VENTURA COUNTY WEEKEND : Sessions on Kids’ Books Kick Off the New Year : A reading and lecture by poet laureate nominee James Bruce Sievers are also on the schedule.

It’s amazing. Only four days into the new year and the calendar is crisscrossed with literary events for writers and readers.

If you always wanted to or are already working on a book for children, give serious thought to enrolling in one or both of the following eight-week classes, which begin Jan. 18 at Learning Tree University in Thousand Oaks.

“Writing Books for Children,” a beginners class from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, will concentrate on cultivating ideas and defining marketable books. The advanced course for “Writers with a Work-in-Progress” follows from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Instructor Alexis O’Neill, who writes for the new magazine Children’s Book Review as well as many major children’s journals, is the author of “Loud Emily,” soon to be published by Simon & Schuster.

O’Neill is also regional advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Tuition for each class is $99. To register, call 497-2292. For information about the book writers society, contact Alexis at 1001 Hillview Lane, Simi Valley 93065.

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Cafe Voltaire, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura, kicks off its 1996 poetry presentations with Billy Tice, who will read at 8 tonight followed by open readings for all interested poets.

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Poet laureate nominee, James Bruce Sievers, author of five books including the popular “I Can Make You Happy,” will speak to members and guests of the Ventura County Writers Club at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Sievers has performed in the White House for Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush and received the George Washington Medal of Honor from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge for his speech, “An American in Love with His Country.” The event is scheduled at the Orchid Professional Building, 816 Camarillo Springs Road, Camarillo. Non-member fee is $5. Call 482-5648 for details.

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Helen Stinson will address the Conejo Valley Genealogical Society on the subject, “Court Records: How the Long Arm of the Law Snuck into Grandpa’s Cabin,” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Adult Education Center, 1025 Old Farm Road, Thousand Oaks. A beginners class on “How to Organize Genealogy Research” starts at 6:30 p.m. Call 497-8293 or 498-6006 for details.

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Amy Tan, whose first novel, “The Joy Luck Club,” was a huge publishing success and was made into a film, will be interviewed by radio host Michael Silverblatt on Bookworm at 4 p.m. Saturday. Tan will discuss her new book, “The Hundred Secret Senses,” and how she mastered the craft of novel-writing. Bookworm is heard on KCRU/Oxnard Ventura at 89.1 FM; in Santa Paula, Moorpark and Fillmore at 102.3 FM; and in Ojai at 102.1 FM.

Information on literary events should be sent to Frances Halpern at least two weeks in advance. Write to her at 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001, or send faxes to 653-7576.