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. 

NCTE Orlando Part 2

The next morning, I FINALLY got to meet my dear friend, Kirby Larson.

Kirby and I have been friends for years now but have never met in person!
I could have spent all day talking to her.
We have decided that we MUST figure out something we can do together in the future.

Here she is wearing her fabulous 40's hat in honor of her Dear America book, The Fences Between Us.

Kirby Larson (left) and me


So, of course, I had to try on her fabulous hat:



Here is Kirby in her 40's dress:

While we were chatting, my pal Karen Terlecky came by and joined in the fun. (Doesn't Kirby look diabolical here?

Next I headed over to the Macmillan booth for my signing.

(l to r) me, author/illustrator George O'Connor, Lauren Wohl

Me and Jack Gantos


My last event was a "speed booktalking" session for the 2010 Notable Children's Books (which included The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis)

And then....home....with two empty seats beside me!

NCTE Orlando Part 1

Arrived in sunny Orlando for the NCTE annual conference, checked into hotel and was greeted by the Mickey Mouse (towels) on my bed:

Can you find Mickey Mouse on the shower curtain?

Then I made a quick sweep of the exhibit area and ran into some familiar faces:

Me and Little Brown editor, Alvina Ling


Me, Peepy, and author Lisa Yee



Me and Peepy

Me and Dial/Penguin editor, Kathy Dawson

That night, I attended a wonderful Macmillan-hosted dinner with teachers and other children's literature folks.

Me and Elaine Magliaro.
(Elaine and I had been on the same 2-hour delayed flight from Boston)

Me and my pal, teacher, blogger Karen Terlecky from Dublin, Ohio



Denise Johnson, professor of children's literature; College of William and Mary (left) me and Virginia teacher Amy Moser

NCTE Conference 2010

I'll be at the NCTE conference in Orlando this Saturday and Sunday.

I'll be signing at the Macmillan Booth #912 on Sunday from 11-12.

Then I'll be participating in the Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts program from 1-2:45 in Coronado Ballroom H.

Come by and say hello!

2010 NCTE Children's Notable Books in the Language Arts

I'm delighted to announce that The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis has been named a 2010 Notable Children's Book in the Language Arts by the Children's Literature Assembly, an affiliate of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE).

The Dream Flag Project

At the NCTE Conference in Philadelphia, there was a display that was part of The Dream Flag Project.

Inspired by the poetry of Langston Hughes and the tradition of Nepalese Buddhist prayer flags, The Dream Flag Project is an annual poetry/art/community-connection project for students in kindergarten to twelfth grade.

To date, more than 40,000 Dream Flags have been created by students in 34 states of the U.S. and by students in Canada, Australia, Honduras, China, Japan, Costa Rica, Nepal, Rwanda, Kenya, and South Africa.

Children create their own dream poems and transfer them onto pieces of 8 ½ by 11 in. cloth.

They decorate the cloth and attach the Dream Flags to a line—just like the prayer flags.

According to their web site, "The result is a visual line of color and hope that gets displayed in the school or in other public places."

The one in Philly was fantastic:

Some kids had big dreams for the world:

Some kids had more personal dreams:

Some had dreams for their families:

Some had dreams for themselves:

And some wanted robbers to leave kids and cats alone:

NCTE Conference

A picture is worth a thousand words...

which is a good thing because I'm not writing a thousand words.

The beautiful Philadelphia train station:

Farrar, Straus & Giroux exhibit booth:

FSG marketing team extraordinaire: Katie Halata (left) and Jeanne McDermott:



Me and Lauren Wohl (right), Associate Publisher FSG/Roaring Brook/First Second:

(l to r) Me, Peepy, Lisa Yee:

Me and author Jo Knowles (right):

Karen Terlecky (left) and me:

Everyone rushing to get to my author blogging panel. (Actually, it's the Philadelphia marathon. I think Laurie Halse Anderson is in there somewhere.)

The Author Blogging panel, organized by Denise Johnson, Associate Professor of Reading, Language and Literacy at The College of William and Mary (l to r) Justine Larbalestier, Laurie Halse Anderson, me, and Lisa Yee:

Because she's always late (hey, that's what Justine said), she missed the photo pose above, so here is a very blurry Maureen Johnson (she's much sharper in person):

Lisa telling the audience how many drafts she does for each book:

A great time was had by all.