Drag Artist Story Hour Springs To Life At Mitchell Library

Tiki Malone and her newest fans. Lucy Gellman Photos.

Tiki Malone looked out onto a group of young readers, a copy of If You're A Drag Queen And You Know It propped open in her lap. Already, a dozen pint-sized listeners had practiced striking a pose, their arms sailing up into the air and settling beneath their tiny chins. They had worked on their spins, Malone's rainbow dress and daffodil-colored hair leading the way. Even before Malone uttered the words “Say Yes Queen!,” they knew what was coming. 

"Yaa-aa-sss-a que-eeee-en!" squealed two-year-old Mari Hartzheim from a nearby rug, her little hands pushed out to the sides. The room dissolved into laughter and applause. 

Wednesday afternoon, Malone welcomed young readers—and readers who were young at heart—to a special drag artist story hour at the Mitchell Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library (NHFPL). A collaboration between Children's Librarian Sarah Quigley and the New Haven Pride Center (NHPC), it marked a first for the Westville neighborhood branch.

It is one of several events leading up to the New Haven Pride block party this weekend, scheduled for Saturday afternoon on Crown and Orange Streets in downtown New Haven. Before then, other activities include a "Dining With Pride" night out at Olives & Oil on Friday and LGBTQ+ maker fair and pop-up at Strange Ways on Saturday afternoon. Wednesday, a table decked out with rainbow and Pride flag regalia and LGBTQ+ affirming kids books sat beside the group. 

New Haven Pride Center Executive Director Juancarlos Soto, Communications Coordinator & PRIDE New Haven Co-Producer Laura Boccadoro, and Children's Librarian Sarah Quigley. 

"I've wanted to do this forever," said Quigley, who greeted every young reader with a smile. Prior to moving to New Haven last year, she was a school librarian in Texas, where activities like story hour weren’t on the table. So this year, when Pride Center Youth Services Coordinator Ta’LannaMonique Lawson-Dickerson and Pride Co-Producer Laura Boccadoro proposed a drag storytime, she jumped at the opportunity. 

"It is always in queer spaces, whether you are queer or not, that people will welcome you,” she said, praising Mitchell Branch Manager Marian Huggins and City Librarian Maria Bernhey for their support. “To be working together [with the Pride Center], to be able to support each other, it just makes it come alive."

As Malone settled in, nearly a dozen pint-sized readers found their place on a rug at the front of the room, some sitting shoulder-to-shoulder as others toddled across the floor. Off to one side, Mari snuggled into her mom's lap, where she stayed for maybe 30 seconds before getting back up to explore. Fifteen-month-old Larkin Myers-McPhail clapped their hands, totally delighted to be there. Closer to the windows, Pride Center staff looked on, beaming with as much child-like wonderment as readers who were meeting a drag queen for the first time.  

Bubbles were part of Wednesday afternoon's story hour. 

Reaching into a furry green backpack, Malone pulled out a copy of The Hips On The Drag Queen Go Swish Swish Swish, published by Lil Miss Hot Mess in 2020. Opening it to the first page, she began to sing, shimmying her shoulders and snapping her fingers as she read. As her youngest listeners began to pick up the movements, she paused between pages, taking her time with the story. A few of them tried snapping along, the whisper-soft sound of little fingers filling the room.

 "Yassss! Werk!" Malone said, bursting into a smile before turning the page to an especially loquacious queen named Rosie Ringarounda, her mouth a wide O between two full red lips and a matching red-and-white polka dotted dress. 

"The mouth on the drag queen goes blah blah blah, all through the towwwwwn," she sang. Then pausing again: "And let me tell you, I know so many drag queens that go blah blah blah ... not me though."   

For Malone and her readers, many of whom stood to try out their best swishes and sashays, the party was just getting started. From Kate Beaton's The Princess and the Pony ("I feel called out," she said to laughs when Princess Pinecone critiqued the small, round pony she received as a birthday gift) to sing-along numbers from Frozen, it seemed that she always had a quip and an arsenal of cool new moves at the ready.  

