Report from Tucson: Books Are Not Dead!

During one of my sessions at the Tucson Festival of Books last weekend, someone asked the question that seems to come up in pretty much every Q & A session these days, about what's going to happen now that everything is switching over to ebooks.

My answer was something along the lines of, "Right now, we're at a book festival, and there are one hundred thousand people here..." I wasn't trying to go for the easy applause, but everyone clapped at that point (which, I admit, was nice).

But it's true.  Spending the weekend at a book festival attended by over 100,000 people, watching enthusiastic readers walking around with armloads of signed books, definitely made me feel pretty good about making books- especially picture books.

Now I'm back in my studio, working on my next picture book. Maybe some people will end up reading this on a kindle fire, or a nook, or who knows what the next thing will be. But as I work on it, I'm still looking at it as a physical work of art that people will hold in their hands.

Anyway... here are a few pictures from the Tucson Book Festival:

The University of Arizona. Not sure how much work I would have gotten done if I'd gone to college here!

The campus looked a bit different than the east coast schools I'm used to.

The Festival

My first event of the weekend was a book signing, and about 200 feet from where I was signing, there was, literally, A CIRCUS! I assumed nobody would come to my signing, but thankfully, plenty of people did.

The tablecloth at my first signing had 25 years worth of drawings and signatures from all the authors and illustrators who had signed there. Pretty amazing stuff. I particularly loved this one by the brilliant David Wiesner.

me signing

I drew this picture of Ted Williams on the tablecloth.

It's right next to one by pop-up master Robert Sabuda!

It got REALLY crowded!

I was part of a panel called "Bats, Balls, and Gloves: Great Sports Heroes" with my friends Phil Bildner and Kadir Nelson

Then I presented with Kadir Nelson and Doreen Rappaport, on a panel called "She Writes, We Draw: A Story of One Author and Two Illustrators". (For a sneak peek at my next book, look under Kadir's hands.)

reading There Goes Ted Williams at the Story Blanket

me doing a drawing demonstration at the Story Blanket

It was really a wonderful event. I met a bunch of people, and I got to hang out with some author and illustrator friends like Doreen Rappaport, Phil Bildner, Chris Van Dusen, and Kadir Nelson. I also got to meet so many authors and Illustrators I'd never met before, like Jack Gantos, Adam Rex, Mac Barnett, Maxwell Eaton III, Chris Gall, Jon Scieszka... what a fun weekend.


Now, back to work.

Tucson Festival of Books

I'm getting ready to head to Arizona this weekend for the Tucson Festival of Books. I've never been before, and it sounds like an amazing event. If you happen to be one of the 100,000 people they're expecting to attend (!!), and you'd like to come to one of my sessions, here's my schedule:

Saturday, March 10

10:30-11:15 am signing copies of There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived at the Candlewick/Kids Center booth

 

1:00-2:00 pm "Bats, Balls and Gloves: Great Sports Heroes" panel discussion with Phil Bildner, Kadir Nelson, and me, followed by autograph session.

3:00-3:30 pm reading of There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived in the "Storyblanket" area, followed by autograph session.

4:00-5:00 pm "She Writes, We Drew: A Story of Two Illustrators and One Author" panel discussion with Doreen Rappaort, Kadir Nelson, and me, followed by autograph session.

Sunday, March 11

10:15-11:00 am signing copies of There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived at the Candlewick/Kids Center booth

Time to pack!

Upcoming Events

With the release of There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived a little over a month away, I've got some exciting events planned for this winter and spring, including two museum exhibits, a trip to the Tucson Festival of Books, and plenty of other fun stuff. A few events are still in the works, but here's what's confirmed so far. If I'll be in your area, come say hi! As more events get booked, I'll add them to the events page on my web site.

2012	There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived Events
January 14	11:00-2:00 New Stars for Young Stars VII, at Jillian's on Lansdowne Street in Boston. Presented by the Jimmy Fund Council of Greater Boston, this Boston Red Sox autograph-signing event provides a unique and memorable opportunity to meet and greet Red Sox players, including the Greatest Red Sox Pitcher of All Time, Pedro Martinez! Tickets start at $150 and VIP tickets are $250. All proceeds from the 2012 event will benefit the Jimmy Fund and Pedro Martinez and Brothers Foundation. Ted Williams was the single most influential person in helping to raise money for The Jimmy Fund in its early days. So I am thrilled for this event to be my very frst book signing for There Goes Ted Williams. The book doesn't actually come out until Fenruary 14, but Candlewick Press is donating books so every kid from the Jimmy Fund Clinic gets a free copy.
Febraury 3- May 6	Exhibit: "Picture This: 90 Years of Storybook Art" Art exhibit at The Wenham Museum in Wenham, MA, featuring original artwork from nearly a century of classic books including work by Leo Leonni, Tasha Tudor, and illustrations from my books Zachary's Ball and The Gingerbread Pirates.
February 14	Release date for There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, Zachary's Ball: Fenway Centennial Edition (to be released simultaneously in hardcover and paperback), and Henry Aaron's Dream (now available in paperback!)
March 10	Tucson Festival of Books, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 1:00-2:00 pm, "Bats, Balls and Gloves: Great Sports Heroes" panel discussion with Phil Bildner, Kadir Nelson, and Matt Tavares, followed by autograph session. 3:00-3:30- reading of There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived in the "Storyblanket" area, followed by autograph session. 4:00-5:00, "She Writes, We Drew: A Story of Two Illustrators and One Author" panel discussion with Doreen Rappaort, Kadir Nelson, and Matt Tavares, followed by autograph session.
March 11	Tucson Festival of Books, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 10:30 am, book signing for There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived at the Candlewick/Kids Center booth
March 17	Barnes and Noble, Newington, NH, book signing for There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived , part of book fair for Wells Elementary School. Time TBD
April 5- May 27	Exhibit: "There Goes Ted Williams: Matt Tavares and Arthur Griffin" Come see the original artwork from my book, There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA. This exhibit will feature the original illustrations from my book, alongside spectacular historic photographs of Ted Williams, taken by Arthur Griffin during Ted Williams's rookie season in 1939. I'm really excited for this! Come to the launch party and opening reception on April 12 (details below)!
April 12	3:00-5:00 pm, Winchester Authorfest, signing There Goes Ted Williams at the Winchester Town Hall, Wincehster, MA
April 12	7:00-8:30 pm, BOOK LAUNCH PARTY! for my book, There Goes Ted Williams: The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived, and opening reception for the "There Goes Ted WIlliams: Matt Tavares and Arthur Griffin" exhibit, at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA. Free admission, everyone welcome! Book sales handled by my hometown independent bookseller, Book Ends
April 21	2:00 pm, book signing at Wenham Museum in Wenham, MA, part of the Picture This: 90 Years of Storybook Art exhibit
April 22	3:00 pm, book signing and artist talk at the Griffin Museum in Winchester, MA, part of the exhibit, "There Goes Ted Williams: Matt Tavares and Arthur Griffin". I'll sign books, and do a presentation about the making of There Goes Ted Williams.
May 20	2:00 pm, presentation and book signing for There Goes Ted Williams at the Louis T. Graves Memorial Library in Kennebunkport, Maine, part of the Pasco Lecture Series.
June 5-6	Georgia Conference on Teaching Writing and Reading, Perry, Georgia