UP! — BANK STREET BOOK STORE Bonanza!

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Bank Street Storefront with red carpet copyFor a children’s book lover like me, attending a big KidLit event is akin to a giddy movie fan attending an after party for the Academy Awards. Granted—it’s been a long time since I’ve cared to watch an award show, but that’s not the point. In my opinion this far exceeds any of that brouhaha, and I can tell you—I’ll eat my bookmark if I didn’t see a red carpet on the sidewalk in front of the Bank Street Book Store for its Grand Re-Opening celebration on March 7th!

Murderers Row

 

Never mind that this was in Manhattan, much like the Bronx Bombers’ “Murderers’ Row,” the line up of 31 guest authors and illustrators was filled with KidLit “home run” hitters. We’re talkin’ Newbery and Caldecott, people! No, I kid you not!

Guest Author Schedule

And playing with these Big Leaguers would be my friend, Robin Newman 😀  It was, in fact, she who announced the event on her blog and when I saw her name on the list, my jaw dropped so far I bruised my big toe. Here she was, a debut author, invited to read her book at Bank Street Book Store! What a thrill, and I didn’t want to miss it—any of it!

I was able to take some pics, most pretty good, others blurry or whatever, but hey—I take what I can get—or would that be I get what I take? 😉 Photography is not one of my skills, so bear with me 🙂

Signing table

Below is a somewhat chronological dappling of my day, plus links to the authors and illustrators I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting or getting pics of, but were there 🙂 (These are the days I condone cloning oneself! lol) :

Through its side entrance, the door opened upon a small setup of chairs at the back of the store and the first person I saw was Peter Lerangis. To me, he looked like an author, which is exactly what I told him, and we fell naturally into conversation as if we’d known each other for years. I can’t think of a more perfect way to have started my Bank Street adventure. Unbeknownst to me, I’d arrived shortly before his scheduled reading. His having worked as an actor in theater served him well 🙂 :

Peter Lerangis 2   Peter Lerangis 1

I caught a glimpse of Amy Hest reading (I believe) You Can Do It, Sam:

Amy Hest

Deborah Heiligman, the author of the acclaimed The Boy Who Loved Math, poses with Bank Street Book Store manager Andy Laties, an author himself. I really wanted to get a good shot of that tie! 😀 How can you not love that?

Deborah Heiligman & Andy Laties

Here we have Robie Harris (When Lions Roar), Amy Hest and Carolyn Mackler (Tangled) at the signing table, which was busy and transient the entire day!:

Robie Harris, Amy Hest, Carolyn Mackler

I had the unexpected pleasure of not only talking to the very helpful, generous, talented Vin Vogel, but assisting the one and only Jerry Pinkney in keeping his piles of signed/unsigned books in order on the table. (It was a bit of a madhouse by these two! lol) What a treat for me! They are both so nice (as were all the guests), and I was more than impressed by the artwork Vin was rendering along with his signature, each one unique to every copy of Maddi’s Fridge. I wish I’d taken a pic! Instead, I was later showing them off to Sandra Jordan and Robin Newman lol…

Jerry Pinkney, Vin Vogel, Robie Harris

Here’s Jerry posing with his Caldecott-winning The Lion and The Mouse. Just look at that cheery smile 😀 :

Jerry Pinkney

Holding Ava & Pip, the book I purchased—one for me, one for my daughter-in-law—Carol Weston was so personable, I found out her daughter got married this past weekend (Congrats!) and a few things about her talented family. SUCH a nice chat:

Carol Weston

I had first become aware of Betsy Bird 5 years ago, having attended a Children’s Literary Salon at the New York Public Library. I’d written an article about it for our then NJ SCBWI magazine Sprouts (the article will eventually appear on this blog). Having contacted her to ask permission to use info from the brochure, she happily said “Yes!” and asked if I could email her the article. Unintentionally, I never got around to it, so was happy I had the chance to hand her a printed version. She was even more pleased than I’d imagined! I’m glad I’m finally following her terrific blog more regularly now. The few chats we had were delightful, too:

Betsy Bird

Due to my busyness (and spaciness!), I’d forgotten to find Wild Things! for her to sign sigh, but here’s Betsy reading her adorable picture book Giant Dance Party…

Betsy Bird reading GIANT

…and gettin’ goofy with Deborah Heiligman and Regina, a Bank Street bookseller (off camera) who wore her name tag on her forehead the entire day (and also gave me a few great recipes!) 🙂 :

Deborah Heiligman & Betsy Bird

I knew I recognized this particular author, but couldn’t place who she was—well, not until I went up to talk to her and almost did a head smack when I read her name tag. Rebecca Stead, of course! ONLY the 2010 Newbery winner for When You Reach Me (love, love, love!).

