Three Days of Children's Literature

Just got back from three days being immersed in my favorite thing: children's literature.

After speaking to education students at the University of Richmond, I headed to St. Christopher's School to speak to the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.

(l to r) Librarian Lucinda Whitehurst, me, Librarian Laura Sabo

(l to r) 5th grade student (and reader/writer extraodinaire) Lois Sabo, me, Librarian Laura Sabo

In the library was a terrific display of some projects the students had done for The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis. They were required to use specific materials to create a free-standing figure to represent a character. There had to be on moveable part that helped show the character traits or interests. Here are a few of them:

The next day I headed to The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg to speak at an amazing conference for teachers and reading specialists: The Joy of Children's Literature.

It was organized by the amazing Dr. Denise Johnson, Professor and Director of the Literacy Leadership Program. Denise and I met at a conference a number of years ago and quickly became friends who share the same passion for children's literature.

Denise Johnson (left) and me

So long, y'all

I'm heading to Virginia...

 ...to speak at the Joy of Children's Literature Conference at the College of William and Mary

Looking forward to meeting lots of book-lovers and spending time with fellow presenter Candace Fleming

NCTE Recap

Only one word to say about the NCTE conference in Boston: wow!

I met so many teachers, Twitter friends, Facebook friends, authors, etc. 

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

 Kirby Larson, Karen Cushman and I presented a program on Creating Story Worlds. We were so psyched to see such a great group of teachers who came to listen.

It was so nice to see some of our favorite Nerdy Book Club friends right there in the front row. Thanks, pals.)

Afterwards, we celebrated.

(l to r) Karen Cushman, Kirby Larson, Miriam Martinez (panel moderator), Nancy Roser (panel moderator)

 Throughout the conference, I ran into so many teacher friends and had lunch with my pal, Patrick Allen.

(clockwise from top left) Donalyn Miller, Patrick Allen, Colby Sharp, Katherine Sokolowski, Paul Hankins)

(top row l to r) Cindy Minnich, Cynthia Alaniz (bottom l to r) Megan Ginther, Holly Mueller

Karen Terlecky, Kirby Larson and I got to recreate our selfie from NCTE in Orlando in 2010. We haven't changed a bit!

Here we are again:

 

 There was lots of fan girl time with some of my favorite authors.

Karen Cushman

Kirby Larson

Tanya Lee Stone

Deborah Wiles

Linda Urban (and Loree Griffin Burns was there, too. Where'd she go?)

Laurie Halse Anderson

 AND, I scored an Advanced Reader Copy of Laurie's new book. Look what she wrote! Sweet? SWEET! (I'm not sure everyone would agree with that, but I'll take it.)

Special thanks to Colby Sharp and Jenni Holm for hosting the super fun Nerdy Book Club party!

P.S. The only negative: My Cafe Francais (aka according to Kirby: "That evil concoction") spilled into my suitcase. 

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Conference

This past weekend, I had the honor of speaking at the Vermont Dorothy Canfield Fisher Conference.

Unfortunately, it was held at a place that had a really lousy view:

But I got over my disappointment and had a lovely dinner with members of the committees:

And I finally got to meet, play with, dine with, laugh with the amazing, Grace Worcester Greene, Youth Services Consultant for Vermont Public Libraries. (Thank you, Grace, for everything.)

Grace Worcester Greene (left) and me

AND, I finally got to meet the UBER talented author Kate Messner. (Kate, HOW do you do it all???)

Kate Messner (left) and me

Signing books with Kate Messner (left)

Me looking kind of stupid at the signing.

Me saying some really deep, intelligent and important things (like redneck jokes).

Me with some of the great kids who did presentations at the conference.

And I took some pics of some of this year's nominees for the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award (I'm looking at YOU, Scattergood, Pyron, Knowles, Hunt...and others):

You can see the complete list HERE.

Many thanks to the Vermont gang who made that day so special.

Such an honor

At the Georgia Children's Literature Conference I just attended, a group of students from Freedom to Grow UNschool (ages 6-12) presented a program called If You Give a Kid a Book by Barbara O'Connor!

They discussed their experiences studying my books, shared insights they gained from the books and suggestions for teachers interested in pursuing an author study in their classrooms. 

How cool is THAT!?

Here are some of their projects and activities:

I had Skyped with the students prior to the conference, but then I got to meet them in person. 

Here are some words I would use to describe them: smart, friendly, polite, funny, fun, enthusiastic, personable, and adorable.

Some of the students with teacher, Lora Smothers

More students

Thank you to the students and faculty of Freedom to Grow UNschool for that wonderful honor.

Georgia Children's Literature Conference

 I had the great pleasure of speaking at the 43rd Annual Georgia Children's Literature Conference in Athens, Georgia, this past weekend.

Nothing is more fun for a children's author than to be surrounded by others who share the same passion: children's literature.

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, what better way to share my experience there than through pictures?

It was great to arrive at the beautiful University of Georgia in Athens.

 

Some of the members of the Southern Breeze chapter of SCBWI were kind enough to host a wonderful dinner for me when I arrived in Athens. Lots of fun discussion about writing for children.

Author Donny Bailey Seagraves (right) arranged the dinner and was a terrific hostess.

The next morning I took a peek into the room where I would be speaking. Note to self: Don't do that.

With Jody Feldman, the winner of the Georgia Children's Book Award for her terrific book, The Gollywhopper Games

With Meghan McCarthy, winner of the Georgia Children's Picture Book Award for her adorable book, Aliens Are Coming

With Carol Boston Weatherford, the author of many amazing books for young readers, including Moses and Becoming Billy Holliday

With illustrator, Mike Wimmer, whose books include Flight and All the Places to Love

We signed and signed.

I even signed a copy of How to Steal a Dog that had been enjoyed by a dog.

We signed some more.

What a great time!

With the amazing Alyssa Hesselroth, conference coordinator. Thank you, Alyssa (and Tyler) for taking such good care of me and getting me to the airport on time.

And what would that conference have been without Jaye Thiel??!! Jaye, you are da bomb!

 Special thanks to Alyssa Hesselroth, Jaye Thiel, and Joel Taxel for making this such a wonderful experience.

P.S. More great pics coming thanks to the amazing students of Freedom to Grow UNschool