BEA and back again

I made it to BEA and back in one day and lived to tell about it! Here's my BEA story: I took the 7:25 train from DC on Thursday morning--it wasn't even the high-speed train and I still got to Penn Station by 10:45. I love the train. I can read on it, for one thing, which I can't do on a bus or in the car. And it's nice to look out the window from time to time.  All those little towns!

Anyway, I walked to the Javits Center, checked my empty suitcase (I packed the bare minimum for what was meant to be overnight stay--more about that later) and wandered around the exhibit floor, where I made several very nice contacts and got a poster signed for Milly by Peter Brown and an "I went to BEA and all I got was this lousy t-shirt" t-shirt for myself.

No, that's not exactly true. But people have remarked that books (ARCs or otherwise) were in short supply at BEA this year, and that was definitely the case on Thursday. I was a little disappointed, but in the end I came home with a few coveted titles (thank you, Susan Kusel, for Wonderstruck!) and the promise of more to come in the mail. I love the mail just as much as the train.  All those fat envelopes!

This might be a good time to mention the difference between BEA and ALA's annual meetings, which I attended last year when they were held right here in DC. In my experience, ALA was more collegial (and I'm not even a librarian); there was a sense of common purpose. BEA was more competitive and businesslike, as in business was being conducted right in the booths and everyone seemed to be in a hurry to close up shop by 3. Fortunately I knew what to expect and came prepared with a mission statement and a stack of cute business cards.

Charlotte of Charlotte's Library and Pam of MotherReader had graciously agreed to share their hotel room with me Thursday night, and I met them and several other kidlit bloggers (Alex of The Children's War and Susan of Wizards Wireless among them) for a thankfully very collegial lunch.  Afterwards, Pam led the way back onto the exhibit floor (see How to Work an Event Like a MotherReader for some excellent tips), where things were already starting to wind down. Note to self: If you attend BEA next year, try getting there on Monday.

Here's where I went off the rails, so to speak.  The plan was to meet up with Charlotte and Pam (who had another event to attend) at our hotel a couple of hours after the exhibits closed, and then go to Kidlit Drink Night at a nearby bar.  But it was hot and crowded and New York City, and as I walked back to Penn Station to catch an uptown train to the Met, I caught sight of the Vamoose bus to Rosslyn.  Next thing I knew I had traded in my Friday morning ticket and was on that bus. It was 4:30.

I had to make a couple of sheepish phone calls (thank you for understanding, Charlotte and Pam!), but it was definitely the right decision for me. I was even able to read a little of Wonderstruck on the bus. Best of all, supper was waiting for me when I got home...and it was still hot.

BEA Bound

I'll be at BEA on Thursday, provided my early morning train from DC doesn't get derailed and I don't get lost walking to the Javits Center from Penn Station. Can you tell I'm a little anxious about getting there? It's the first time I've attended Book Expo America and I'll be arriving late in the morning of the last day. Here's hoping there are still lots of lovely new books to be had! And that everyone I hope to meet is still more excited than exhausted by then.

Oh, here's a wee BEA wishlist (the middle grade edition):

A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler (Candlewick). A certain seven-year old I know is very fond of Kessler's Emily Windsnap series! This one looks like a lovely standalone novel with an interesting time travel element.

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu (HarperCollins). I liked Ursu's Cronus Chronicles even more than Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This one is a fairy tale retelling (The Snow Queen) with gorgeous cover and interior illustrations by Erin McGuire (whose forthcoming picture book, French Ducks in Venice by Garrett Freymann-Weyr, is on that wishlist, too).

Brotherband Chronicles, Book 1: The Outcasts or Ranger's Apprentice: The Lost Stories by John Flanagan (Philomel).  For Leo especially (see this post for more). 

The Kronos Chronicles, Book III: The Jewel of the Kalderash by Marie Rutkoski (FSG). This one's for me, because I adored the first two, Cabinet of Wonders (my Cybils nominee that year) and The Celestial Globe.

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George (Bloomsbury).  Princess maps ever-changing castle and saves kingdom! It has a gorgeous cover, too.

See you there!

Lauren Child, Charlie and Lola in Slightly Invisible

For fans of Lauren Child's Charlie and Lola:  The Guardian profiles Lauren as part of their "A life in..." series ("Lauren Child: A life in books," 10/04/2010), accompanied by a gallery of images from Slightly Invisible, her new Charlie and Lola book.  I like all of Lauren Child's work, but I'm partial to Charlie and Lola because they remind me of my own kids, who when they were small would insist that I substitute their names when reading aloud.

I especially like Child's portrayal of Charlie and Lola's sibling relationship.  Charlie in particular is consistently patient with and protective of Lola, both qualities I try to encourage in my own son.  So I wasn't sure what to think when I read that Slightly Invisible, the first new Charlie and Lola book since 2003 (not counting all those spin-offs from the BBC series), was inspired by a boy who asked, "Have you ever thought about writing a book where Charlie actually gets annoyed with Lola?"  No!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to Slightly Invisible (and my son will probably love it).  This image is from the beginning of the book: there's poor Charlie, caught between Marvin's eyerolling and Lola's plaintive look.  The whole scene is instantly recognizable.

Slightly Invisible won't be available in the US til May 2011, but I plan to pick up a copy when we're in London later this year (happy birthday to me!).   A traveling exhibition of Green Drops and Moonsquirters: The Utterly Imaginative World of Lauren Child will be at the Discover Children's Story Centre while we're there, too.

How the Sphinx Got to the Museum, review and giveaway

Most of us only get to see Ancient Egyptian artifacts in museums far from Egypt--like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, which has one of the finest collections of Egyptian art outside of Cairo.  And while there are lots of books for kids about Ancient Egypt, this book answers the question that at least one kid on every school tour is likely to ask:  How the Sphinx Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland (Blue Apple Books, 2010).

Hartland uses the school tour to frame the story of the Sphinx of Hateshepsut's journey over 3,000 years (and 5,000 miles), from the quarry at Aswan where the granite was obtained all the way to the galleries of the Met.  The cumulative story format--think The House that Jack Built--introduces some of the people and professions involved in her journey; on the museum side, those include archaeologists, art movers, curators, conservators, even the registrar, who uses "red oil paint and a teeny, tiny brush" to paint the the official number (31.3.166) on the Sphinx.

These vignettes are fascinating (trust me, kids ask about this sort of thing all the time).  Hartland varies the repetitive parts of the text just enough to keep things interesting; the use of a variety of fonts also helps here.  The ink-and-watercolor illustrations themselves are worth the price of admission, though:  colorful, detailed but not busy, expressive and entertaining (keep an eye on the Sphinx's face throughout).  Hartland worked closely with the staff at the Met, and the book has an authentic museum feel.  N.b., the docent is wearing sensible shoes.

I have an extra copy of How the Sphinx Got to the Museum to give away!  If you'd like to be entered in a random drawing (and you do; it's a gorgeous book), please leave a comment by midnight Monday, September 13.   Bonus entry if you comment with a behind-the-scenes-at-the-museum question you'd like to see answered in picture book form.

[Review copy from Blue Apple Books via Media Masters Publicity.  Thank you!]