Thank you Dear Readers for coming out to the Princeton Children’s Book Festival today! I really enjoyed meeting many of you. A HUGE thank you and hugs to Allison Santos, the Festival Director and Youth Services Librarian, for making everything wonderful for everyone. And thank you to all the librarians and teachers who stopped by to give me a good word. It means more to me than you know. And thank you to my dear friends Anne-Marie Maman and Anne Cheng who came by with their children to show their support.

When you’re an author, it’s important to stop writing, get dressed and go to events like this so that you can meet your fans and thank them for everything. Many people work very hard to get your books in the the right hands. Many fans will read your books and suffer book reports for you. Some fans will even read your work 14 times and STILL come say hello, all day long. (Thank you, Kaia!)

The more you say thank you, the more you see it’s not about you. It’s about them.

Here I am at my station among the 70 authors and illustrators: Note the multi-colored Shakespearean insults tea towel under my arms. It was a gift from my friend Gbemi who had just returned from the Globe Theater in London. Thank you, Gbemi!!!

And here are some of my Dear Readers who came by …

Kaia, 8, and her dad, Al:

Kaia’s mom, Ame Dyckman, sat next to me and was signing copies of her highly acclaimed, many-starred debut picture book, BOY + BOT, illustrated by Dan Yaccarino. She was energetic and fun! And she’s already working on her third book:

Alyssa, aged 8 3/4, and her mom:

The wonderful Gonzales Family (from left to right), Silvia, Natalia, Paulo and Emiliano:

Kavya, a Ruby Lu fan:

Rhea, 11:

And 9-year-old twins, Olivia and Ainsley, who wanted both their names in each of their books so that they could share equally. We should all be so wise: 

Here I am reading an excerpt from ALVIN HO ALLERGIC TO DEAD BODIES, FUNERALS AND OTHER FATAL CIRCUMSTANCES. Note my green dress matches the green table cloth and the green bag in the left foreground. When you’re an author, it’s important to dress appropriately: 

Some authors dress their car instead: Wow. Now that’s a Batmobile!

Sometimes when you’re an author, it’s hard not to feel jealous.

I mean he was getting free parking in a no-parking zone! Why didn’t I think of strapping a humongous ALVIN or RUBY to the top of my car and rolling it right up to the entrance??? I mean I had to PAY for parking in the garage and WALK.

Oooh, I was intensely Jealous.

Until I heard the tornado warning on the radio on my way home.

And saw the wind whipping the trees.

And watched the clouds darken the sky into a narrow eye:

When you’re an author you should keep your eye on the road and your hands on the wheel and not take pictures of the scary sky while thinking of that nest blowing off the other author’s car and getting sucked away forever while smiling just a little.