The National Book Festival

The morning broke and slipped into a cold, wet, dripping haze that fell over the National Mall. However, this did not deter bibliophiles, their pets, and children from coming out in droves to meet their favorite authors.

• 11:15 am
  
• Nelson, Alicia, and I tumble out of the crowded Metro onto the National Mall, elbowing our way past the crowd to the Target tent where we spotted the Target Dog, a French bulldog with a bullseye painted over its eye. A very well trained puppy, he/she didn't have having his/her picture taken.
• 11:20 am
  
• Find the PBS Kids tent to hear that last bit of Mo Willems' reading of Dr. Seuss' Sneeches on the Beaches
• 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
• Wait in the ever growing line with Alicia for Mo Willems' autograph while Nelson waits for Lee Child's autograph. I had fun speaking with the women in front of me in line who had split up all of their books among four people who were deftly making their way through as many lines as possible. We even helped the lady in front of us by taking a few of her books and getting them autographed by Mo since they'd reduced the number of books he could autograph to 1. I was able to get a few things autographed as well as snag a few pictures of Mo. Sadly I was too shy to say much of anything.
  
• Afternoon
  
• We visit the Digital Bookmobile where the pitch is that you can download digital copies of books to your MP3 player directly from your library. I have to say that I've used this before to read Laurell K. Hamilton's A Kiss of Shadows and I loved the medium as well as the method. You don't have to keep track of CDs, or become frustrated when they skip.
• Stand in line with the PBS mascots in full furry costume. We got to visit Curious George and Clifford. Nelson was fascinated by the T-Rex from "Dinosaur Train" but he went on break before we could get in his line.
  
• I left the line while Nelson and Alicia went to get in line for Arthur. I wandered over to the Teens/Children tent to hear the middle half of Jacqueline Woodson's lecture. She is a wonderful and poignant speaker who kept the audiencenraptured as she spoke about her older books (If You Come Softly) and her more recent books of poetry.
  
• Here I find my old professor, Joan, and we go back to the Children's tent to hear Megan McDonald speak about the Judy Moddy series. She read an excerpt from her latest book and explained how much Judy and Stink mirror stories from her own childhood growing up with her sisters. She confirmed that there will be a Judy Moody movie where J.M will be portrayed a little older than in the books. Her defence was that Ramona stayed in the third grade for at least 15 years so she had time to make Judy grow up.
• Afternoon con.
• Following Megan McDonald were Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi promoting their collaboration, The Spiderwick Chronicles. Holly Black told a fable of how a man had accidentaly built his house on a fairy path. At the request of a "fairy expert" he shaved off the side of his house. More was to be said about the inspirations and influences for the characters in The Spiderwick Chornicles as well as Tony randomly sketching a Rat King, a Wyrm King, a Gremlin, and Holly's Cats. Tony gave away his sketches to whichever child in the audience
  
• Mo Willems
• Mo was very animated and loud as he greeted the audience. He read aloud from his new book, Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed, and had his daughter, wife, and another girl read from Elephant and Piggie's I Can Fly! He also announced that there would be a third and final installment to the Knufflebunny series as well as a Knufflebunny: A Cautionary Musical to premiere at the Kennedy Center in May. "One entire song," he said, "is to be sung in gibberish." To close he himself read from the latest Elephant and Piggie book, Pigs Make Me Sneeze. Mo, I learned, is a very vocal reader and the fact that he did stand up comedy really shines through during his reading.
• Conclusion
• There were so many authors I wish I could have seen that day: Jon Schieska, Nicholas Spark, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, Judy Blume, Lois Lowry. Sadly you have to be about four people at once to be able to take in the wonder and talent that the National Book Festival has to offer.

Is it next year yet?