sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association.

This is the first time the Arbuthnot lecture has been held in Connecticut and the first time in more than 20 years it has been offered in New England. The choice of the University as host for the 2000 lecture was influenced by a combination of the Dodd Center's significant children's literature and human rights collections.

Tickets for the lecture are free, but must be reserved by April 7. Tours of the Dodd Center will be offered before the lecture. For more information, contact Jean Cardinale Nelson at (860) 486-6346, or through e-mail at jcardinale@lib.uconn.edu.

Sherry Fisher