first so cal yarn crawl

yesterday was the start of the first los angeles couty yarn crawl. now i've heard of yarn crawls happening in cities before but there's never been one in mine. i am super excited about the crawl and kicked it off last night with a champagne party at unwind. if you're in the los angeles area, definitely check out the website and check out all the fun events happening this weekend. tomorrow morning i'll be back at unwind to help out with a book signing event. mac barnett and illustration jon klassen will be on hand to sign their book, extra yarn. 

there will be a reading and snacks and teaching kids to knit afterwards. i am very excited about it and can't wait to get my copy of extra yarn signed. i don't really know if i am going to have a ton of time to visit any other stores but we'll see. i'd love to make it to the westside to wildfiber or even to manhattan beach to twist. anyone wanna carpool?  :) hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

book event: the why chromosome

i figured since i already had blogger open i might as well fix up another post. last week i had the pleasure of attending the author event the why chromosome: why boys do love books. put on by bridge to books, it was an awesome event with 5 male authors with discussions about their individual reader beginnings and topics about male readership. this was a very unique event (in a good way). usually ya book events are heavily populated with female readers and authors. this even had all male authors and a mix of people in the audience. in attendance were andrew smith, allen zadoff, john stephens, jonathan auxier, greg neri and greg van eekhout.

the discussion topics were intelligent and interesting.  they talked about what got them started reading - answers ranged from a parent reading aloud to them, an attentive teacher and libraries. libraries seemed to be very important in the factor in these authors' development.  they also got into discussions about graphic novels/comics and whether or not they were "good" for boys to read. happily i think everyone agreed that comics are a very good way to get reluctant readers to try something new and that there are many excellent comics being made today. this is sort of a near and dear topic to my heart because i've loved comics since i was a kid and find that they're generally written off as not being "real" reading. but any serious comic reader will tell you that there are so many truly intelligent and original comics being written all the time. sorry - end mini rant.

i had a great time and mrs. nelson's toy and book shop in la verne is an awesome store. i know it's not super close to those who live in l.a. proper, but it's so worth the trip out there if you get a chance. anyone who loves ya/middle grade/children books will fall in love with the store. now - on to the pictures!

the why chromosome posters

wall of ya awesomeness

i like taking pictures of small toys

apparently these are german penguins

l to r: andrew smith, allen zadoff, john stephens, jonathan auxier, greg neri, greg van eekhout

john stephens and jonathan auxier

the gregs - neri and van eekhout

andrew smith and allen zadoff

delicious desserts

the why chromosome

i love zombies and zombies in love

it's no secret that i am a big fan of zombies. i don't know what it is but the idea of undead creatures trying to eat my brains freaks me out - in a good way! if you're free saturday night, consider coming out to nucleus in alhambra to see artist scott c and get his new book, zombie in love. i was able to flip through a copy of the book at this year's comic con and it looked awesome. so that's where i'll be this weekend.

on the knitting front, i started a baby hat for my friend hannah. some friends and i are planning a baby shower for her in a few weeks and i hope to have some hats done to use as decoration. and tiny baby hats are just so cute. i'll take some pictures soon.

what are your plans for labor day, dear readers?

graphic guise

hello again! see, i told you i'd be back. last weekend was quite eventful. i had two book-ish events and also managed to see rise of planet of the apes, which was much better than i expected. everything you've heard about the special effects is true. they're pretty amazing. the orangutan is my favorite. onto events!

on saturday i helped out at the graphic guise event put on by my friend's org, bridge to books. it's a really great organization that aims to get kids excited about books. illustrators/authors kazu kibuishi, bob boyle, james burks and dan santat were on hand to answer questions and work with the kids.


rainbows!


the beginnings of a great story.


james burks


bob boyle


kazu kibuishi showing the kids panels from amulet 4.


dan santat, kazu kibuishi, james burks and bob boyle with the graphic guise poster.

it was a great event. the kids really had a lot of fun - and the adults did, too. bridge to books has lots of fun events. to check out what's coming next, go to www.bridgetobooks.com.