These are my people!: Decatur Book Festival 2014

I had so much fun at the Decatur Book Festival this year! Since it was my second go 'round I knew what to expect for #dbf2014: get there early, plan to stay a long time, and prepare for the heat. There was absolutely no way for me to see all the authors I wanted to see, of course. But I did get to hear lots of awesome presentations and meet many great book people. Let me give you some highlights:

My favorite part of the day (I could only attend Saturday events) was meeting LeUyen Pham. She is my favorite illustrator, and when I told her that she jumped up for a hug. She is as lively and fun and sweet in person as you would expect from her work. It was a real treat to meet her!

Me, and my favorite illustrator, LeUyen Pham.

Uyen (which is pronounced "Win") even busted out her finished copy of
The Princess in Black
when I mentioned that I was super excited for it.
It looks EVEN MORE AWESOME than I had anticipated!

We met Amy Krouse Rosenthal, whose picture books we love. She has a special embossing stamp thing that she does on your book after she signs it. 

We just HAD to get a picture of Jubilee with Jenni Holm. I mean, Benjamin has one and Levi has one.
(Just kidding! Benjamin has two, none for Levi. Mommy memory fail.)
Turned out to be one of those "Santa's lap" experiences, but someday she'll laugh about it.
And Jenni totally won her over with peekaboo right after this photo, when she was safely back in my arms.

I also met Eleanor Davis, author of Secret Science Alliance, one of the great
graphic novels I helped select as a Cybils finalist in 2009.

There's more (lots more!). Of course there is. These are the photos I just had to post right away.

Levi, with the Little Bus of Stories

Me and Jubilee, standing in line for a book signing.

I hope you had a wonderful Labor Day Weekend!