Mutts cartoonist and award-winning author Patrick McDonnell talks about the recently published "Heart to Heart: A Conversation on Love and Hope for Our Precious Planet" with moderator John Carlin.

About the Book: From His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Patrick McDonnell comes a powerful and timely gem of a book on how to heal our relationship with the planet and each other.

With a galvanizing message about the future of our planet—text by His Holiness accompanied by McDonnell’s masterful illustrations—"Heart to Heart" calls for a Compassionate Revolution, reminding us that “we are indeed all members of a single family, sharing one little house.” Told with whimsy, wisdom, and warmth, this beautiful book is deceptively simple in its approach and all the more powerful for it, as it elegantly and decisively conveys a message of joy, hope and change.

McDonnell has described the book as "a literary graphic novel. It’s not done in comic book style, with panels. But it tells the story with words and pictures, and each page is a single illustration." The talk at the library will include slides and a look at the process behind this unique collaboration.

Patrick McDonnell is the creator of the beloved internationally syndicated comic strip Mutts, which features the characters that star in five of his children's picture books: "Just Like Heaven," "Hug Time," "South," "Wag!" and "The Gift of Nothing." He is also the creator of "Me . . . Jane," a Caldecott Honor Book and a New York Times bestselling picture book biography of Dr. Jane Goodall, and has written and illustrated "A Perfectly Messed-Up Story" and the award-winning picture book "Art." He lives in New Jersey with his wife, Karen; their formerly feral cat, Not Ootie; and their adopted terrier, Amelie.

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and of Tibetan Buddhism. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal in 2007. He is the author of, among many other books, the international bestseller "An Appeal to the World" and the New York Times bestseller "The Book of Joy," which he coauthored with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He lives in exile in Dharamsala, India.

John Carlin is the executive director of The Red Hot Organization,  a non-profit dedicated to fighting AIDS through popular culture. Over the past 20 years, Red Hot has produced 20 albums in a variety of genres and raised well over $10 million for AIDS organizations around the world. Carlin is also the founder of Funny Garbage, one of the premier web design and development companies in the United States, known for its leading work with media companies such as Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, MTV and US Weekly. He holds a BA from Columbia University, a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Yale University, and a JD from Columbia Law School.

Presented in partnership with Labyrinth Books.

Patrick McDonnell in conversation with John Carlin - A Library and Labyrinth event