#ALAMW19 – Day 1

The nice thing about ALA being in Seattle is that I didn’t have to get up at a crazy hour to catch an early flight to some point  east of Portland. Instead, I got up at my regular time and took the bus to the train station because I was travelling by train.

A business class round trip ticket wasn’t much more expensive than coach,  and it was totally worth it. We got out own waiting room!

As you can see, I was early. The train was 30 minutes late but I didn’t care. I was happy not to be driving! And besides, how often does a plane have a delay of some sort? Business class is set up with two seats on one side and single seats on the other. I had been assigned a single and settled in to knit and listen to my audiobook as we rolled North. Business class passengers were given a coupon for the Bistro, so partway through the journey, I went to see what was on offer. I got a yogurt cup with granola and it was delicious. It was a local Seattle brand and the cup indicated they had a shop in Pike Street Market. I filed that info for later.

When I get to a new city, I like to get oriented. The weather in Seattle was beautiful, so I walked – uphill all the way – from the train station to my hotel, where I was able to check in early. I walked to the convention center to get my badge and then decided to walk to Pike Street Market, only 5 blocks from my hotel.

Conventions are great, but often the food is rich.  As I walked around, looking for the yogurt people, I kept my eye out for breakfast food. I almost didn’t find the yogurt and then, suddenly, it was right in front of me. Woohoo! I found some fresh bagels and got a smoked salmon cream cheese spread and headed home, stopping in a Target for plastic spoons and some La Croix. The basics taken care of, I felt ready to start conferencing.

Traditionally, the Holiday House reception marks the start of the conference for many. Some texts flew between a Beaverton colleague and I and we met up to go together to the first of three events.  She was off somewhere else afterwards, but I met up with a few other people to go to a Penguin/ United for Libraries event.

I walked over to the table where they where handing out copies of this book

The person behind the table said, “Are you doing OBOB at your school?”

“How did you know I did OBOB?” I asked, startled.

“I am the author of Avenging the Owl,” was her reply. I looked at her tag and sure enough, she was Melissa Hart. We had a lovely chat. She will be the guest of honor at the State OBOB meet April.

From there my group was off to the Seattle Public library with an evening with Hervé Tullet where were played and created. Here is my piece:

Even though it was late, my hotel wasn’t far, so I walked back. the fresh evening air was wonderful. I went to bed a lot later than usual, but I was so exhausted I fell asleep right away.

I am ready to get serious about the conference today.

 

Ten

Hervé Tullet is simply brilliant. So are his books and the colors he uses.In 10 Times 10, Tullet counts to 10 in 10 wildly eccentric ways. Entries include a single hand that ends up, progressively, with 10 fingers; a face with three noses, four eyes and five mouths. All in all, this is a fun way to explore numbers with young readers.

Here’s another group of 10. 10 Little Monsters Visit Oregon, written by Rick Walton and illustrated by Jess Smart Smiley, explores some of the most unusual and interesting things about Oregon and what it has to offer.  Humorous poems  are paired with factual text about each Oregon location. Although the text is fun, the illustrations didn’t really work for me. This would be an additional purchase for a classroom studying Oregon. Better books on the topic would be Larry Gets Lost In Portland  by Michael Mullin and John Skewes (for younger readers)

or  B is for Beaver  by Marie and Roland Smith, for older readers.

Mixed Media

I love finding really good books about art. Herve Tullet is back with fantastic follow-up to Press Here called

Just as the title suggests, readers are asked to mix up colors, sometimes in very fun ways, such as closing the book and pressing two colors together

or placing your hand on the page and making colors disappear.

Although intended for young readers, not so young readers will also find the book just as fun.

On a more serious note, Emily’s Blue Period, by Cathleen Daly, is about Pablo Picasso and changing family dynamics.

Emily is very crafty and interested in art, especially Pablo Picasso, but when her dad moves out, her life is as mixed up as some of Picasso’s cubist paintings.

“When Picasso was sad for a while,” says Emily, “he only painted in blue. And now I am in my blue period.”

 The book is written in short chapters and  addresses the different stages Emily goes through. When her art teachers assigns a project in which students have to collage what “home” means to them, Emily breaks free of her blues.

Lisa Brown’s illustrations for this book is light and friendly, despite the heaviness of the topics.  An excellent book all around.