I was thrilled to be invited to speak as part of the Charlemae Rollins President's Program at ALA in July. But this bit (part one) is just about the few days I spent in San Francisco first to get over the jet lag in the hope that I would be some bit coherent by the time it came to speak. (So this is the 'unprofessional' part of my blog.)

It was my first time in San Francisco and a real treat. What a wonderful city. I just walked and ate for a few days, taking in all the sights and flavours of the city.

Walking up Hyde Street (so we could go down the famous Lombard Street) we saw that the street was cordoned off for walkers - by the cutest police cars on the face of the planet! Now, I'm a sucker for weird small vehicles and photograph them every where I go. Up until now, the best are to be found in Spain and Portugal, with a few in France and Italy, but I think these trump everything

Can you see that the registration is Go-4 !!! The back was even better - undeterred by it's tiny size, it claims to be an INTERCEPTOR!

Walking by Grace Cathedral I went in and was treated to the highlight of my visit - Graced with Light is an installation by the cathedral's artist in residence, Anne Patterson. With the Grace Cathedral community, she assembled nearly 20 miles of ribbons, each with prayers written on them, then hung them from the vaulted ceiling arches.

When I walked in first I didn't notice them, I just thought that the stained glass windows were casting particularly bright shadows. Then I realised that there were hundreds if not thousands of ribbons strung from high in the arches reaching to only a few feet from the ground.

There is much beautiful art around and much that is clever, but it is rare to find something that is at once simple and clever, and such a beautiful response to its setting. I was awestruck.

Then it was off on a road trip to Big Sur. The views along the coast road were amazing as were the miles and miles of intensively-farmed fields - many with harvesting underway by rows and rows of workers.

Big Sur itself was wonderful and it was nice to get out of the sun into the woods...

Then it was back to San Francisco for one more day before heading to Vegas.

Our last hotel was gorgeous (I think we got some kind of an upgrade). It's actually not the one in the picture above - that was the foyer of another one which I just had to photograph.

I was glad to see (for the first time) requests to reuse towels and conserve energy. However, when we decided to swim in the infinity pool I was taken aback by the amount of towels everywhere - many you could only use once to go from shower to pool etc. It struck me that we have managed somehow to uncouple luxury and excess (in terms of amounts) when it comes to food (plates heaped high are now rather looked down on. But in other areas we really need to catch up. I am personally a bit grossed out by piles of fluffy towels that you only barely use then toss in a basket and for me it ruined the pleasure of the pool (which looked out over the city). But perhaps I'm not the sort of client they have in mind...

Next morning we checked out and it was off to visit Kendra Marcus of BookStop Literary Agency for a catchup. After a wonderful lunch with Kendra and Minju (of Kale and peanut salad - which I just tried this weekend and will henceforth be known as 'Kendra's Salad') we went for fabulous ice-creams in Berkley. I just had to photograph for Margaret Bateson-Hill who numbers paper-cutting among her many talents since she featured them in her picture book Lao Lao of Dragon Mountain. (Unfortunately I was so intrigued by the papercuts, I forgot to include Kendra in the photo!)

Then sadly, it was time to leave San Francisco and head for the next part of the adventure...

After a somewhat eventful arrival (I thought I'd lost my passport!!) and a much needed gentle evening with my flat mates Kendra Marcus and Ilse Craane of BookStop Literary Agency, Margaret Bateson-Hill (my talented traveling companion) and I headed into the city on Sunday morning. I discovered an amazing bookshop I'd not come across before called Librerie.coop on Via degli Orefici, 19. It had a nice display on the ground floor, then a mix of a restaurant, deli and beautiful cook books on the next floor. On the top floor was a wine shop and the children's books - how fabulous is that!

Saw my 'indulgence buy' of the Fair: L'alfabeto dei sentementi by Janna Carioli and Sonia Possentini (will post later about it), then my 'fun buy' of the Fair - a story about a circus strong man who is into knitting: Ettore, L'uomo Straordinariamente Forte by Magali Le Muche.

Then I spotted my absolute favourite Claude, in Italian! Had to turn him face out so lots of Italians would get to know him too.

