I went to see Christy's presentation at the Norton Simon Museum this afternoon, and all I can say is wow! She gave an insightful and inspring talk that the crowd thoroughly enjoyed. How do I know this? I eavesdropped while I was standing in line to buy my own copy of the book.

Thanks, Christy for a delightful afternoon. It was nice to meet you and your "driver." :)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I am just back from a Saint Paul Saints baseball game where I read a copy of my newly released (!) picture book, 1 + 1 = 5 and Other Unlikely Additions. As I took my place on the field where I read my book to a group of kids before the game started, I couldn't help but be amused. Back in elementary school I used to hide in the coatroom when it came time to play softball so I wouldn't have to take part. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I'd have anything to do with professional baseball. Fortunately today I didn't have to blindly swing at a ball or cower in right field; all I had to do was share my latest book with a group of young baseball and book fans, and marvel at how life pitches us some pleasant surprises.

Join me at the Norton Simon Museum

Join me for a free family event
at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, CA
Sunday, August 22, 2:00- 3:30 p.m.
The program includes a talk on the
20th century sculptor/designer Isamu Noguchi,
a reading of my book The East-West House:
Noguchi’s Childhood in Japan, and an art workshop.
Hope to see you there!

Iowa City

I am going to be in Iowa City for three days at the Iowa City Public Library and the Iowa City Bookfest.
The schedule is below:

http://newsroom.icpl.org/2010/06/meet-icpls-author-in-residence-john-coy/

Please spread the news if you have friends in Iowa City.

Happy summer writing and drawing!

American Library Association Convention in Washington, DC

Oh, well, I didn't get to see Edie at ALA. I looked for her at the Newbery/Caldecott dinner, but the place was packed. I, however, enjoyed myself at the conference. Here is what I did:

Friday--In the morning, I walked the floor. In the afternoon I spent my regular five hours with my editor discussing Picasso and other stories I had sent her. My editor and I ate dinner at The Fish Grille with the marketing director and illustrator Bill Thomson. Later my husband joined us for drinks.

Saturday--My husband and I spent the day touring DC. It was over 100 degrees. Between that and all the marble at the Supreme Court, I thought I was going to faint.

Sunday--I received the Pura Belpre Honor Award for Diego: Bigger Than Life at a ceremony held at the gorgeous Mayflower Renaissance Hotel. My sister surprised me by being there with two of our friends. Harold Underdown and his family, and the daughter of a good friend of mine came too! David Diaz and I signed. Then we all ran to changed clothes to go to the Newbery/Caldecott.

Monday--Tom Gonzalez and I signed Sonia Sotomayor: Supreme Court Justice. That evening Marshall Cavendish threw a dinner party for me and the Pura Belpre committee. It was held at a gorgeous Spanish restaurant.

Get Kids Reading This Summer

Memories of Camp

Several weeks ago I discovered a letter from 1966 that my eleven-year-old sister had written to me, her five-year-old brother, while she was at Bay Lake Camp in Deerwood, Minnesota. In bright red pen she wrote:

David,
I miss you very much. I can't wait to be home. I am not going to camp ever again in my whole life. I don't like the camp very much. I wish it was Friday at 5:00. Love Debbie. P.S. I hate camp.

True to her words, my sister never again attended camp. And whether or not it was because of her letter, I never had the slightest desire to go to camp either... at least, until I became an adult.

For the past four years I've worked as an instructor at Jonathan Rand's Author Quest: "The Definitive Writing Camp for Serious Young Writers." Perhaps "dedicated" would be a better word to describe these 10-14 year-olds than "serious," especially since the writing workshop I led this year was all about humor and was anything but serious.

What will I remember most about this year's camp? It might be the young man who had been in special education classes the year before, but received one of the camp's top writing awards for the crowd-pleasing story he had written while at Author Quest. It might be the quiet little girl who had the whole camp roaring with laughter as she read her story about the attack of the Alien Apples from Outer Space. Or it might be the young lady I've watched grow from a shy writer several years ago to the poised young woman confident to share her words with the rest of us around the campfire at night.

I'm pretty sure none of these campers wrote a letter home like my sister's. Just the opposite, when camp ended this past Sunday, there were many campers who seemed reluctant to leave.

So, how about you? What are your memories of summer camp?