Rebecca Stead

Here she is with Peter Lerangis, author (best-selling and award-winning, too!) of the “Seven Wonders” series, gettin’ all silly. It was apparent they are friends; SUCH a pleasure to talk to them both—so pleasant and down-to-earth. (You people ARE getting that I was gushing all day, right?) And if you have time, check out the Panel Interview on which Rebecca and Peter (with Gianconda Belli) spoke. Fantastic!:

Rebecca Stead & Peter Lerangis 2   Rebecca Stead & Peter Lerangis 1

Beside them, at the signing table, was the very talented and, to me, obviously humble Caldecott-winning author/illustrator for A Ball for Daisy, Chris Raschka. What a sweetheart!:

Chris Raschka

I didn’t get to meet, but did catch a glimpse of Peter Ackerman (a successful playwright) reading his picture book The Lonely Phone Booth (had to blur children’s faces):

Peter Ackerman-blurred faces

Last year, at our NJ SCBWI June Conference, as our “close of conference” Keynote Speaker, we had the honor of having Rachel Vail, author of a plethora of titles, including the “Justin Case” series (illustrated by one of my faves: Matthew Cordell). She was fantastic! I hadn’t gotten to talk to her then, so being able to this time around was an added treat. She recognized my face, thinking she should know my name, but we’d never spoken and we ended up sharing our frustration at being good with faces, but names often escape us—a relatively common affliction! What’s the worst is when someone gets insulted because of it! I know I never do. I actually expect people to forget mine! lol

Rachel Vail 1    Rachel Vail 2

Tim Federle, author of the award-winning Better Nate Than Ever, was very energetic and entertaining which is not surprising, him having been a Broadway dancer! He also decided to swap identities, donning Betsy Bird’s name tag 😉 :

Tim Federle   Tim Federle2

Getting to speak with Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence illustrator Alix Delinois and his wife was unexpected and so enjoyable. In our conversation, I found out how he came into illustrating children’s books and he couldn’t emphasize enough the power of networking 😀 :

Alix Delinois

Fractured Fables Puppet Shows, performed here by Rebecca Migdal and Andy Laties, are a regular feature at Bank Street Book Store, typically on Saturdays and Sundays at 1:00 pm:

Puppet Show

Oh, what to say about Chris Grabenstein, author of the NY Times bestselling Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. It’s easy to say he’s a down-to-earth, happy, fun-loving, generous and good-natured kinda guy, and—much like his character, Kyle Keeley, was (is) a bit of a clown himself! You can get a taste of his temperament through two fun interviews, one with Betsy Bird on her Fuse#8 blog, and the other on The Write Chat with Felicia and Erik:

Chris Grabenstein 2   Chris Grabenstein 1

I didn’t get to meet Patricia Lakin, prolific author of books like the Max & Mo Easy Readers (illustrated by Brian Floca!) and Steve Jobs: Thinking Differently, but did witness this satisfying scene with quite the captive audience 🙂 :

Patricia Lakin

And here’s Sandra Jordan, co-author of the award-winning book Ballet for Martha (also illustrated by Brian Floca!):

Sandra Jordan

And here Sandra is again, aside Nina Jaffe, author of many multi-cultural books, who also happens to be on the faculty of the Graduate School at Bank Street College of Education:

Nina Jaffe & Sandra Jordan

I’m thinking “adorable” isn’t a descriptive enough word for multi-talented, many-hatted Jill Davis. She’s not just an author, you know; she’s also a writing teacher and an editor for Katherine Tegen Books at Harper. I got to enjoy enthusiastic, engaging readings of two of her picture books: The First Rule of Little Brothers and Orangutans Are Ticklish. To find out a bit more, check out Robin Newman’s interview. Loved reading it 🙂 :

Jill Davis 2   Jill Davis 1

Right after Jill, it was Robin Newman‘s turn—the reading that started it all for me, and what a joyful experience it was. SO glad I got to share in such a special day 😀 She really brought her words to life, and I was so impressed she read the whole of The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake (illustrated by Deborah Zemke) without even taking a sip of water! (Don’t you love the hat?)