Then it was on to the Fair.
I've not had a stand for many years and I really miss the buzz the fair has the day before as stands are put up. It always got me psyched like being backstage before a performance. So I was happy to go along to the Troika Books stand to meet Martin West and Petula Chaplin.

They were next door to Scholastic, so it was a nice opportunity to say hello to Eleanor Bagenal (who edited my Sleep Sheep book) and was wearing the most fabulous coat. Had to introduce her to Margaret who was wearing an equally fabulous coat!

Once the mutual admiration society had finished its session, we wandered around. Were very impressed to see Kirstin & Julie-Ann of Barrington Stoke, not only putting up the stand but making all the furniture! I hope their authors and illustrators realise how hard they were working.

I thought Faber & Faber had the wittiest stand, but my top prize went to La Pasteque, Canada:

We finished off the evening with a 'Waifs & Strays' pizza night (named, after the event by Frances Plumpton ex-librarian and agent extraordinaire). The conversation was witty and intelligent and funny and the Prosecco creamy and biscuity - who could ask for more? Fiona Kenshole came armed with a fabulous device which was at once a magnifying glass and torch - perfect to decipher a menu in the dim lighting!

Monday morning and it was all down to business. Meetings, meetings, meetings.

Took a break to see Margaret's IBBY showcase...

...and ran into the fabulous Judy Goldman from Mexico who has been shockingly busy with seven books out this year! One is with the fabulous Charlesbridge who of course also publish Lulu).

Judy's friend had the best nails at the fair, so I just had to take a close up:

Talking of Charlesbridge - guess who is on the front of their Fall catalogue? Meg gave Ros and me a sneak peek. How exciting!

Lola Plants a Garden is out with Charlesbridge in September this year. The UK edition, Lulu Loves Flowers is out in the UK in Spring 2015 - watch this space for launch plans.

Then it was off to visit Mariana Warth, and Aron Balmas of Pallas Editora one of the few publishers in Brazil to include people of African heritage in their books (making them a happy home for Lulu).
Marianna has just published the second Lulu story and presented us with a copy.

I took a little time to look at the illustrators' exhibition, taking a while to look at an amazing love story between a sheep and a frog by a Japanese artist (whose name I need to track down).
Here they are swimming underwater among the jellyfish:

My least favourite image at the Fair was this:

Not content with pink glittery stories about pretty princesses for girls and snotty adventure stories for boys, it seems even God must succumb to gendered marketing - big depressed sigh.

It struck me at the fair that alongside the ever increasing numbers of pink/blue books for boys/girls, there is also a growing number of books about bullying. Now, could this be connected?

As I argued in a blog to launch Alanna Books' What Are You Playing At?, (quoting Lyn Mikel Brown) “When you offer few options and give kids a very narrow slice of life, there are things they don’t learn, experiences they don’t have. What the children do learn is strict gender norms – and children who don’t adhere to those norms frighten their peers. They’re made anxious by difference because we’ve given them sameness. To alleviate that fear, they tease the child who doesn’t conform.” So, as books and toys become more and more gender segregated, the social costs of boundary crossing and the peer pressure to stay within the lines are huge.


A frightening thought and one that compels us to keep fighting for books that are open and inclusive and all embracing rather than narrow and limiting.

OK, mini-rant over, on to nicer things - my favourite image of the fair one from the illustrators' wall.
Enjoy!

Katy Guest wrote an interesting piece in last week's Sunday Independent. In support of a campaign Let Books be Books, she vowed that she would not review books labelled as 'for boys' or 'for girls' in her review column. She was very specific. She did not say she would not review books aimed at boys or written with boys in mind or with boyish covers or with boy heroes or with 'boy' in the title – but do you think that stopped anyone from accusing her of doing just that? And worse?
Usually I try not to read any comments on articles like this because they can be so soul destroying. But as this campaign is so close to my own heart, I wanted to add a supportive message. Trouble is, I had to scroll through the mound of abusive comments of people with a specific axe to grind who seemed to me determined to willfully miss-read her intentions, in fact her whole piece.

