Yesterday the American Booksellers Association's 2025 Children's Institute kicked off in Portland, Ore., with a keynote from librarian and advocate Mychal Threets and an opening reception costume party with booksellers dressed as their favorite children's book characters. Attendees voted for the winners, who received Amex gift cards.
ABA board president Cynthia Compton of 4 Kids Books & Toys in Zionsville, Ind., and MacArthur Books, Carmel, Ind., posed with husband, Stephen Schultz, to remind partygoers it is imperative they Don't Trust Fish (by Neil Sharpson, illus. by Dan Santat).
Hanna Fischer and Kalli King from Rediscovered Books, Boise, Idaho, were absolute perfection as Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth (by Tamsyn Muir).
Karina Dominguez, Katelyn Larson, and Miracle Lucketti (all from Ballast Book Company in Bremerton, Wash.) brought to life The Tea Dragon Society (by K. O'Neill), and had the pleasure of meeting Strega Nona, personified by Steph Opitz from Bookshop.org.
No children's book costume party would be complete without a Frog and Toad, played by Charlie Williams and Paul Thomason-Fyke from Square Books Jr., Oxford, Miss.
There was a political march on the floor lead by characters from Sid Sharp's Bog Myrtle: (from l.) bookseller JoAnn Yao (Books are Magic, Brooklyn, N.Y.), Amanda Olson (Annick Press), booksellers Arianna Arroyo and Kristina Rivero (Books Are Magic), Zainub Syeda (Annick Press).