ALA Annual Conference, Chicago: Book Signing at Charlesbridge

In the Charlesbridge booth at ALA with Editor Karen Boss

On Saturday and Sunday, June 24th and 25th, I attended the American Library Association annual conference in Chicago, Illinois, held at the huge McCormick Center in downtown Chicago. On Saturday I cruised the hundreds of booths in the exhibit hall looking at the new books, collecting posters and a few books, chatting with editors and promotion people, and meeting other authors. That evening I was pleased to meet up with author Dori Hillestad Butler, other authors, and librarians at the grand reception put on by the Junior Library Guild at the famous Chicago Art Institute. (Hatching Chicks in Room 6 was a JLG selection this year.) After refreshments we were invited to browse the galleries and I became reacquainted with some of the museum's most famous paintings including George Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte, Vincent Van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles and a number of Claude Monet's haystack paintings. I have fond memories of visiting the museum when I was in college and art school in Iowa (we rode to Chicago on the train) and haven't been back since, so it was a delight to visit again. The museum has grown enormously with several additional modern wings. Thanks to JLG for a lovely event!
On Sunday morning I signed Hatching Chicks in Room 6 in the Charlesbridge booth and was pleased with the number of people who stopped by and bought books. Many of them told me stories of hatching chicks both at home in their schools. Clearly, it is a popular project, not just in kindergarten, but in all grades. Thanks to everyone in the Charlesbridge booth for helping the signing go smoothly! I had a great ALA!