I've joked about it with friends, but realised this was just a coping mechanism for the genuine sadness I'm filled with when I see the anger and vitriol that a well-intentioned, thoughtfull piece can invite. Katy doesn't want to take away choice or burn books or emasculate little boys and make them all play with Barbie dolls in pink clothes – she wants children to be able to choose any book they want and not feel they can't because a marketing department has labelled the book 'for boys/girls'. She wants to make the world a little bit better and, while I'm sure she might love to end world hunger, stop the fighting in Syria and find a cure for cancer - she is starting with what she can do personally and in this instance, that means only reviewing books which are marketed to ALL children. Simples!

Except it's not.

Katy herself has addressed many of the comments in a follow-up piece, so I don't feel I need to go through them. But it seems to me that the expression 'gender neutral' works like a kind of incendiary device in some brains, leading them to willfully misread the author's intentions and accuse her of everything from censorship to "naziesque PC thought control"!

The words 'social engineering' cropped up quite a lot in the comments - one of the most outrageous accusing the author of being part of a "bizarre experiment in social engineering by radical lefties and paranoid 'femininazis' ". While it is reasonable to quibble with some points in the article (and I don't think Katy was well-served by the title), to leap from disagreeing with an editor who has decided not use her precious review space on books labelled "for boys" or "for girls' to criticising her for being PC, Stalinist, anti-family psycho hard left Marxist, left-wing, Nazi, bourgeois, censoring, book-burning, paranoid feminista (who is, at the same time, wasting everyone's time on a pointless, trivial and irrelevant campaign - considering  the world's bigger problems) seems to me truly crazy.

What was most interesting to me about the comments was that the most vitriolic seemed to be from people who are not raising young children at the moment (and are unaware of how much MORE gendered marketing has become). So (when they were not talking about romance novels, car magazines and gay hairdressers) they happily spoke of when they were young or their children were young and they just choose to read what they wanted. This completely ignored how much more difficult it is for young children to do that now in the face of being bombarded with messages about acceptable gendered behaviour and taste and how frustrating that situation is for parents. Most parents of children who are young now, wrote in support of the Indy's decision.

The other people who came out strongly in support were authors - many of whom talked about their frustration when their publishers' marketing departments gave their books covers and titles which they felt did not reflect their stories in they way they wanted. However, many of the critics who took it upon themselves to defend writers' freedom and who accused Katy Guest and her 'ilk' of wanting to control what writers wrote and what got published were in fact, not writers themselves, didn't know any writers or publishers and ignored the comments from the writers!

This willful ignoring of comments from people far closer to the issue and the willingness to comment without properly reading the article OR knowing ANYTHING about the topic was infuriating! One critic went so far as to say,"I doubt that you will find any book out there that says this is for girls or for boys only (in fact any sensible publisher will look for the widest popularity across all sexes) ... This is reality and no amount of grand standing or sexual politics by a literary editor in a newspaper is going to change that..."

It's also sad that these people who are crying 'freedom' and 'stop censoring' are so taken in by marketing - while at the same time arguing that a small girl of 4 should be intelligent, savvy and media-aware enough to ignore the marketeers "For Boys" label and read a book anyway. One such claimed that " The only criterion that should be considered by publishers is whether the gender-specific titles make money. If so, it'll be because people are buying them, which is prima facie evidence of their rightful place in society.
This campaigning to intimidate free speech and stop legitimate commercial endeavor is, in fact, a bizarre experiment in social engineering by radical lefties and paranoid 'femininazis when society has clearly indicated through its free choices to buy such books that gender-specific books have value."

Oh God! Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!

So it's all bizarre really. But it is SO hard to read when you are fighting for a more diverse, inclusive world in which boys and girls have more opportunities and more choice, and you are accused of wanting to turn the world into a grey nothingness; to turn boys and girls into samey androgynous beings and to force writers to write beige neutral boring PC stories which, the critics almost always say, have no bearing on real life.

