Sunday, August 18, 2013

Knoxville Children’s Festival of Reading


My second time in Tennessee took me to two schools in one day and the Knoxville Children’s Festival of Reading the next day.

The first school was a Jewish day school, where the setup enabled me to take this photo of two juxtaposed symbols which, to me, each speak of peace:



The other school was an Episcopal day school, so it was a day of unity.

The festival was the morning after rain, and held on a field, which had turned to grassy muck, which meant the one pair of shoes I brought was the wrong pair of shoes. Luckily, that was the only downside; the crowds were fun, I received a special gift, and I sat on a panel with people whose work I admire.



 Deborah Diesen, Bob Shea, Jarrett Krosoczka, 
moderator Julie Danielson of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, me

During that panel, a girl in the audience asked us a question I found profound: how do we as adults relate to the kids we write for? 

I wish I could say my answer was that I stuck out my tongue, but it was not that clever. Whatever I did stammer out was heartfelt, but still a real missed opportunity on that one.


If you have ever wondered what a panel of authors looks like the night before the panel, mystery solved:

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