IRA Conference: Think Outside the Book

Signing A Warmer World in the Charlesbridge Booth at IRA

Last week I was in Chicago for the IRA (International Reading Association) conference where I gave a presentation, signed books, did a radio interview, and enjoyed seeing old friends and meeting new ones as I wandered the exhibit floor. My presentation, Think Outside the Book: Bringing Nonfiction Alive Through Hands-On Projects and Activities that Engage Readers and Make Them Want to Learn More was well attended (they had to close the doors when the room became full!) and people seemed to like it. A link to a PDF of the handout with directions to the projects is on my website. Lily DeSisto, the marketing person for my publisher, Charlesbridge, did a great job of coordinating my trip with a signing in the booth of A Warmer World, a delicious dinner with some of the other Charlesbridge authors, and setting up the podcast radio interview with Emily Manning of ReadWriteThink.  (When the interview is posted later this month I’ll post a link to it.)  During the conference I also had the pleasure of getting together with the people from Highlights and Boyds Mills for a nice dinner.  I didn’t have time to see much of Chicago outside the convention center, but you can go to my post for May 7 on The Intrepid Tourist for a report of my walk down Michigan Avenue to Millennium Park and the Art Institute.