All I can say is, Katy Guest, stick with it and be brave. Anyone who has read my blogs on similar topics knows that I do like to remind people that all of these 'moral' debates take place in a commercial arena. So I'd say, if you want to support Katy, don't just Tweet your support, don't just read her reviews online... Go out and buy the Independent on Sunday this Sunday. Buy two, give them to your friends. Re-tweet that. Lets put our money where our mouths are and make sure that those who threaten to never buy the Indy again now that it has become a home for Nazi-Stalanist-Feminista-Censors like Katy are VASTLY outnumbered by those of us who support her simple commitment to only review books marketed to ALL children.


I've wanted to write on this topic for a while, and seeing the comments on Katy's article prompted me to finally do it. Because, for me, what's even harder than the crazy reactions of people who obviously feel threatened by those who campaign for equality and inclusion, are the comments from people who say they support inclusive/diversity... but attack your book in which you are really trying hard to be inclusive (despite being told by the kind of people who market sticker books exclusively to one gender that this means they can't publish/market/sell your book). Instead of writing and complaining to the publishers, editors and marketeers who publish and promote books with nary a Black face, or a girl hero or a differently abled child, they decide to write to you and complain that your story doesn't include everyone.

So, I wrote a little story about a little girl going to the library. She's called Lulu (Lola in the USA), she's gorgeous, she loves books, she's the hero and she's Black. What's not to like you 'inclusive-book loving' people?

It's important to me that books like this are 'real'. That however well-meaning, they are not contrived. Children are very clever. They spot contrivance and then the book loses its power. So Lulu has a few friends (she is only three years old after all and not at school yet). so far two Black and two White (if you're the kind of person who needs a head count). I thought that looked natural.

BUT, then this review...

"My one, minor, complaint about the book is that it tries and fails at emphasizing diversity. Lola and her mommy are of African descent. Lola meets a white little boy in a stroller and during story time Lola sits next to a black boy, white girl, and white boy. If the illustrator was going to make such a strong attempt to display diversity, she should have thought to include a Hispanic, Middle Eastern, and Asian child as well."

I would have thought that a) we'd struggle to fit them in the picture and b) it would look totally contrived, and c) just because you're trying to include some children who don't see themselves enough in books, doesn't mean you should be pressured to do it all in one little picturebook!


I do have one book which is what I would call 'multi-cultural' rather than 'inclusive'. (This is one of my pet peeves - that because my story is about a little Black girl and her family it gets labelled 'multicultural'. For me a multi-cultural book is one which shows a lot of different people; a multi-cultural collection is one which has books with lost of different people in them, but a story about a little girl going to a library is just a story about a little girl going to a library...)

Back to my multi-cultural book. This came out of my work in libraries. I work with a diverse group and we love the song If You're Happy And You Know It. One day, we added "Encore" to the wordsand now, every time we sing it we sing the word for "again/encore" in a different language. My kind of thing - naturally inclusive! I happened to be telling the nice publisher at Barefoot Books about this and she suggested we do it as a book and here it is. I'm very proud!

From, If You're Happy and You Know It! published by Barefoot Books - link

Then I got an email 'astounded' at my audacity to call the book multicultural on the grounds that "every country but Israel was represented". Now, leaving aside the fact that this is a 32 page book with endpapers and title page and song words, so only nine working spreads, the idea that it could show all the countries of the world is a little unrealistic. To argue that unless it did show all the countries in the world it could not call itself 'multi-cultural' is quite an ask! (I would have pointed out that it did not contain England either, but life's too short!). My response? bang head against wall - again!


So, come on people! Any of us who put our heads above the parapet to campaign for children's books to be inclusive and made available to ALL children; any of us who write, illustrate, publish or sell such books know that as soon as we do, critics will take pot shots at us. (In fact, when you're on the receiving end, it feels like you put your head above the parapet and they climb over the top, run across no-man's land screaming 'nazi feminista' while leaping over the parapet and trying to hack you to death!!) Our hearts would be broken over and over except we can't feel them any more because our heads are too sore from banging them against brick walls 24-7! We NEED support - moral and financial - to keep fighting this fight and to make this a better world for ALL the little girls and boys growing up in it. And if you're an 'inclusive-book-loving person' please think before attacking someone who is trying - attack someone who is not trying at all - pretty please?

