In-Store Storytime: Jill Santopolo, Can You Grow a Striped Banana?

Schedule

Sun Apr 19 2026 at 11:30 am to 12:30 pm

UTC-04:00

Location

East City Bookshop | Washington, DC

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East City Bookshop welcomes Jill Santopolo for an author storytime featuring her new book, CAN YOU GROW A STRIPED BANANA?
About this Event

Note on Format: This event is in-store only.

Preorder your copy of Can You Grow a Striped Banana? in Eventbrite checkout as an add-on to your ticket.

ABOUT CAN YOU GROW A STRIPED BANANA?

In this cozy read-aloud—with an irresistible mix of humor and tenderness—a mom assures her daughter that while mothers may not be perfect, they’ll always be full of love. The first picture book by the bestselling author of The Light We Lost and The Love We Found.

Vibrant, adorable illustrations accompany a mother’s explanation to her daughter, who makes outrageous requests that simply can’t be met. “I can’t grow a striped banana. I can’t stretch like a giraffe. I can’t hear an earthworm’s whisper or make a spider laugh,” Mom admits. But the girl’s requests just get sillier, until the funny and touching moment the next day when Mom shows her daughter that she might have to disappoint her sometimes, but she’ll always find a way to demonstrate just how much she loves her.

Jill Santopolo is the internationally best-selling author of five novels for adults, including The Love We Found, Stars in an Italian Sky, and The Light We Lost, which was a New York Times Bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, a Belletrist book club pick, and has been optioned for film. She is also the author of the children’s books in the Alec Flint Mysteries, Sparkle Spa, and Follow Your Heart series. Jill holds a BA from Columbia University, an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and a certificate in Intellectual Property Law from NYU. She is the publisher of Philomel, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, and lives in New York City with her husband and daughter. This is her debut picture book.

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Where is it happening?

East City Bookshop, 645 Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast, Washington, United States

Event Location & Nearby Stays:

Tickets

USD 0.00 to USD 22.19

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