Hi, Everyone!
Kid Lit Holiday Happy Hour--and Book Drive!--2012 took place this past weekend. I took an even dozen pictures. Check them out on Facebook here, or by clicking the image below:
Karol and me, chief organizers of this year's LA Kid Lit holiday event
40 to 50 people were there at the height, with several of us lined up before the bar opened, and others hanging out until Happy Hour's bitter end three and a half hours later. I didn't bring my flash, though, so I didn't document most of it. (Deliberate strategy, honestly.)
Last partyers standing! Closing down LA Kid Lit Holiday Happy Hour 2012.
Others have posted their pictures at the Kid Lit Holiday Happy Hour--and Book Drive!--2012 Facebook page, so check those out also. And Karol and Charlie will still be collecting books for the book drive at tonight's SCBWI-LA Westside Writers Schmooze in Santa Monica.
I also took a few token shots at the screening of Library of the Early Mind that happened just before this, at the Santa Monica Public Library just a couple blocks away. I was so happy to see this film at last--and to see so many familiar faces gathered there!
Free screening of Library of the Early Mind, a 2010 documentary exploring the art and impact of children’s literature on our kids, our culture, and ourselves. Above, Lee offers a few words of introduction on behalf of SCBWI Los Angeles, who co-sponsored the event with the Santa Monica Public Library, and Karol gets mad props for making this screening and partnership happen.
As I wrote on the screening's Facebook page,
"Thank you again to the Westside Writers Schmooze (Karol and Charlie!), SCBWI-LA, and the Santa Monica Public Library for putting this together. Those of you who didn't make it, don't despair. Apparently you can also watch this movie on Library of the Early Mind's Web site--for a $5 rental fee. :) But it was so great to watch it with this vibrant group!"
Happy Holidays, Kid Lit Community!!
Cheers,
Rita
P.S. Special thanks to D for helping me decorate boxes for the holiday book drive, engaging with the movie (yay! I'm glad he liked it!), and then keeping me supplied with food and drinks throughout the Happy Hour, when he knew I would be too scattered to feed myself. I'm lucky, I know.
What's up, people!!
(Chocolate-covered strawberries from my good friend Vicki, just because.)
We have two (2) exciting treats for the creators of children's book in the LA region coming up this weekend.
1. SCBWI-LA Writer's Days is happening this Saturday and Sunday--April 21st & 22nd. You can sign up for one or both days here. Read all about the Writer's Days speakers and their talks at the first link. Non-SCBWI members are welcome, too!
SCBWI-LA's Regional Advisors, Lee Wind and Sarah Laurenson, posted a fun video about the event: "10 Hot Tips from SCBWI Los Angeles Writer's Days Faculty!" Check it out!
Sara is a Writer's Day speaker this year! Woo hooo!!
2. The next LA Kid Lit Drink Night--which is not sponsored by SCBWI but is also open to all who love children's books--takes place that same Saturday evening, April 21st, in that same area. Kid Lit Drink Night is an informal mixer where everyone buys their own libations and mingles away. This one is sure to be attended by many Writer's Days attendees and faculty.
That's Saturday April 21, 2012
6pm-9pm
at the outdoor patio/bar area of the
Monrovia DoubleTree
924 West Huntington Drive
Monrovia, CA 91016
(4 miles east of the SCBWI-Los Angeles Writer's Day location)
Facebook event page here.
So come one, come all! Hope to see you all at SCBWI-L.A. Writer's Days--and at Kid Lit Drink Night!
Cheers,
Rita
P.S. Bonus!! Registration for the SCBWI Summer Conference 2012 starts this Wednesday at 10 AM. Check it out!!
Hey, Everyone! Here are a few photos from the Kid Lit(erati) Holiday Party this past Saturday.
To see the full set (I wish I'd taken more of everyone!!),
click here for Facebook, where you can tag or untag yourselves,
click here for Flickr, where you can download the images in sizes of your choosing, and/or
click here for Zenfolio, where you can download the whole batch and order prints, if that's your thing.
