Author Susan Brennan reads her picture book for children, "An Island of Cherished Things."

Once loved by a little girl, Kiiara, a plastic doll, is now discarded and floats in the Pacific Ocean. Entangled in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, she is snatched up by a seagull and transported to Easter Island. There she comes to life, meets other toys, and begins her quest to learn about the abandoned magical statues called the Moai. Created by a tribe of ancient people who cut down all the trees to build and cherish the statues, the people disappeared when all the trees were gone, leaving the Moai to sadness, loneliness and a stubborn vow to never love again. But the Moai have something that Kiiara needs desperately. Will the cast away toys break through to the rock hearts of the giants of Easter Island?

Susan Brennan’s poems have been published as chapbooks and in various journals and performed by circus artists. She curates playful poetry programming (WanderWord) at Wilco’s Solid Sound Music Festival, MASS MoCA and with Parachute Literary Arts in Coney Island. She is author of the children’s book "An Island of Cherished Things," was a finalist for the Montgomery County, PA Poet Laureate 2025, and her poems placed in the Charlotte Miller Simon Poetry Contest, Ardmore Library, PA. She has written/produced films premiering at Austin, Venice and Tribeca Film Festivals, the Reelabilities Film Festival, the World Parkinson Coalition and at MoMA. www.tinycubesofice.com