On Friday September 16 at 4 pm author and illustrator Karin Mesa will introduce her book Oliver the Overachiever at a free reception at Waterfall Arts, 256 High Street in Belfast. All are welcome to attend the party for a reading and book signing, snacks and beverages and related activities for kids.

Mesa, with her lush illustrations, creates a whimsical world for Oliver, an anole lizard. His playful spirit and love of living creatively spreads a sense of wonder and new possibilities throughout his tropical world. Oliver and his friends prove throughout the reading that they can be anything they want to be and that even a small person can create great effects and improve one’s world. Mesa says that her fondest hope for the book is that a whimsical, insouciant lizard would come to life for people, encourage them and make them laugh.
Mesa is currently working on the sequel, Oliver Anole and the Wild Grasshopper Rodeo, and five other titles are in the planning stage at her Tarpon Springs, Florida studio. The first book was runner up in the 2011 Beach Book Festival and was given a Preferred Choice Award by Creative Child Magazine. Oliver was featured on the nationally syndicated news show Daytime earlier this year. The segment was filmed at La Mancha Glass Gardens, the one acre botanical garden studio Karin has shared with her husband, glass artist Julian Mesa for the past twenty years. The website for Oliver the Overachiever is www.karinmesa.com where visitors can subscribe to her blog and communicate to the artist by phone and email.

For more information about Oliver’s tour of Maine and the Belfast reception, contact Lorna Crichton at 207 322 3417 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Book Cover illustration by Karin Mesa