Kristi Yamaguchi, Olympic gold medalist ice skater, will be visiting Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh on April 11 at 4 p.m. to promote her children’s book, “Dream Big, Little Pig!” for ages 3 to 7. She will be at Raleigh Ice Plex at 6 p.m. The next day, April 12, she will make an appearance through Duke Health at 6:30 but the place has yet to be determined.
Yamaguchi, who is married to former Carolina Hurricanes player Bret Hedican, lived in the Raleigh area for years but is a San Francisco Bay Area native and moved back more than two years ago. One journalist said she moved back “so her kids can grow up with their cousins.”
Hedican and Yamaguchi have daughters ages 7 and 5. They were 5 and 3 when the couple decided they wanted to go back to California so Hedican did not re-sign with the Hurricanes in 2008.
“I think the fans know that I played hard every night,” said Hedican at the time. “I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from fans there. They’ve always been good to my wife and my kids. I have nothing bad to say about Carolina. It was just one of those situations where I think I’ve got kids old enough to move back West and get them in school. There’s no hard feelings.”
Rumors at the time were that Yamaguchi did not like living in North Carolina so it will be interesting to see if anyone asks her about that at the book signing.
The promo for the book reads, in part: “Poppy the Pig has big dreams—lots of them! But following her dreams isn’t always easy, and whenever Poppy thinks it might be time to give up, her family reminds her to ‘Dream Big!’ While on a “pig’s day out,” she has so much fun ice skating that she doesn’t even notice those around her who think pigs can’t skate…and without even knowing it, she achieves her dream while doing something she loves!”
Yamaguchi says it’s a “funny and inspiring tale that’s perfect for a family read-aloud.”
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of “Dream Big Little Pig,” priced at $16.99, will go to support Yamaguchi’s Always Dream Foundation and its early childhood literacy initiative.