Several years ago, I took my son (who was around 10 at the
time) and the students in my children’s literature course to an author appearance
by Christopher
Paul Curtis. His book, Watson’s
Go To Birmingham – 1963 had been chosen for the citywide read program.
By all accounts, it was an amazing event! Christopher Paul Curtis read aloud
the first chapter (which is hilarious), discussed his inspiration for writing
the story, and answered questions.
Afterward, as we stood in line to get his autograph, many of
my students commented that they had never met an author before. My son was also
enamored. He asked Curtis to sign a poster of the book and to take a picture
with him. Later, he hung the poster on his door. As he grew into a teenager,
almost everything about his room changed – all except the poster of Curtis on
the door. He didn’t want to take it down. It represented an important moment in
his life; one that made a lasting impression.
Meeting an author is a wonderful experience. Nowhere is that
more apparent than at the National Book
Festival hosted by the Library of
Congress on the National Mall every September. Large tents are set up on
the lawn representing genres or age groups and scheduled authors present over
the two day weekend. Two of these tents are for children’s and young adult
authors. Book enthusiasts from across the country gather under the tents
waiting to be wowed by their favorite authors and every year I am lucky enough
to be one of them. This year, the festival will be held on September 21-22.
Check out the list of children’s and young adult authors appearing this year here.
However, everyone is not able to attend the National Book
Festival. Fortunately, each author is videotaped and the recordings are made
available on the website for the National Book Festival. Last year, I heard Patricia Polocco
and was simply brought to tears by her powerful presentation. I was able to
share that experience with my students by showing the video to my class. There
are hundreds of videos of authors available, so you can bring the power of
meeting the author to your students!
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