Raising a Lone Eyebrow: ALA Annual Recap (Part II)

Previously…

Camera Tricks: ALA Annual Recap (Part I)

SATURDAY

I had a few minute at the beginning of the day, so I stopped in the exhibits:

Here are a few books I saw:

Departure much? Melanie Watt’s latest is a 96 page picture book about… the five stages of grief (conceived of before Scaredy Squirrel I hear):

I’ve shared this book before, but in person, that cover looked very nice:

Float is a picture book I kept hearing about, but hadn’t read until I saw it at the Simon & Schuster booth. It was wonderful:

I enjoyed this cover:

The latest from the Caldecott-winning team of Erin & Phil Stead was another book I hadn’t read. I got my chance on the plane ride home. A bit eerie and a lot beautiful.

I was so happy to get a copy of this. Classic Angleberger: slightly absurd and very funny. The John Hendrix illustrations are glorious.

I reviewed the first Pigsticks book, and I’m happy to see the next one on the way:

I am a man on a quest. A quest to find the book with the most little award things sticking out of it. While Josephine is getting up there…

…Press Here is the champ. Lara Starr from Chronicle Books shows us:

Then I saw the 2015 Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander. I had to document the moment.

Outtakes: A Photo with Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander (Note: All Dialog Made Up):

(Photo credit: Alison Morris)

Me: Mr. Alexander, want to take a picture?

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Sure.

Me: I want to do something different.

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Sounds good to me.

Me: Back to back?

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Oh, you weren’t kidding about doing something different.

Me: My arm kinda hurts, though.

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Toughen up, man.

Me: Here we go!

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Here we go!?

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: You’re ridiculous, man.

Me: No laughing, Kwame.

Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander: Ha!

Got it.

Note how Kwame not only pulled a hand-over-the-heart gesture, but also threw in a superb eyebrow raise. The guy wins awards for a reason, folks – he rises to every occasion, big or small.

Back out on the street, I learned that San Francisco does actually have these:

Pause for Current Events. The recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage was the talk of the town. Great to see.

Next was a lunch preview with Little, Brown books. My favorite part of the menu was the detail that they use a “proprietary grind” for their hamburger. Runner-up for favorite part of the menu: Organic Fried Chicken.

My favorite part of the event was hearing authors and illustrators talking about their books. Including Sophie Blackall. She talked about Finding Winnie:

Also on this day, the Best Apps and Best Websites for Teaching and Learning were announced – lists I always like to share with teachers at my school:

Click here to see the Best Apps of 2015

Click here to see the Best Websites of 2015

That was Saturday. Sunday loomed large. More on that tomorrow, in Part III.

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