Children’s Book Week!

I normally don’t take my kids out after school. They do no outside activities except for an after-school science class held at the school once a week. But when I found out that two friends were going to be on a panel of middle grade authors to celebrate Children’s Book Week, I asked my kids if they could stomach a couple hours in the car after school.

The unanimous answer was yes!

So I loaded the two little ones into the car and drove to The Book Stall in Winnetka. I’ve been there for other readings, but this was the first one for kids.

The panel consisted of Allan Woodrow, Jenny Meyerhoff, Brianna DuMont (my agent sister), and Kate Hannigan (who I met many moons ago). I couldn’t get a clear photo of the whole panel without obstruction from the audience, so here are Jenny, Brianna, and Kate.

Kate moderated the panel. The questions from the audience (mostly 10-year old kids) were great. The authors also discussed things like:

* pen names (Allan has a couple and explained that it helped when he had two books published at the same time),

* first drafts (Kate called them a ‘brain dump’, where you just get everything out on paper [or screen] and then make edits), and

* their favorite books when they were kids.

After the questions and answers, the store held three raffles. My 5 year-old was the first winner of three MG books (perfect for his 8 year-old sister to read now!) and this cute bag celebrating Children’s Book Week.

We also bought books by each of the authors and were given another bag. The Book Stall will give out these bags this week with all children’s book purchases.

Although the kids got to bed late today, it was well worth the trip through Chicago rush hour traffic. My kids even said they had a great time both in the car and when we got home. I love to support authors, especially local ones. Although I don’t live in New York, I feel pretty lucky to be amongst some amazing writers in Chicago.

Happy Children’s Book Week!