We continue our travels back, as if via Dumbledore’s Pensieve, to a
few key moments at BEA--at least for children's book devotees.
FAQs to Other Children's Book Highlights
Knuffle Bunny Bus Tour
No, the Pigeon did not drive the bus.
Yes, Mo Willems, like every other Brooklynite, has a chip on his shoulder, but it's endearing.
Examples: With Prospect Park, Olmstead corrected all the mistakes he made designing Central Park.
The Brooklyn Public Library is shaped like a book; the "money shot" (Willems’s phrase) in Knuffle Bunny Too (Hyperion, Sept.) was photographed from the library’s roof.
Yes, the bus passed Trixie's school, P.S. 107 (where Jacqueline Woodson
also attended, according to Willems, but that same building was then
called P.S. 106; that would never happen in Manhattan).
No, Willems did not reveal his own home address.
But he did point out Jon Scieszka's house.
Maybe the duckling deserved the hot dog [in The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!].
Spread at Two Boots excellent: thin crust pizza with a hint of fennel
(Italy boot), spicy sausage paella and corn bread-encrusted calamari
(Louisiana boot).
No, not the Two Boots in Manhattan, the one in Brooklyn! Willems lives in Brooklyn!
Freckleface Strawberry (Bloomsbury, Oct.) Party
Yes, it was worth navigating the labyrinth at ABC Carpets to meet Julianne Moore.
Yes, she is even more beautiful than she appears onscreen--especially with her freckles.
Yes, she's for real.
She has even read books by Al Slote.
No, the artist, LeUyen Pham, was not in attendance.
Yes, a sequel is in the works.
The chocolate was to die for.
Yes, you can buy it at ABC Carpets.
Oh, right, and the book, too.
A Modern Luncheon with E.L. Konigsburg
Ms. Konigsburg's necklace of iridescent stones was set off beautifully by her black dress.
She is as intelligent as she is elegant, as animated about the
Democratic contenders for president as she is about art (and don't get
her started on Rudy Giuliani--exactly, the Brooklyn Museum incident).
Of course, MoMA was the only setting for a celebration of The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World (Atheneum/Seo, Sept.), a contemporary novel that touches on themes of modern art, censorship and World War II Germany.
Yes, Danny Meyer lives up to his reputation with the food at the Modern, each course presented as a work of art unto itself.
This was the best meal of the conference by far (Gabriel Kreuther even
added a unique touch to the mandatory oozing chocolate dessert: a
delicate brulée-style roof).
Lunch Period with Gennifer Choldenko
If only school cafeterias looked like Splashlight Studios!
Even though Ms. Choldenko was dressed all in white, she did not bear any resemblance whatsoever to a lunch lady.
In fact, it's hard to imagine that she ever had a Welcome to the Dollhouse moment, even though she insists that she did.
(This is a major theme in If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period [Harcourt, Sept.].)
She is right up there with Libba Bray in the comedienne department.
The food was much better than cafeteria fare, too.
Highlights: pesto/mozzarella/roasted peppers on ciabatta bread,
guacamole that preserved some texture and tang, exquisitely cooked al
dente asparagus, chocolate brownies in perfect cubes with a dusting of
confectioners sugar.
The Party Blur
Breathtaking views at the Top of the Rock (as in Rockefeller Center),
where partygoers took I Love NY T-shirts from terrace to terrace,
seeking such Random House luminaries as Judy Blume, Jerry Spinelli,
Leonard Marcus, and Jerry Pinkney (plus Libba Bray and Markus Zusak,
his beautiful wife and child in tow--but they've already had their
moment) for wearable autographs.
Lifting glasses al fresco in Chelsea at the Park to toast Candlewick's
15th Birthday, with autograph books providing an entrée to the likes of
Kate DiCamillo, Sophie Blackall, Carolyn Mackler, Scott Menchin and
Michelle Knudsen.
Mixing on the terrace of the Library Hotel, courtesy of Penguin,
rubbing shoulders with S.E. Hinton, Jan Brett, Lane Smith and Jon
Scieszka (who, oddly, had been finding booksellers on his front lawn
all weekend long--thanks, Mo!).
And then, as if weeping at the departure of so many lovers of books all
at once, the heavens opened on the five boroughs early Monday morning,
washing away all remnants of the 2007 BookExpo America. "Next year in
Los Angeles," we cry.--Jennifer M. Brown