Provo Children's Book Festival Wrap-up

Well the Provo Children's Book Festival was a monster hit! The rough count was 1600 attendees (last year was closer to 1000.) The Provo Library Ballroom was JAM-PACKED. The good news is, nobody pulled the fire alarm this year (like they did last year.)

The main presenters, Jenni and Matt Holm, did a great BABYMOUSE presentation, which included a sneak peek at a new series from them. Get ready, it's about an amoeba. Oh yeah.

I was on a panel about illustration. Here we are, from left: Sherry Miedell, me, Maryn Roos, Julie Olsen, and moderator Guy Francis. In the background are the squid monsters we drew for an illustration break.

I spent the rest of the day drawing portraits. I drew 42 kids and two adults! Here are a few (I wanted to take pictures of all of the drawings, but it was really chaotic in there, so I only got a few.) A big thanks to all the kids who sat still. And a special no thanks to the kids who wiggled around like crazy (that's a fast-pass to a bad portrait.)

I barely saw any of the other authors who attended--everyone was so busy. I did see Shannon and Dean briefly--a handful of patient line-waiters were able to score a rare triple signed copy of RAPUNZEL and JACK.

All in all, a very fun festival!

JWP will be back tomorrow (when you draw over forty portraits on Saturday, you get out of drawing a comic on Monday. That's a real rule from the Illustrator's Handbook.)