Thanks, everyone, for the drinks, delicious treats, and fun conversation--and THANKS for bringing all those gorgeous children's books to donate! The schools they're going to are really going to appreciate them!
Lee Wind and Sara Wilson Etienne pose with all the beautiful, gleaming children's books to be donated. I seriously wanted to borrow half of them to take home and read first, but that wouldn't have been in the spirit.
As mentioned in my previous post, the
Yo yo, what's up y'all . . .
Just wanted to remind everyone that the LA Kid Lit Holiday Party is this Saturday, Dec. 3rd, from 5 to 9 PM (and after!) at the Wellesbourne. Our last Kid Lit event was Halloween-themed. This one is all about the holidays!
Photos from LA Kid Lit parties past. Don't miss the upcoming LA Kid Lit Holiday Party, this Saturday, Dec. 3rd at The Wellesbourne!In the spirit of holiday giving--and celebrating--we're suggesting everyone bring new or gently used, unwrapped books to donate.
Lee Wind has found some fantastic schools to donate them to, who will appreciate the books greatly.
* * *
Saturday, Dec. 3rd, from 5 to 9 PM
Join other writers, illustrators, agents, editors, bloggers, librarians, educators, and people who just love children's and teen literature at a Kid Lit Community Holiday Party!
Cash Bar, pay as you order.
Cookies, bring and share.
Books for needy kids, donate unwrapped books, picture-books through YA, and feel all holiday-festive!
Your Picture Books through Middle Grade Novels will be donated to Knox Elementary School in South Central Los Angeles. They're a new school, and even though they don't have a librarian, their Principal, Ms. Ward, is a huge advocate of reading and has teachers take their students to the library to check out the books. They're incredible excited at the prospect of more and new books for their kids! New and gently used books are fine, ARCs are fine, and donating more than one book is better than fine!
@ The Wellesbourne
10929 W. Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064
(Across the street from the Landmark Theater and the Westside Pavilion Mall)
This is not an official SCBWI-L.A. event, but it's open to all our members as well and everyone in the kid lit community!
* * *
For the YA books that people bring, Lee has also made arrangements at Central High School/Tri-C. Says Lee:
I got confirmation from Janet Seary, the principal of Central High School/Tri-C, that they would love to accept our YA book donations. They are a continuation school serving at risk youth, and they have 29 classrooms all across the LA school district. There is no main library for these 600-800 students, but each classroom tries to have some books for their teens. The teachers will choose which ones they want for their classrooms from the donations brought.
I'm very excited that we now have two very worthy schools to acce
Happy Halloween Week, Everyone!
I had a great time this past Saturday at the LA Kid Lit Costume Party! 2011–the third LA Kid Lit Drink Night since a few of us started them in June. Because of Halloween, Jenn Bosworth suggested we dress up as book characters this time, and she picked the Wellesbourne as a swanky new location.
The Wellesbourne was fantastic! The dark, wood-paneled library/tavern with roaring fireplace suited every character perfectly, from Hogwarts students to detectives to gothic and whimsical creatures of the night.
Above: I went as Bunnicula, a vampire bunny that sucks the juices out of vegetables in the night (turning them white), by James Howe. Some of my other favorite characters brought to life included Roald Dahl's The Witches, which Hilary and Elizabeth did to perfection; Sherlock Holmes; Encyclopedia Brown; and Harriet the Spy, and The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds–the latter two played by Sara and Lee of my writing group, respectively.
Writing group fun! Because this is what all of our meetings are like.
You can see all of my pictures on Facebook here
or view the same album with bonus images on Zenfolio, which is prettier. (You can download all of the full-size images from Zenfolio, and watch a slideshow.)
A lot of the costumes were gorgeous. Check out this Dia de los Muertos creation!
Those horns and that makeup . . . not to mention the perfect Sherlock outfit! I am in awe.
I love Halloween. It gets us all to play together. Sara recently blogged about the need to find your community for every next phase of your journey (and she also blogged her recap of the Kid Lit Costume Party–with more pictures!). The Kid Lit scene is definitely my pe
