Learn why Arizona is 'way out and witty' at book event

Do you know what Geronimo and yawning have in common?

And why, in Arizona many years ago, sleeping in wet sheets didn’t mean you had a nighttime accident?

Or, what a glass eye has to do with Phoenix being Arizona’s state capital?

Learn those things and more when the Deer Valley Rock Art Center hosts Conrad Storad, author of “Arizona: Way Out West & Witty,” from 10 to 11 a.m., April 20.

“Arizona: Way Out West & Witty” was chosen as the ONEBOOKAZ children’s book for 2012.

The reading and book-signing is co-sponsored by the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records.

The book’s target audience is grade-school children, yet “Arizona: Way Out West & Witty” is as appealing to adults as it is to kids. Highlights of Arizona's history are punctuated with true but gross, humorous, interesting and witty stories and facts about the Grand Canyon State.

The Deer Valley Rock Art Center, located at 3711 W. Deer Valley Road, Phoenix, has the largest concentration of Native American petroglyphs in the Phoenix Valley. Visitors hike a quarter-mile trail to view more than 1,500 petroglyphs made between 500 and 7,000 years ago.

The museum aims to promote preservation, connection and respect for the site and is a destination for families to learn about archaeology in their own backyard.

The center is managed by one of the top archaeology programs in the country – the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 623-582-8007 or visit http://dvrac.asu.edu. To learn more about ONEBOOKAZ visit onebookaz.org.