National Book Festival

Today was the National Book Festival, put on by the Library of Congress and a bunch of sponsors. Held on the Mall, the festival draws many famous authors and huge crowds. They had a great line-up this year of both children's and adult authors, and so I carefully planned my day to see these men and women speak and read from their books.

My first author was Lois Lowry. She wrote Number the Stars, The Giver, and Anastasia Krupnik. Using a trick I learned last year, I squeezed into the side of the tent, and sat on the ground to the side of the stage. After a minute, I realized that I was sitting behind Mrs. Lowry as she waited to go onstage.

She spoke about her first picture book, which is based on a true story. She told us about the time when she learned that sometimes bending the truth made a better story. This account involved her six-year-old self pouring glue on her baby brother's hand, and a stranger asking her if he had been burned. "The helpful girl pushed the badly burned baby down the street" had a better ring to it, so she did not correct the stranger. She also answered questions, claiming before she called on anyone, "In case you were going to ask, Jonas is alive! I never thought that people would read him as dying at the end when I wrote it. That's why I wrote The Messenger." Many people clapped at that.
After that I made my way to the History and Biography tent to hear Sue Monk Kidd and her daughter, Anne Kidd Taylor, speak about their new memoir. Sue Monk Kidd wrote The Secret Life of Bees, a favorite of the Mother Daughter Bookclub. Today the two discussed the travel that inspired the memoir, and much about their relationship. Sue Monk Kidd read a quote by Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter) that made us all laugh: “Sometimes when I look at all my children, I say to myself, 'Lillian, you should have stayed a virgin.'” Although you can see Sue Monk Kidd in short black hair and her daughter in the red sweater, I wanted to show the size of the crowd in the tent. Every seat was filled, and this was the case for every author in every tent. Great turn-out this year.

I had a bit of time before the next author I wanted to see, so I strolled through some other tents. Some of the sponsors had tents set up just for kids. Here they could meet the Very Hungry Catepillar.
I headed for one of my favorite parts of the Festival: The Pavillion of the States. Each state choses a kids' or YA book to feature, and has a booth providing info about that book and their state. Some states have maps of the state and tourist info; others have bookmarks featuring the winners of their state book awards. You can obtain a special map of the US, and take it to each state for a stamp or a sticker. I did this both years and I was not the only adult to do so! The tent is organized by region of the US, so you have some idea of where you are. Among other things, I picked up a pin from Idaho in the shape of a potato, a poster of Emmylou Harris reading, and many great book ideas.
Mo Willems came next. He writes interactive and slightly irreverant pictures books like Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed. He used to be a stand-up comedian, and his performance attested to that. He had adults and kids alike laughing heartily. One the books he read to us is called Pigs Make Me Sneeze. He commented that it was a controversial title in light of recent news. Any reference to H1N1 flu automatically wins my favor! He also did a great reading of "Naked Mole Rat."
Here is a view of the festival from the steps of the Freer. You can see the tents, the Natural History Museum, and many, many umbrellas. It rained on and off (but increasingly on) throughout the afternoon.
The day ended with two authors dear to me. The first was Tim O'Brian. A Vietnam vet, he writes about the war in a style that blends truth and fiction, fantasy and fact, poetry and prose. Every time I hear his name, I think about Mr. Fox, my ninth grade English teacher, who taught us how to write. He too was a Vietnam vet, and he read us many passages from Tim O'Brian outloud. Every time he read, we got the feeling that Mr. Fox was sharing a little bit of his own experience with us. I have no idea if Mr. Fox and Tim O'Brian knew eachother, but it felt like they did. At the festival Tim O'Brian (on the right; the ASL interpreter is on the left) read a newly written letter to his first son, who is now six. The author is 62, and the letter was about not being around for all of his son's life. It was an emotional reading, both for us and him.
And to end the day, I went to see Judy Blume. She spent a few minutes talking about her childhood, but mostly wanted to answer our questions. Many, many of the questions were from children, and they didn't just reference her newer books, but all of the old favorites that so many people my age have read! It made me so happy that these dear books are still being discovered by young readers. There were many questions about Fudge, who it turns out was based off of her son Larry, who used to eat under the table like a dog and threw a lot of fits. When asked if she would ever write books about Fudge or Margaret (as in, Are You There G-d It's Me) as adults, she recoiled in horror, insisting that each will forever be 5 and 12, respectively.

Judy Blume is 72, but you would never know it to look at her. I've attached this press photo, taken in April or May, to show how amazing she looks.
I cannot even begin to describe the warmth and energy in the very full room, as it poured outside and the sky began to darken. This generation of women who had grown up with Judy Blume books and the younger generation currently loving her work sat glued to her every word, laughing and clapping when she encouraged us all to read banned books. We all left smiling.