Cool stuff I get to do: An Evening with Scholastic

No pictures of the event because I've got no idea what happened to my camera, but, a write-up.

When NCTE had its annual meeting at the Javits Center in mid-November, Scholastic held a wonderful event for teachers and librarians. They invited several of their authors (alas, not J.K. Rowling) to come and speak to a group of us and read from their books. Afterwards, we were all invited to see the Scholastic Living Room and celebrate Brian Selznick's National Book Award finalist, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Other authors in attendance were Pam Munoz Ryan, James Cross Giblin, Christopher Paul Curtis, Sharon Robinson, and Jaclyn Moriarty. They were all wonderful readers and Christopher Paul Curtis especially is always a joy to hear in person.

The Scholastic Living Room is a beautiful room about the size of your average NYC studio apartment which overlooks Broadway. There's comfortable furniture, nice plush carpeting, and the walls are covered in art from some of Scholastic's most enduring works, including Harry Potter, Madeline, and Where the Wild Things Are. We were able to walk around the room, drink champagne, and meet the authors. Everyone in attendance received copies of the authors' books for signing. Brian Selznick was very nice when I told him I was ashamed of not having yet read Hugo Cabret. So many books, so little time, as we all know too well in this profession.

Thank you so very much, Scholastic, for your generous invitation. I had a fantastic time and have developed an intense desire to curl up in the living room and read and eat cupcakes from the Dean and DeLuca across the street. Um, not that I don't have a desire to curl up with a good book and a Dean and Deluca cupcake on a regular basis, but that living room just makes the idea that much more enticing.