Author Jean Merrill to Sign Her Children's Book

Jean Merrill and her husband Douglas Munch, residents of Morristown, have collaborated on a children's book called "The Wild Life of Limericks from A to Z," and Ms. Merrill will give a reading from the book and sign copies at Bernardsville Public Library on Saturday, December 2 at 10:30 am in the rotunda.

"The Wild Life of Limericks from A to Z" is not your usual ABC book! It is an award winning family-oriented book that is alluring for both adults and children. One can enjoy the book's limericks as an adult, read it to children, have children read the poetry, examine the detailed illustrations, compete for who can find the hidden letter first, learn from the fun facts and word definitions in the glossary, and even discover new animals. It also includes a glossary containing definitions of larger words found in the limericks, fun facts about each animal, and a photograph of each animal in the wild, taken by the author in six countries and six U.S. states. The book has 26 fanciful, highly detailed colorful illustrations by a National Geographic photographer, illustrator and primatologist, and fanciful limericks written by the author.

Jean Merrill is a scientist, educator, and photographer. With a PhD in Immunology and an MBA in Marketing and Finance, she spent her entire scientific career searching for causes of and therapies for Multiple Sclerosis (MS). She has taught and led research teams in both academia as a Professor of Neurology at UCLA School of Medicine and as an executive in the pharmaceutical industry. After spending 35 years working on MS, she retired three years ago. Her recent projects, working with her husband Doug Munch, have included volunteering to educate Native American youth on reservations and pueblos in the Southwest in ways to practice healthy living, developing and teaching a course on drug discovery to undergraduate students at Smith College, her alma mater, and collaborating on writing this book.

There is no charge to attend the program, which is for all children ages three and up. It will be followed by an animal craft program in the Story Time Room. No sign-up is needed.