BEA 2014 Schedule!

So excited for BEA this week! If you want to get a signed EVIL LIBRARIAN galley, here's where to find me:

WEDNESDAY: BEA Blogger Conference Party (Javits Room 1A06) 3:45–5:00pm

FRIDAY: Candlewick Booth #2857 galley signing 2:30–3:30pm

I'll also be at the ABA Silent Auction Wednesday evening, Friday afternoon's ABC/CBC Speed Dating Lunch, and various other places around the floor on Friday throughout the day. Please come find me and say hello!

Big Mean Mike storytime in Montclair, NJ!

I'll be reading and signing Big Mean Mike at Watchung Booksellers TOMORROW (Saturday), March 16, at 10:30am!

I would love to see you there!

Brooklyn Museum Children's Book Fair TODAY!

Come to the Brooklyn Museum Children's Book Fair TODAY from 12-4pm!

Meet lots of Brooklyn authors and illustrators and get signed books! There will be stories and activities and other fun things for kids all day long. I'll be there signing BIG MEAN MIKE and other books — come by and say hello!

Rochester Children's Book Festival!

The wonderful Rochester Children's Book Festival is happening tomorrow, November 10, at Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY! I've been going to this festival for more than a decade and it is always super fun and awesome. It runs from 10am to 4pm, and there are readings and activities and fun all day long! Talk to some amazing authors and illustrators, get some signed books, pick up free goodies (mini monster trucks! bunny pens! temporary tattoos!) and lots, lots more!

The festival is free and open to the public, and features authors and illustrators of books for children, middle graders, and teens. Click the link above for more info. I hope to see you there!

Brooklyn Book Festival!

I'll be signing BIG MEAN MIKE at the Brooklyn Book Festival this Sunday, September 23, from 2-3pm. Come find me at WORD's booth (#151), get a signed book, and say hello!

Come to my party!

The official launch party for my new picture book, Big Mean Mike, is happening this Saturday, September 15! And you should come, because there will be books and snacks and cupcakes and mini monster trucks and other fun things. Here are all the deets:

Who: YOU and all your friends and your kids and your friends' kids (and your kids' friends, and their parents and cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents)


What: BIG MEAN MIKE launch party and reading and book signing

When: Saturday, September 15, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Where: WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

Why: Because it will be a good time, and you will be supporting an awesome independent bookstore, (and also, you know, me), and you will hear a fun story, and you can even get some early holiday shopping done, because hey, who doesn't like a signed, personalized book? NO ONE. That's who.

I'll be reading the story around 4:30 p.m., and all the rest of the time there will food and drinks and fun things like coloring activities for the young people and the young-at-heart people and anyone else who likes to color.

Facebook RSVP encouraged, but not required. Did I mention CUPCAKES AND MINI MONSTER TRUCKS?

Also, bunny pens.

You know you want to come.

So, yay! I can't wait to see you there! :)

Princeton Children's Book Festival - Sept 8!

Please join me and more than 70 other children's book authors and illustrators at the 7th Annual Princeton Children's Book Festival next Saturday, September 8! This free event runs from 11am to 4pm, and includes readings, book signings, music, activities and more. Click here for a list of all the authors and illustrators who will be there, along with the presentation schedule, directions, and other information.

And if you're in the NYC area, I hope to see you the following Saturday, September 15, at the Big Mean Mike party at WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn! Facebook RSVP encouraged but not required: http://www.facebook.com/events/467697863249816/.

BIG MEAN MIKE!

Look! It is the awesome, awesome cover to my forthcoming picture book, BIG MEAN MIKE, illustrated by the wonderful and amazing Scott Magoon:

The good news is that Scott Magoon is, as previously stated, wonderful and amazing, and the illustrations throughout are SO GOOD I CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU. The slightly-less-good news is that you have to wait until August 14 to get this book. BUT! There will possibly be an opportunity to pre-order a signed copy (stay tuned), and some of you will get to see MIKE sooner at BEA, if you come to my signing on June 6.

In the meantime, you should be reading The Princess of Trelian.

NYC book signing May 12!

I'll be signing books with other authors at the fabulous Books of Wonder next Saturday, May 12, from noon to 2pm. Come get signed copies of The Dragon of Trelian and/or The Princess of Trelian, meet other authors and check out their books, and support a great NYC independent bookstore! 