Robin Newman 1Here she is pictured with her niece, Zoe, then with our fellow writer pal and SCBWI member, Leslie Zampetti.

Robin & Zoe  Robin & Leslie  And one of the moments aspiring writers dream about—the book signing!

Robin signing

I was really proud of what a great job Robin did, and was blown away by her creative promotional materials! She gave everyone Detective badges (still haven’t filled mine out) and we got fingerprinted, too! Zoe gets the credit for the fabulous “carrot cake” artwork:

Robin's badge & thumbprint copy

 

Ah, the exquisiteness of it all, Robin getting to see her book on a Bank Street shelf:

Carrot Cake on shelf

My last Bank Street treat for the day was getting to watch Jerry Craft, a very nice and extremely gifted illustrator, demonstrate how he goes about his work. Such control over that marker! I’d asked him if he used a chisel point, which he then showed me. Next he drew a character from one of many books he’s illustrated: The Zero Degree Zombie Zone by Patrik Henry Bass. He handed out signed postcards and bookmarks, then closed the day out with signing books. I still regret not getting one, but my parking meter was going to expire in about 3 minutes and I was leaving for the day so wouldn’t be coming back in : / Maybe next time—hoping there is one!

Jerry Craft 1 Jerry Craft 2

I had taken a pic of Susan Kuklin (Beyond Magenta) and Monica Edinger (Africa is My Home), but it disappeared from my phone : / They were both so friendly. Really EVERYone was! 😀 I’m sorry I didn’t get to enjoy these other guests who graced the store through the day:

Isabel Gillies (Starry Night), Todd Tarpley (My Grandma’s a Ninja), Cynthia Weill (Opuestos), Doreen Rappaport (Martin’s Big Word), Eliot Schrefer (Threatened), Jill Santopolo (Sparkle Spa), Meg Akabas (52 Weeks of Parenting Wisdom), and Yvonne Dennis (A Kid’s Guide to Native American History).

This was my first, and certainly not my last, visit to Bank Street Book Store. The staff and the space itself are warm, friendly and inviting; a place which “provides enriching programs for children and families, inspiring children’s love for literature and learning.” Should you wish to learn more and support this programming, you can “become a friend.” And if you’re not local and want to support a wonderful Indie book store, you can also order books from them and have them shipped! Here is a pic of a few of the booksellers who handled the happy crowd, along with some shots of the terrific blackboard art that borders the shelves:

Booksellers at desk

Bank Street shelves 1

 

Bank Street shelves 2

And my happy hoard for the day (oh, I wanted ALL the authors’ books, but my wallet said “No!” grumble, grumble), some of them gifts:

Bank Street BOOKS

And now that you’ve hopefully enjoyed these, there are plenty more in Robin’s post AND Bank Street posted a bunch on their Twitter page, too 😀 SUCH great stuff! I’m still basking in the afterglow of it all…

Maybe it’s just me ’cause KidLit is in my bones, but attending pretty much any KidLit event is the closest thing to Disney World for experiencing the fantasy realm! (And for anyone who knows me, that’s saying a LOT! lol) I don’t know…what do you think?

 

 

 

69 thoughts on “UP! — BANK STREET BOOK STORE Bonanza!”

  2. Donna, What an AWESOME post! Thanks so much for making the day so very extra-special for me. And for your encouragement, support, and friendship. I cannot wait till I get to be a groupie at one of your signings. Big, big hugs! xoxo

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  6. What an amazing day, I love events like this, though rarely get to any. Living vicariously through you though, I have now got lots of new authors to check out and books to add to my wishlist I’ll warrant. I love being surrounded by books.

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  7. Oh Donna, I am sooooo envious! What a marvelous day you had, surrounded by so many talented and successful authors and illustrators. Being one yourself makes it all the more special. I love the collection of photographs and the story to accompany each one. Sometimes it’s good to have limited funds in the wallet, otherwise you’d end up with a library at home! Which you probably already have! Thanks for sharing this wonderful experience. 🙂

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  8. I loved revisiting this wonderful day on your blog just now. Your pictures capture the energy and excitement of the opening perfectly. Look forward to reading more posts.

