Picture This: Our ALA Photo Essay

This article originally appeared in PW's Children's Bookshelf. Sign up now!

-- Publishers Weekly, 7/16/2009 1:03:00 PM

With a record number of attendees turning out for the ALA’s annual conference last weekend, there were plenty of photo-ops with children’s book authors, editors and other boldface names. We've rounded up some of the highlights of the author appearances, featuring Ashley Bryan, Florence Parry Heide (who celebrated her 90th birthday at the show), Neil Gaiman, Lauren Myracle, Kadir Nelson, Sharon Robinson, Brian Selznick, Lane Smith, Melissa Sweet and many others.

Lane Smith helps his collaborator on Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated) (Random/Schwartz & Wade), Florence Parry Heide, celebrate her 90th birthday at ALA.

How about a close-up of that cake?

On the show floor, attendees grabbed ARCs of Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins's sequel to The Hunger Games...

...until there weren't any more to be had.

At the Penguin booth, Sarah Dessen and Judy Blume shared a hug.

Over at Sterling, author Tammi Sauer (center) and Sterling's Chris Vaccari (l.) and Meredith Wasinger got into the spirit of the author's new picture book, Chicken Dance.

Keepin' it in the family: authors (and spouses) Julie Halpern (Get Well Soon) and Matthew Cordell (Mighty Casey) sign copies of their respective Feiwel and Friends titles, with a little help from their daughter, Romy.

Scholastic authors Patrick Carman, Sharon Robinson and Mark Teague.

Also seen in the Scholastic section: Holly Black, David Levithan and Maggie Stiefvater.

Lauren Myracle (Luv Ya Bunches) poses with a fan at the Abrams booth.

Also at Abrams, Marcellus Hall, John Hendrix and Rohan Henry show off their latest.

No cuts allowed: there was no mistaking where Neil Gaiman's signing line began.

Diana Lopez was seen over at the Little, Brown booth, with plenty of confetti-filled cascarones on hand (they feature in her new novel, Confetti Girl).

Harper's Elise Howard with Ashley Bryan.

Collaborators Melissa Sweet and Jen Bryant sign copies of A River of Words (Eerdmans).

And don't forget the nightlife: Neil Gaiman with (l. to r.) Harper's Elise Howard and Elyse Marshall, as well as Merillee Heifetz of Writers House, prior to the Newbery Caldecott Wilder Awards banquet.

Elizabeth Bunce (r.), who won the first-ever William C. Morris award for her novel A Curse Dark as Gold (Scholastic/Levine), shows off the prize with her editor, Cheryl Klein.

Libba Bray (l.) and Holly Black at a YALSA event.

At the awards reception, (l. to r.) Little, Brown editor Connie Hsu, author Peter Brown (The Curious Garden) and LB's Andrew Smith.

Authors Brian Selznick and Barbara Kerley.

Gennifer Choldenko (Al Capone Shines My Shoes) signing copies at a Penguin cocktail party.

Also at Penguin's party, Loren Long with a copy of his new picture book, Otis.

At Little, Brown's YA dinner, authors (l. to r.) Malinda Lo (Ash), Sarah Ockler (Twenty Boy Summer) and Justina Chen Headley (North of Beautiful).

Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver) was mobbed by fans at Scholastic's author brunch.

Neil Gaiman with the Newbery Award committee.

Kadir Nelson (back, center) with the Robert F. Sibert Medal committee. Nelson's We Are the Ship (Disney-Jump at the Sun) won the 2009 Sibert Medal.