Links:
Katt Guests's article that got me all riled up - link

more links:
Rebecca Davies' blog in the Independent - link
Malorie Blackman in the Guardian - link

To read my last rant on Gendered Marketing on the publication of
What Are You Playing At? - a book which challenges the idea that children's play
should be limited by gender - link

P.S. I'm off to the Bologna Children's BookFair tomorrow, so no time to add links so you can see the original articles etc I refer to. Will add links on my return, but wanted to get this request to buy the Indy out before Sunday.

Katy Guest has addressed some of the comments herself - particularly reassuring about still reading books for boys/girls with glitter... link

So impressed with the One Billion Rising for Justice campaign (link here) but wondering how I can contribute. Taking my advice from Arthur Ashe, I'm thinking, "start where you are. Use what you have, do what you can" as my motto.

I write children's books and I have always tried to make girls the heroes of my stories. Going forward, I think I need to persuade colleagues to feature more girls (and not princesses and fairies) and support and promote those who do; and challenge booksellers, librarians and book buyers to do the same.

February 14th is also International Book Giving Day, so here's a list of books to give to girls - and boys. Let's start by showing the very youngest that girls have a right to be present - front and centre - in the human story.

Please comment / suggest books etc below.

Publishers often see to avoid issues of representation, inclusion, gender and also race by having stories 'peopled' by animals characters. But people who have gone to the trouble of counting say only 10% of animals are female. But not all - here are my favourite girl animals:

OK, these might be more appealing to girls (and mature boys!)

I'd love to have written this fabulous book, but I'm very proud to have acquired and published it for Alanna Books. We are really thrilled at the response and especially the fantastic reviews. I've written a BLOG about it and the whole issue of Gendered Marketing of Children's Books and Toys on the Alanna site - click here to read it.

OK, after Ithaca and Syracuse, I did have some time off. The highlight of my trip was seeing Xu Bing's extraordinary work in Mass MoCa, Phoenix. Words can't describe...

Staying in North Adams, I found just the best piece of furniture ever in the hall by our room - a pulpit! Of course I had to have a little rant...

Then it was off on the road trip.






The leaves were just about to turn...

We had our eyes peeled for Moose:

But the only thing that came close were some taps in a restroom at Flume Gorge!

Having been excited to see such tiny gherkins in Syracuse,

          ...it was a total thrill to find miniature tomatoes in my salad in North Conway.

OK, so I took some time over lunch - I was on my holidays!

The leaves really were stunning:

          and I saw a tree that looked like an elephant - or a Gruffalo -

            and a hat made out of pheasant feathers

And more leaves...

          ...and I had time to read my book...

Then it was on to Boston - and work!  (please note, all the words in green are live links).

First up was a trip to the John F Kennedy Elementary School in Cambridge, organised by Ellen from local independent bookshop extraordinaire, Porter Square Books.

The kindergardeners were REALLY good at listening:

We talked about how a book is made - looking closely at Ros's fabulous thumbnails:

We had a long discussion about Lola's name and alliteration and all the different languages the story comes in...

...and discovered that even when the languages are different, the pictures are exactly the same.

Of course we had to sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star - Lola's favourite.

Then it was time to sign some books...

              which also gave us time for more involved discussions about the books:

What a wonderful morning! Then it was time for a brief visit to the Porter Square Bookshop and a little more signing before heading to the Charlesbridge offices to meet the most amazing publishing team - probably in the world. Also had a chance to chat with Jackie Miller from Reach Out And Read - click here to read about their work, or like them on facebook.

On Friday I had a day off and managed to get to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum - no photos allowed so you'll just have to check it out if you're ever in Boston. Then on Saturday it was back to work with a visit to the Peabody Public Library. We met some wonderful children and a great young man called Larry who was working on his own picture book - best of luck to him.
It was an extremely serious morning's work:

Then it was the long plane ride home to the UK - but to the fabulous news that Lola has been given the CLEL Silver Bells Award - one of 25 books selected from books published over the last 25 years!

