Hulme went to the rest home where Davis lived, ostensibly to cheer her up, but found herself being the one entertained. Those visits were part of an outreach program for Mormon shut-ins. Davis told of growing up in a large Mormon household in New Mexico in the early days of the last century.

Hulme would leave thinking, "Someone should write these stories down." Eventually she realized that that someone would have to be her. So she began typing the stories up after each visit and reading them back to Mrs. Davis at their next meeting.

By the time Davis died, Hulme had a trove of 35 different stories. These, combined with Hulme's own imagination and remembrances of also growing up in a Mormon household, form the basis for Climbing. It's the second in a series, and Hulme expects it to yield six books total.

Most of Hulme's 15 published works have been written for preschoolers and early readers, including pop-up books. But Climbing the Rainbow is designed for 8­12-year-olds, telling how 10-year-old Dora managed to catch up to her grade level, attending school for the first time four years late.

She was born tongue-tied: her tongue attached to the roof of her mouth, making it impossible for her to speak. Part of an isolated family, she had never been to a doctor, but at last one saw her, diagnosed her plight, and performed the necessary surgery to free her tongue.

Thus, she was finally able to teach herself to talk and read. As homesteaders, the family had very little money but plenty of innovative ideas about entertainment. Events in the book range from the grimness of preparations for a funeral to gleeful participation in a fly-swatting contest.

A tragedy tears her life apart. "Vivid, gritty and touching" are the words the American Library Association uses to describe Climbing the Rainbow. Hulme, who was recently widowed, says that the final book publication preparations helped her with the grieving process.

The Monte Serenan will have a booksigning March 6, 2­4 p.m., at Beehive Bookstore, 1197 Wyrick Ave. at Bercaw in San Jose. Incidentally, there's another local touch: Mrs. Davis' daughter is Mary Lou Irwin, who lives in Saratoga. "And looks just like Ora," says Hulme. "I feel like I'm back with her when I visit."

ANTIQUE SHOW & TELL: The fourth annual Antique Show & Tell will be held March 28, 11 a.m.­3 p.m., at the Saratoga Community Center, sponsored by the Assistance League. The beneficiaries of the fundraiser are needy children and seniors in the community.

The event draws a hefty following, because nearly everyone thinks she has a treasure on the mantle or stored in the attic that would garner a munificent price tag if put up for sale. The popularity of the TV show Antiques Roadshow is a case in point.

Professional appraisers will be on hand to render their judgments, and the lines awaiting their rulings are often long. Cost of the fundraiser is $35 ahead of time, $40 at the door. That fee buys one informal appraisal, hors d'oeuvres, dessert, coffee, tea and a glass of wine.

Additional wine is $5 per glass; additional appraisals are $5 each. Appraisers include Michael Berry, Lynne Denman, Pat Nauer, Juanita (Nikki) Peters and Steve Yvaska.

This cadre will give its pronouncements on American arts and crafts, American primitive, Asian art, English and French furniture, porcelain, silver, jewelry, linens, books and dolls.

THREE CERAMISTS: Aegis Gallery is currently exhibiting the work of three ceramists, and a reception for these artists will be held March 7, 2­5 p.m., at the gallery on Big Basin Way. The three are Jackie Butts, Starr Davis and Eduardo Lazo.

Butts has been concentrating on vessel form and black glazes in the past few years. She grows her own bamboo and incorporates it and caning into her work. Butts has been working in clay for the past 35 years, has taught ceramic classes for 25. One of her hallmarks is creating tension in her art pieces. Her work can stand alone or be used as a container to celebrate what's being contained.

Davis, a Saratogan, is a painter as well as ceramist. Her work in this show will feature canoes and texture. She uses the canoe as metaphor for a beautiful, sleek design for life's passage. The mussel shell is her signature theme. Starr creates life-cast masks of children. In the one in this show, the child's hair is punctuated with mussel shells, incorporating many of her themes.

Lazo is a Belmont artist, teacher, author. He works in vapor glazed ceramics—pit fire or precious metal fuming.

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