You can see full event info here. I've also started an event page on Facebook, if you'd like to RSVP (not necessary, but it would be great to know if you're coming!).

If you can't make it, you can still order a signed book through the store, and I'll sign it on the day of the event.

Get a signed copy of THE PRINCESS OF TRELIAN! (And, if you hurry, a free copy of The Dragon of Trelian, too!)

Pre-order THE PRINCESS OF TRELIAN from WORD bookstore on or before April 6 and you'll receive a signed, personalized copy the week of the official book release (April 10). Just let them know when you order (see link below for details) whether you want the book personalized (i.e., signed to someone in particular) or just signed and dated. Then, when the books arrive, I will zip over to the store and sign your book before they mail it out to you.

PLUS! The first 10 people to pre-order THE PRINCESS OF TRELIAN starting Tuesday, March 6, will get a free trade paperback edition of The Dragon of Trelian to go with it!

Here is the link: www.wordbrooklyn.com/michelle-knudsen

Special thanks to the ever-awesome WORD bookstore and my also-ever-awesome publisher Candlewick Press for setting up this promotion. I'm looking forward to signing books for everyone who pre-orders, and I'm extra excited that 10 of you will get FREE COPIES of the first book! If you haven't already read book 1, this is your chance to get both books at once. And if you have already read the first one, this is your chance to give it to some nice friend of yours who you think will like it, too! :)

Boulevard Books & Cafe, This Weekend!

Come see me at Boulevard Books & Cafe this Saturday, January 28! (This is a rescheduling of last week's event, which was postponed due to the snow.)

I'll be reading Argus and Library Lion, signing books (both picture books plus The Dragon of Trelian), and there will also be fun activities for kids!

NEW DATE: Saturday, January 28, 2012
11:00am
Boulevard Books & Cafe LLC
7518 13th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11228-2410

Facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/events/179336918832486/
(RSVP not required, but it would be great to know if you're coming!)

Boulevard Books & Cafe Event Postponed

Hi guys - just a quick note to say that my event today at Boulevard Books & Cafe has been postponed due to the snowy weather. It's now next Saturday, January 28. Would love to see you there!

Reading (Argus and Library Lion), book signing (both picture books plus The Dragon of Trelian), and fun activities (coloring! clay! eggs! dragons! yay!)

NEW DATE: Saturday, January 28, 2012

11:00am
Boulevard Books & Cafe LLC

7518 13th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11228-2410

WORD 3rd Annual Holiday Open House - This Weekend!

Come to WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn this weekend for their fabulous holiday open house! Authors will be on hand to make book recommendations (their own and their favorites written by other people) and to gift wrap your purchases for you. Oh and of course, signing books, too! :)


I'll be there tomorrow 12/11 at 3pm, but the fun starts today with Sarah MacLean (The Love By the Numbers series), Michael Showalter (Mr. Funny Pants), and Emma Straub (Other People We Married), Michael Buckley (NERDS, The Sisters Grimm), and Fiona Robinson. You can see the full schedule and author lineup here.

Bronx Zoo Appearance Rescheduled

Due to the rainy forecast, my Bronx Zoo Animal Tales appearance has been rescheduled to Sunday, May 1, at 1:00pm. I hope some of you can make it! And that we get a nice sunny day next time around...

Book signing at BookCourt this Sunday!

Come on over to BookCourt in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, this Sunday, April 3! I'll be reading and signing my new picture book ARGUS at 11am. I'd love to see you there!

Upcoming events!

I have a bunch of book signings and other events coming up. Here's a list of what's on the schedule for April and May. If any of these are in your area, I hope you'll come!

APRIL
• April 3 @11am: Reading and signing ARGUS at BookCourt in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

• April 9 @12 noon: Educator Reception at Barnes & Noble in Manhasset, NY

• April 9 @3:30pm: Reading and book signing at Voracious Reader in Larchmont, NY

• April 23 @1pm: Animal Tales Extravaganza at the Bronx Zoo!

• April 27 @4pm: Reading and signing at Mendham Books in Mendham, NJ

• April 28: Larchmont School Book Fair in Larchmont, NY


MAY
• May 3 @11am: Barnes & Noble at 86th & Lexington Ave in NYC

• May 7 @10am–4pm: Hudson Children's Book Festival

I'll also be at ALA 2011 in New Orleans in June, and at the Warwick and Rochester Book Festivals in the fall. You can always see a frequently updated list of events in the right-hand column of my blog under "Where I'll Be." Please check back often for the latest additions!