Arrived in Toronto on September and spent the weekend with my Toronto cousins. Came away with lots of new book recommendations, thanks Sheila and Lorna!

Then it was on to Binghampton via Detroit and my friend Suzanne's place in McDonough which is totally charming - the kind of place you imagine all children's books illustrators to live!

Including, naturally enough, her flying pig! (Sorry, ONE of her flying pigs!)

After a good night's sleep we headed off for Honesdale and the Highlights Foundation and say high to some old friends. The last time I visited, the Barn had not been built, so it was very exciting to see this amazing new space where the Foundation runs workshops and residencies. We were delighted to have dinner with the inspiring Kent Brown, then having distracted Carolyn Yoder from her work for an hour, we settled down in one of the gorgeous cabins.

        The Barn, Honesdale

Next morning it was back on the road and preparations for our workshops in Ithica.

Friday 13th saw us arrive safely at Tompkins County Public Library.
Once we figured out how to get in...

The most energetic woman on the planet, Brigid Hubberman, of the Family Reading Partnership who had organised the event introduced us.

First up was a story time for littlies - which they seemed to enjoy...

We signed lots of books, caught out breath then it was on to the adults.

I did a lot of ranting... about age-inappropriate board books, and too-long board books, and books which have a disconnect between topic and the developmental age of the child which they are being marketed to... Suzanne kept me on track so we remembered to talk about great books too (and don't forget to follow Lulu/Lola's own Goodreads page for recommendations - click here.)

I think we were preaching to the converted and we had a great question and answer session to end. Now if only Brigid were president of the world...

Once we'd packed up, it was off to the lakeside for some downtime - well, actually not downtime so much as intense lively discussion and debate with a bunch of powerful advocates for child literacy.
Awesome!

In Brigid Hubberman's world, a late night of intense debate is no excuse for a late start, so by 10.00 next morning, we'd already had breakfast, done some sightseeing (the Taughannock Falls) and visited the Hands-on Nature Anarchy Zone at the Ithaca Children's Garden (too bad we missed Mud week!)

Then it was on to our Wegman's event. We met so many new friends (a special shout out to Ana and Julie), did lots of reading - sitting in the Big Red Chair - and signing (except of course for those who could sign their own names themselves - that would've just been silly!)

My stickers were a big hit - thought some kids were insistent on sticking them on my hands!

Sometimes after a long day, things can get a little silly...

Back to Suzanne's and some real downtime, then on Tuesday it was off to Syracuse to meet Suzanne's writers' group. I was honoured they let me sit in on their session and I learned such a lot.

MJ Auch, Bruce Coville, Amber Lough, Ellen Yeomans and Suzanne Bloom.

Ellen cooked a fabulous lunch - which sadly did not include the enormous variety of gherkin she grows.

On the way home, we stopped off to buy apples and I saw this sign which made me think of my own hardy Mum and want to wish her well:

Getting excited about my visit with the wonderful Suzanne Bloom and our forthcoming series of workshops in Ithica sponsored by the Family Reading Partnership. Click here to read more about their wonderful work.
The partnership have gifted many Lulu and Lola books, as well as lots of Goose and Bear books to children and both Lulu/Lola and Goose and Bear feature in their fantastic calendar. Cant wait to meet the team in Ithica.

When I decided to go to ALA this year, Charlesbridge, the US publishers of Lulu contacted Chicago Public Library who invited me to visit a number of libraries around the city.

I kicked off with help from Karen Mariani-Mondala at Sulzer Library's Children's Department. We had a lovely session and two children even stood up to teach me a new song!

Then it was on to the Lurie Children's Hospital. I was met by the wonderful Mariana Glusman MD and Elise Groenewegen of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Both are so committed to child literacy and gift books to the community as part of the Read-Out-and-Read program.
I met any patients who had appointments that afternoon and we spent some time looking at how a book is made...

from the first ideas,

through roughs, and storyboards to the finished book.

