GOAL! and other literary events.

There are far too many literary events going on in the next few months that require my attendance and monetary funds. First and foremost is the National Book Festival, begun by the Bush's and continuing this year under the Obama's watchful eye. I've attended the past two years and have had a marvelous time despite the rain and the crowds. My one goal for this year is a small one and hopefully financially frugal, get Katherine Paterson to sign my copy of Bridge to Terabithia, one of my favorite childhood books.

I also learned that the Live Arts theatre company in Charlottesville, VA is putting on a production of Lois Lowry's The Giver, in February.

Onto graphic novels. I traveled the three miles to the Borders in Manassas and successfully sped-read through Scott Pilgrim Vol. 1 - 3. While I was engrossed in Volume 3 someone picked up Volume 4 and I had to take a break to nurture the headache that had come from reading too much too fast. I was very disappointed at the lack of "other" graphic novels, seemingly anything not written about superheroes. I did see a copy of Unwritten though that I meant to pick up later.

Stumbling upon more gatherings in the realm of nerdom I wanted to bring a few to your attention, if you haven't heard of them already. With that...

Small Press Expo: I meant to go last year, but never made it. You're also going to recognize more names on this giant list of exhibitors than I am (though I did catch QC's author on the list).  It's also happening at the same time as the second event I wanted to bring to your attention, Intervention Con. This particular con is launching this year and the tag line seems like it leaves a lot to be desired, but is backed up by sheer awesome via the number of guests invited. My friends, the husband and wife team authoring the mighty webcomic, Geeks Next Door , [[shameless plug]] are not guests but will be making an appearance at the Artist's Alley.

You should definitely check these out, in other words. I can't imagine a greater gathering of comic artists on this coast at least. The more you know!

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?

Updates forthcoming, for now I give you Shrek!

During our presentations for class today I learned that Shrek is actually a children's book that was published in 1993 by William Steig, author of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. I had no idea! That leaves about 8 years between the creation of the book and the film "Shrek" with the death of Steig two years later. There are some discrepancies between the two but I have to say overall that I'm pleased with how the movie turned out, even if the writer and editors took liberties with expanding the story.

I will update on the National Book Festival soon. I was able to acquire insight and laughs from seeing Jacqueline Woodson, Holly Black, Tony DiTerlizzi, Megan McDonald, & Mo Willems, and even came away with a signed book and a great conversation with my former professor and dear friend, Joan Kindig.

Celebrate Banned Books week by supporting authors such as Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak) and all the other authors affected by this phenomenon.

Get well soon!

Rosalyn Schanzer was scheduled to appear at the Hyattsville Library (down the street from me) to discuss her new book, What Darwin Saw, this book also comes out around the time of the 200th anniversary of the voyage of the Beagle. Rosalyn was a guest lecturer for my Advanced Children's Seminar class last semester. Not only was she a pleasure to talk to but she also informed us about the long, arduous process of getting a book like this published (apparently books about Darwinism and evolution are hot topics) and the research and design that goes into creating a children's book. Alas, because of an injury to her back she wasn't able to make it to this lecture. They're setting to reschedule her sometime for October or November.

On another related note, The National Book Festival is coming up this weekend on the National Mall. Practically every important children's author will be present (except R. L. Stine and Neil Gaiman who were present last year). I highly encourage everyone to go and witness the awesome gathering of good literature! Among the guest list are:

• Kate DiCamillo, Shannon Hale, Craig Hatkoff, Nikki Grimes, Steven Kellogg, Lois Lowry, Megan McDonald, Charles Santore (illustrator of the festival poster), Jon Scieszka and David Shannon, and Mo Willems;
• Teens & Children authors Judy Blume, Pat Carman, Sharon Creech, Paula Deen, Carmen Agra Deedy and Wilson Kimeli Naiyomah, Shannon Hale, Liz Kessler, Jeff Kinney, James Patterson, Jerry Pinkney, Rick Riordan, Sharon Robinson and Kadir Nelson, James L. Swanson and Jacqueline Woodson

It will be especially neat to meet Mo Willems, whom I am doing an author study on. Hopefully I can afford one of his books and get it signed for a friend for Christmas, and possibly snag a picture.