This year’s ALA Midwinter conference, held January 24–29 in Seattle, brought together librarians and publishers, educators, authors, and illustrators. The meeting also featured the much-anticipated annual announcement of the ALA Youth Media Awards, including the 2019 Newbery, Caldecott, and Printz Awards. We’ve assembled a selection of photo highlights from the event.

The Caldecott committee stopped by the Candlewick booth to celebrate Juana Martinez-Neal’s Caldecott Honor win for her picture book Alma and How She Got Her Name.

Cori McCarthy (l.) and Amy Rose Capetta, co-authors of the YA novel Once & Future (LBYR/Jimmy Patterson), just before their galley signing.

At the Bloomsbury booth, children’s school and library marketing Manager Brittany Mitchell (l.) and executive editor Mary Kate Castellani hanging out with Croc from Mike Wohnoutka’s picture book Croc & Turtle.

Trudi Truett signed The Nebula Secret, first in her Explorer Academy series that National Geographic Kids launched last fall.

Members of the Stonewall Book Award committee holding a copy of Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender (Scholastic Press), winner of this year’s award along with Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love.

Lynne Kelly posed with a poster for her new novel, Song for a Whale (Delacorte), sporting a whale purse for the occasion.

Virginia Duncan, v-p and publisher of Greenwillow Books, placing the Newbery Honor sticker on Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock.

HMH Books for Young Readers celebrated the forthcoming launch of Kwame Alexander’s Versify imprint with a cocktail party that featured presentations from the authors and artists on the debut Versify list: (l. to r) Kadir Nelson (The Undefeated), Kip Wilson (White Rose), Raúl the Third (¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market!), Lamar Giles (The Last Last-Day-of-Summer), and Alexander (The Undefeated).

Author Jacob Kramer and illustrator K-Fai Steele signing copies of their picture book Noodlephant (Enchanted Lion), which celebrated its launch at Midwinter.

Author Xelena González greeting visitors to the Cinco Puntos Press booth.

Vaunda Micheaux Nelson signed copies of her new picture book Let ’Er Buck!: George Fletcher, the People’s Champion, illustrated by Gordon C. James (Carolrhoda), in the Lerner booth.

Chronicle Books hosted a “Paint and Play with Hervé Tullet” event at the Seattle Public Library to celebrate his upcoming book, I Have an Idea! Guests created works of art on the spot using scraps of paper that Tullet hand-painted for the event. Here, librarian and ALSC board of directors member Amy Sears assembled a creation.

American Indian Youth Literature Awards winners Lisa Charleyboy (l.) and Mary Beth Leatherdale signed copies of their picture book, #NotYourPrincess, at the Annick Press booth.

Author Deb Caletti putting a Printz Honor sticker on her YA novel, A Heart in a Body in the World, at the Simon & Schuster booth.

Ishta Mercurio (l.) and Jen Corace, author and illustrator of Small World (July 2019), signed early copies at the Abrams Children’s Books booth.

Danielle Dufayet (l.), author of You Are Your Strong, visited with Kristine Enderle, director of Magination Press.

Emily Duncan signing her debut novel, Wicked Saints (Wednesday Books), which launches her Something Dark and Holy trilogy.

Elizabeth Partridge signing Boots on the Ground: America’s War in Vietnam (Viking), a finalist for this year’s YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction.

And for those with ALA stress, DK held a yoga and meditation event hosted by Dianne Bondy, author of Yoga for Everyone, to give attendees an opportunity to relax, stretch, and get away from the bustle of the conference.