This week, a book festival gets photo bombed; two author-illustrators draw inspiration from their respective picture books; a writer honors a poet’s legacy; and a book release event draws a packed house.
It’s Da Bomb!
Authors, readers, librarians, and educators gathered in Atlanta for the 10th annual Decatur Book Festival, which took place September 4–6. The event featured presentations, panel discussions, book signings, and a street fair. Here (from l.), Matt de la Peña with his daughter, Luna; Libba Bray; and Anica Mrose Rissi relax during an impromptu gathering in their hotel lobby. Little do they know that they are being photo bombed by David Levithan.
Ice Cream Walrus… And Penguin?
Sometimes walruses and penguins like their ice floes with a little more flavor. Author-illustrators Peter Sís (Ice Cream Summer) and Stephen Savage (Where’s Walrus? And Penguin?), both from Scholastic Press, took part in a joint event at Politics & Prose in Washington, D.C., on September 6. Sís and Savage presented their wordless books, with lots of help from audience members (and Politics & Prose staffer Kerri Poore). They also doodled pictures that incorporated elements from both stories – for example, a walrus with an ice cream sundae mustache.
A Remarkable Meeting
To honor the release of his picture book Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton (Peachtree), Don Tate visited schools in North Carolina, including Horton Middle School, named after the poet. Horton, the first African-American poet to be published in the southern United States, lived as a slave until his emancipation in North Hampton County, N.C. During an event at McIntyre’s Books, two miles north of where Horton once lived and worked, Tate met eight of Horton’s descendants, who live in the area.
Right on Target
A launch event for Christina Diaz Gonzalez’s Moving Target (Scholastic Press) was held at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Fla., on August 29. There was a huge turnout, with more than 450 people in attendance. But that didn’t prevent the author from meeting individual attendees, including these two fans, Lillie Ann and Zachary, who happily greeted Gonzalez and had copies of their books signed. Guests also enjoyed Cuban pastries (Gonzalez is Cuban-American) and Italian cannoli (the story takes place in Rome).