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    • Cathy, you said it! I take time on all my posts ’cause I’m fussy that way, but these type events (like the Princeton Book Festival one, too) and the interviews take a LOT of hours—too many! lol I want to do the authors and illustrators justice and when there are so many, the links and research become a lot of work. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! 😀

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  12. Authors are the most generous people on the earth–children’s authors, that is! After a very difficult time here in Newtown…and ever since, I might add, we’ve had a SLEW of authors come and love us back to life! They sure know how to rally around a purpose-filled cause!

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    • lol, Erik, if you followed Robin’s blog, you would’ve known, but it would’ve been a long ride for you to Manhattan! And I hate pics of me. They almost never turn out good. I only put two on my about pages on both blogs ’cause I felt I should sigh

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  17. This is truly amazing. We love book events such as this and feel as if we attended with all of these wonderful photos and paw-some descriptions. Thank you for the time and energy you put into this post – and for including The Write Chat interview. You are wonderful. Have a super duper weekend ahead. ~The Gang

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  19. Fortunately for those of us who are a few many miles away, Donna maneuvers thru the beloved Gotham to tap out a stunner of a Bank Street Book Store re-opening report. The photos! The cutlines! The headline! The wrap around chalkboard with colored chalk teriffic artwork!
    Best. Book Store Report. BEST!

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    • Jan…WOW! I think I may actually be blushing! lol Thank you SO much for appreciating all the work and definitely for taking time to comment, my dear 🙂 It really was a great event!

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  20. Wow! You must have been in heaven, Donna. And I think you did a great job on the photos. I don’t feel like I missed anything. And I recently spent an hour in B&N looking for a kids’ book to give as a gift so I was familiar with some of these books. Thanks so much for taking the time to write this up!

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    • I’m glad you liked the pictures, Betty, and after doing some checking right now, it seems that it’s only business pages that are visible to everyone. Personal pages are only partially visible. Sorry about that. I was hoping you could see Sheila’s posts.

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  22. Hey Donna, Thanks for the trip to this wonderful book event and bookstore! Chances of my getting to this uptown book shop are slim, but I still have hopes of getting to Books of Wonder downtown. There’s just never enough time. (Sigh.) Great job on the photos and write-up.
    Jeanne

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  23. Talk about memories … “Back in the day”, Donna, when I lived in New York, I used to get many of my text books from that Barnes and Noble. I remember, even then, buying books from their bargain tables. And while there, always stopped in to The Strand bookstore, which I don’t even know if it exists anymore. That B&N is THE original store!

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    • That’s very cool, Jeanne 🙂 So then you can appreciate these pictures better than most ’cause you’re actually familiar with the store without decor. I totally enjoyed and wish I could visit the City more. Thinking to go tomorrow, in fact, to a Bank Street College event 🙂

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      • It was a looooong time ago, trust me! LOL.
        Anyho – nice chatting … I’m off to turn into a pumpkin, i.e. to tune into a little non-demanding telly — Grimm, actually, and maybe tune in to the book I just started.
        Tomorrow will be a wonderful day to go into the city. Have a good time if you do – catch up soon!
        Jeanne

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  24. I am quite late to your post but soooo glad to have found it. How I would have killed to have been there. Looks like you had the best day ever. Unfortunately, it seems I live hundreds of miles from all the kidlit events, but your post put me right there. Great job! What amazed me, besides all the books you mentioned that I have reviewed (love Maddie’s Fridge), are the number of amazing books I have not had ther pleasure to read–yet. There are so many wonderful kidlit writers. Oh, and just look how fast your site has caught on! You are popular. Great, personalized posts. (I need a few lessons in how to manage my time so I can get to all the wonderful sites you mentioned. And in how to make reviews more interesting.) You just may be a blogging genius. 🙂

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    • Oh, it was SO terrific! I wish you could’ve enjoyed it in person, too, but am glad you at least got to share it in this way 🙂 And you are so complimentary of me and this blog, I think I actually blush! I don’t feel worthy, but it sure does make me feel good, Sue 🙂 Thank you!

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