The kids were really fabulous - even those "too old for picturebooks" got caught up in conversations about covers and design and where ideas come from. I was so touched that Abigail brought in a story she'd written and read it to me. It was fantastic - if a little scary!

Moms got involved in the conversation, some more kids joined in, I signed some books and we had just a wonderful afternoon.

A little later, I met some of the babies.

There was time for one last photo before I had to drag myself away!

On Wednesday I headed South to Woodson Regional Library.
I was made welcome from the moment I entered the building - what a fantastic place.
Annette Stewart showed me around the children's section and we were joined by two groups from
Roseland Day Care Center. We looked at how Lola came to be then had some stories and songs. The children lifted the roof with If You're Happy and You Know It!

I was so touched when Miss Quen asked the kids to give a round of applause and instead they all got up and gave me a group hug. I LOVE my job!
Then it was one last photo with the team and I had to drag myself away once again.

Quentella Davis, Annette Stewart, Anna McQuinn and Bing Liu.

On Thursday morning it was off to meet Starr LaTronica, Vice President/President-elect at Association for Library Service for Children, Youth Services/Outreach Manager at Four County Library System and totally good egg. We agreed on the importance of being earnest - about books and literacy and inclusion and access for all. So much to discuss, so little time - isn't it always the same when you make a new best friend!

Then I had the rest of the day off - what to do? The Architectural Boat tour, as recommended by my cousin Beth, was great then we spent the afternoon mooching around, taking in the sights including Anish Kapoor's Bean

and a great wild-flower garden near the Art Institute.

Did I mention that the next Lulu book is all about gardening? Sneak preview here:

Friday it was back to work with a trip to the Harold Washington Library in the center of Chicago.

While I'd noticed these crazy lions (sorry my Boston colleagues) as I mooched around on Thursday afternoon, as an out of towner, I didn't quite grasp the significance...

... that was until my taxi came to a section of street which was entirely blocked off. Since I figured we were only a few blocks from the library, I decided to get out and walk the rest of the way - only to discover that the street was blocked off for the Blackhawks' victory parade and there was no way across! You have to understand - I'm on the left of this madness and the library is across the street and a few blocks along!

So everyone is in high spirits and cheering and waving and I'm trying to push through with a backpack, a suitcase full of soft toys (for Old MacDonald and Five Little Ducks obviously) as well as a guitar! Abandon that idea!

Onto the subway in a panic and thankfully passengers were helpful and pointed me in the right direction. When I emerged, the first person I asked for help turned out to be a member of ALSC on his way to ALA and he walked me to the door. Thanks Dan Rude!

Kelly Hefermann was so kind and helped me to gather myself for a lovely session with great kids from the Children's Depot Playstation, Dolton, alongside some Thomas Hughes Children's Library regulars.

We started with a little story - Lola at the Library of course...

But when we got to the part where Lola sings - well, we just had to have a go ourselves!

I got some more hugs (this time from the lovely staff) and a high five and "good job" from one of the little ones for my storytelling  - I think she saw that I was having a tough morning and needed some encouragement!

Back on the street and it proved just as difficult to get back up town. More panic - I had a meeting scheduled at the McCormick Place Convention Center at 2.00 and had to check into my hotel, change, dump all my stuff and get out there! Eventually I spotted a rickshaw driver  taking fans for little rides and asked if he would take me. He agreed and on I hopped - I quite enjoyed the ride and even more so the astonished faces of the doormen at the hotel when we drew up! (As Donna Spurlock pointed out, since I arrived with a suitcase and then went to check in, they may not have realized I just came from a few blocks down town). So sorry I was too frazzled to take a photo - but found him on the internet - so you just have to imagine me, my suitcase and guitar tootling along! The receptionist at the hotel was not impressed!

But it all meant I made it to my meeting with Brigid Hubberman, Director of the Family Reading Partnership in Ithica which I wouldn't have missed for the world. How great is it to spend time with people with not just a passion for children's literature and literacy, but boundless enthusiasm for DOING things to make sure every child is read to every day. Another new best friend! Now if we ruled the world...

Saturday and I took a whole day off! Went off to tour Frank Lloyd Wright's homes in Oak Park.
Went to the Unity Temple first - so beautiful and still and serene...

