Suzy Staubach of the UConn Co-op, Storrs, Conn., reports that "despite the lagging economy and multiple layoffs in eastern Connecticut, families turned out in droves for the 17th annual Connecticut Children's Book Fair [held last weekend in Storrs]. Lines for Tomie dePaola formed an hour before he was scheduled to sign. Children and their parents waited eagerly for Steven Kellogg and Susan Jeffers. Guest Alan Katz, who autographed for long lines on Saturday, stood in line himself on Sunday with his three sons to meet Lane Smith. Senator Chris Dodd (D.- Conn.) spent several hours Saturday afternoon with his two daughters shopping, playing with the storybook characters and listening to stories, the first time the family had visited." A onetime presidential candidate, Dodd is pictured with his daughter Christina. The book fair is a project of the UConn Co-op and the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center to benefit the Northeast Children's Literature Collection.