Children's Literature Conference in WA

At the beginning of March I was a speaker at the Bond Children's literature conference in Bellingham Washington. It was a fantastic event and about 400 wonderfully enthusiastic teachers and librarians and fans of children's books attended. The other speakers were, Chris Crutcher, Christopher Paul Curtis and Eric Rohmann. Needless to say I was in some pretty decorated company. Between them they have a Caldecott Medal (ER), a Newbery Medal(CPC), Coretta Scott King Award (CPC) and the Margaret A. Edwards Award for Lifetime Achievement (CC). At first I was slightly intimidated, but these guys were great and made me feel right at home. One of the highlights for me was having a quiet breakfast Sunday morning with Eric while we discussed my next book projects. He had some terrific ideas and we had a great time discussing the art of the picture book. I look forward to meeting up with these guys again in the near future!