OK, that was it on the serenity front. Saturday evening we were off for the noisiest and tastiest dinner I've ever eaten (no - the food wasn't noisy, the cheerleaders at the next table were. I was going to go into battle when they started singing, but Donna, Meg and Julie, despite being part of the fantastic team at Charlesbridge saw singing Twinkle Twinkle with me as just one step too far!)

Next day was off to the McCormick Place Convention Center. Met Samantha Vamos who was signing copies of her new book, Alphabet Trucks and another new friend, Judy Goldman who was there to sign her new book Whiskers, Tails and Wings and speak at Charlesbridge's Book Buzz session about books from Mexico. I had a chance to look around at the exhibits then back to the Charlesbridge Booth to do some signing and hang out with the dream team...

along with lots of other nice Lola fans who happened along - including someone with the best nail do of the convention!

I also 'met' the amazing team from the I'm Your Neighbor project in Maine - except we had convention brain by that point and didn't make the connection! I signed a copy of Lola for Anne Sibley O Brien and smiled at Kirsten Cappy and Lanie Honda! They were at ALA to tell people about their project - they selected My Friend Jamal as one of the nine books for their project and I'm so proud! It was on display right round the corner and I somehow missed it! We were all so focused on that little attention-seeker, Lola!

It was hard to leave and head for the airport - though I did miss everyone from the Stripey Club at Acton library and was glad to see them all again on Tuesday.

Top reads included The Story Sisters by Alice Hoffman, and the Dovekeepers which I've just finished; The Bride's Farewell by Meg Rosoff and Before I go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (though I think Nicky French's Land of the Living is better - if you read and enjoyed the much plauded Before I go to Sleep, make sure you seek it out).

Celtic twilight / pre-history and mystery...
I went through a bit of a history phase, revisiting Morgan Llywelyn. Nothing much beats her The Bard for me, but The Horse Goddess came close this year. I also revisited Juliet Marillier, re-reading Daughter of the Forest and reading Wildwood Dancing (not quite as good) and enjoying (once I got into it) Heart's Blood. All of the above are enjoyable if you like re-worked fairytales.

Wilderness Stories - my theme this year
I also went through a bit of a 'wilderness' books phase - possibly prompted by going away to do some writing in the wilds of Kerry. And these were my top books this year:
The Snow Child, set on a farmstead in Alaska is a really wonderful read - get your hands on one and read it this winter. I think any synopsis can't do it justice - I wouldn't even read the back cover copy - just go for it - it's a treat.
Out Stealing Horses is set in the wilderness of Norway - another one where I don't think I could describe the plot without ruining or reducing the story to much less than it is. Finally, Nightwoods by Charles Frazier tops my chart since it hit my wilderness craving - it's set in the middle of nowhere in Carolina - and also my love of books with small children at the centre of the story (though the main character is Luce) a lonely woman who has set up home in an abandoned hotel.

Children's Books
I'm loath to put this here in case any adult might think it's not for them, but Meg Rosoff's The Bride's Farewell was one of my favourite reads this year. Another impossible book to sum up (now I'm feeling like a total failure - shouldn't writer be able to describe her favourite book?). Just read it. Feeding Friendsies by my splendid friendsie, Suzanne Bloom is gorgeous, though I have to big up what About Bear? also by Suzanne and out from Alanna Books this September. So proud to publish this fabulous story - haiku for the under fives (the over 40s could learn a lot from it too).

Finally, a book I hope I won't have need for this year but which deals with the harrowing topic of a mother's death magnificently is The Scar by Charlotte Moundlic & Olivier Tallec. Originally published in France and published here in the UK by Walker Books (Candlewick in the USA). I always recommend Always and Forever by Alan Durant for anyone broaching the subject of death with a child and it is still the best book for children or adults that I know. The Scar deals specifically with a mother's death so will not have as wide a use, but is a very very special book.

Oh dear, I've managed to end on a sad note... never mind... go read The Bride's Farewell, or Nightwoods, or Feeding Friendsies...