As the meat and potatoes of this trip - and my favorite part - I can't put down all of my experiences. Not only would it take up too much of your time, dear reader, but it would quite likely be less interesting for you to read about than it was for me to experience.
Instead, I will share with you some of my favorite events from the two days we attended the fair.
The Astrid Lindgren Award
Talk about right place, right time! I was there, right there near the stage, when they announced that Jacqueline Woodson had won the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Award. They flashed pictures of her books, spoke about her and her writing, and gave a wonderful introduction to her for people who may have never read her work.
Then they asked for anyone who knew her or members of her team to come to the stage and give a short statement about her work. I stood there watching and I only saw two people walk over.
Next thing I know, I'm on the stage, wearing a lavalier mic, standing in front of a video camera giving a statement. I don't quite know how that happened, but I know some of my classmates cheered me on and held my stuff.
View the video on the Special Features page on this site.
Note to Self: When traveling to book conferences, always carry an emergency "camera ready kit" just in case.
The Maltese Treasure
Malta has some great people, if their booksellers are any indication. Their primary offering was this book. It is a book based on an urban legend. There is also a movie of the book. When a person uses a particular app to scan the illustrations in the book, the app will show that scene of the movie. It was quite impressive. And the story sounds fun with an Indiana Jones type treasure hunt.
The book was released in December of 2017 and by March of 2018, they were on their second printing.
They had another book that was for a younger audience, but used the same app technology to supplement the book. Even though we told them right away "Librarian, not purchaser!" They explained everything to us patiently and with excitement. They are working on the English language translation, and I would definitely buy it.
The Displays!
Oh my word. Some of the displays were so creative and amazing, that words could never do them justice. From bright and colorful, advertising their childhood focus in neon, to sophisticated and neutral, soothing the adult visitors, the displays from vendors around the world were nothing but impressive.
The Artists
Art was everywhere. The wall of art was inspiring and beautiful. The tables of featured illustrators was like an art gallery. Some of the art was so extremely poignant, I was close to tears. (As we have established, this is not hard to do, but still...)
The World Lounge
By far the best experience of the trip for me was that moment when I walked all the way to the back of the fair, in a small section set aside for the small publishing market from places like Mauritius, Pakistan, Rwanda, Uruguay and India. Lots of countries with brown people. And my heart simply swelled when I crossed that threshold...
The shelves were filled with books with brown faces. And those kids were doing all sorts of things. And the books were written by brown people, telling their own stories in their #OwnVoices and it was beautiful and... Yes, I cried, ok?
I was EXTREMELY impressed with African Bureau Stories.
They are a pan-African publishing house based in Accra, Ghana. Their goal is "to develop high quality, contemporary, fun, 100% African books
for African children and readers around the world" and they are smashing that goal. Absolutely nailing it. The book quality was top notch. From the writing to illustrations.
In particular, Grandma's List was really quite special. A little girl convinces her grandmother that she can handle some errands for the day, but she does them all wrong.
It ends with an affirmation that children are always forgiven. It is so simple and beautiful and sweet.
I am so excited to see what else is in store from them, and I can't wait to purchase this book once it is available.
Accessories to Fun
Walking around with various classmates was the best way to experience this fair the first time in. The art, the book store, the travel. It was all made better for the classmates.
At the End of the Day
The days were long, but totally worth it.