Meeting Authors is Fun!

February... The month of meeting authors and illustrators!!!

At the beginning of February I had the chance to go see Brian Selznick. I had seen him before, and was so excited to go see him again! His talk about his book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" was amazing! It is always so much fun to listen to authors talk about how they got their ideas for their books. I was so excited that I got to ask a question during the "question and answer" part of the program. I asked him how many pens it takes him to illustrate his books. He said "too many to count"! Since I already had a copy of Hugo Cabret signed by Brian Selznick the last time I met him, I had two copies of his book signed for the kiddos at school. He also let me have my picture taken with him!!

Anderson's Book Shop had an author breakfast in mid-February. So many authors... so much fun!!! Kevin Henkes and Richard Peck were the keynote authors. Kevin Henkes introduced us to a new chapter book he wrote. Richard Peck talked about how he comes up with the ideas for his books. I had read "Here Lies the Librarian" and loved it, so I was excited to hear about his other books. The Spatulatta Girls were also there doing a cooking demonstration promoting their new book. They were awesome to meet! There were also so many other great authors and illustrators at the breakfast! We had the pleasure to meet Jeffery Ebbeler who illustrated the book Punxsutawney Phillis, which I had just read about 15 times to the kiddos for Groundhog Day. I also met Aaron Reynolds again. We are getting excited about his visit to our school in May.

The last week of February, Scholastic Book Fairs sponsored Deborah Wiles at the Bolingbrook Golf Club. She was amazing! Last year her book, "Each Little Bird that Sings" was on the Caudill Award List. I read it and LOVED it. As much as I love a good fantasy or adventure novel, I really love a good "make me cry" book every now and then. Again, I loved hearing her explain how she came up with the ideas to write this book and others. She signed a lot of books for the kids at school. I hope they enjoy reading them as much as I did!

I wonder who I will get to meet next!!!

Check out my Slide Show!