Tiki Malone, Mari Hartzheim, and Kazusa Yamashita.

Nowhere was that clearer, perhaps, than in a bubble-filled rendition of Nina West's "Drag Is Magic," during which Malone encouraged kids (and grown-ups) to get up and dance along. Making her way around the run in a half-moon, she spent time trying out moves with each attendee, raising an arm here, popping a hip there. 

At the end of the song, she accompanied the last note by extending her index finger, and giving Larkin a tiny, gentle tap on the nose. Instantly, they burst into a smile, two bottom baby teeth visible as they giggled.  

Following the performance, several young readers headed out into the library's large lobby and first floor, where Quigley had set up a crown-making crafting activity. Others lingered, taking in Malone's voluminous yellow hair, long lashes, shiny pink lips and matching shoes. As Mari toddled around the rug, mom Kazusa Yamashita praised the event as opening her daughter's world a little wider. 

"I feel like diversity is really important," she said. It was good to be back in the library, she added: the two used to come for Stay N’ Play at the Mitchell Branch, which has become so popular that it happens twice, every Tuesday. They stopped when Mari started preschool this fall. 

Nearby, New Haven Rising organizer Jaime Myers-McPhail said he was also excited to attend with his partner, Mareika, and their 15-month-old Larkin. Before Wednesday, he'd read about the story hour in one of the Pride Center's email messages, and immediately was interested in checking it out. 

Between work and raising an infant, the family hasn't yet made it to the library's Stay N' Play events, one of which takes place at a different branch every day of the week. This collaboration felt like the right place to start.  

"I don't know who Larkin is gonna be, but I want them to be comfortable whoever they are," Myers-McPhail said. Growing up, he didn't have queer role models around. He wants a different kind of childhood for Larkin.   

Not all of Malone's biggest fans were under two feet tall. Sixteen-year-old Christina Arceta, a junior at James Hillhouse High School, pointed to the queen as the kind of inspiration that keeps her going. After New Haven Pride on the Green last year, Arceta came out herself, and has been dreaming about bucking binaries ever since. Drag queens inspire her to be a more genuine version of herself, she said—which isn't always easy in high school. 

Tiki Malone and Christina Arceta.

This year, she is hoping to perform in drag for the first time herself, and lingered to ask Malone for tips on everything from makeup to movement. Long after the room had emptied out, the two chatted about everything from contouring, lips and eyeshadow (pro tip: leave yourself at least 90 minutes for face makeup alone) to costume and routine development. The two embraced before parting, Arceta for the bus and Malone for her home Derby.  

"I love it," Arceta said before leaving. "I love seeing my drag queens perform."

As she tidied up at the front of the room, Malone added that drag story hour is not just for her readers—the act of drag is also deeply personal and extremely liberating for her. For years, she was interested in the art form, but "didn't think it was accessible to me as someone who was born a woman.” After becoming a mom, "that was my whole life." For years, she fought the feeling of having lost herself, and the spiraling depression that followed. 

Then a close friend of hers, who performs as the queen Destiny Harmony, asked if Malone would be her drag mother. When Malone questioned the idea—she remembered wondering whether it was even possible—Harmony insisted. She explained that she needed someone to teach her how to apply makeup and perform, and to cheer her on from the sidelines. 

It was the beginning of an entirely new chapter, in which Malone became both a full-fledged drag enthusiast and dedicated performer. Almost five years ago, Malone got on stage at Hartford's Chez Est for the first time, and has been performing since, including at drag story hours across the state.

"Drag saved my life," Malone said. For her to add story hour routines was a no-brainer, she added: it’s about giving back and representing. "This is showing kids that there are queer adults who love them and support them."   

Learn more about New Haven Pride, scheduled Saturday from 12 to 6 p.m., here and here.