Birthday / Argus Book Launch Party

Last night's party at WORD for Argus (and my birthday!) was fabulous fun! Thank you, so much, everyone who came in person and those who were there in spirit! I gave my first public reading of the book to the best audience I could ask for, and we had Q&A and cupcakes and champagne and sold out of Arguses before the night was through!

Here are a few pictures for those of you who couldn't be there:

WORD looking all cozy and inviting. Come on in!

Mmmm....delicious celebratory snacks and beverages!

Yay for Argus!

Beginning my first public reading of Argus for a wonderful group.

(I make a lot of faces when I read, apparently.)

Signing books, with some help from my lovely assistant.

I had so much fun. WORD was wonderful, and it was great to see so many friends from past and present! Thank you for giving Argus such a lovely warm welcome and for making my birthday a night to remember.

* * *

You can buy copies of Argus at your favorite real-life or online bookseller. Click here to see where you can get Argus at an independent bookseller near you.

Argus is here!

Hooray! Today is the release date of my new picture book, ARGUS!

It is also my birthday. And it is also the date of my birthday/book launch party at WORD in Brooklyn this evening!

Details:
Birthday/Book Launch Party for Michelle and Argus!
WORD in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
126 Franklin Street
TONIGHT! February 22, 2011
6:30–8:30pm
http://wordbrooklyn.com/event/birthdaylaunch-party-michelle-knudsen

I hope you can come! I will be reading and signing and there will be books and cupcakes and other good things. Children and adults are equally welcome!

More Argus reviews!

The pub date for ARGUS is fast approaching (are you coming to my birthday/book launch party on February 22?) and some more reviews have come in! Excerpts:

"With clean lines and muted colors, the ink-and-watercolor artwork illustrates the story in a most engaging way, magnifying the humor but keeping the absurdity in check. This pleasing picture book is fun for reading aloud." —Booklist

"Wesson’s lanky, gawky watercolor and ink caricatures capture the fragility of childhood, and the understated telling provides space to grapple with one’s own navigation through episodes of unenlightened authority. Children will relate to the drama while enjoying the humor found in both text and illustration." —School Library Journal

And Roxyanne Young just posted a truly lovely review on smartwriters.com.

I shared excerpts from the Publishers Weekly and Kirkus reviews in December; you can see them here.

I'm so happy that reviewers and early readers have been liking Argus so far! Can't wait until he's released into the wider world later this month. :)

Saturday Six

1. Update: 2011 has been keeping me pretty busy so far. I've been teaching my class at Gotham Writers' Workshop, working on final revisions of my Trelian sequel, writing new picture book drafts, thinking about my next big project, doing a little freelance editing, and trying to still find some time to see friends and my nice boyfriend and go for walks and other things. I also got to spend a lovely long weekend at Kindling Words, recharging my writerly energy and wearing a fancy dress to a masquerade ball.

2. Twitter tells me that today is International Save Libraries Day. (Personally, I think every day should be International Save Libraries Day.) You can participate in the library love by going to your local library, joining if you're not already a member, and checking out a book or three. You can also use the #savelibraries hashtag on Twitter to show your support, and write to your local legislators to let them know libraries matter! I've just added a widget to this page in the column at right (thanks, ALA website!) that will help you identify and contact your local legislators.

(Thanks, Phil Bradley, for the library word art!)

3. I'm teaching a free one-hour children's book writing workshop for Gotham Writers' Workshop tomorrow evening, 6–7pm, at McNally Jackson Books in Manhattan. If you don't have Super Bowl party plans, come learn about writing for children, instead!

4. WORD Bookstore in Greenpoint is hosting a birthday/book launch party for my new picture book, Argus! It's February 22 (my birthday!) from 6:30–8:30pm. There will be cupcakes and books and general merriment. Grown-ups and children of all ages are welcome. I hope to see you there! If you're on Facebook, you can RSVP here or here (or both), but no official RSVP required—just come on over!

5. My former teacher (and current all-around person of awesomeness) Cynthia Leitich Smith is on tour for her new novel, Blessed! Check out the full schedule and go get yourself a signed book. NYC events start tomorrow and continue through the week.

6. OK, I think I really only had five things today. So I will use #6 here to remind you that The Dragon of Trelian is out in paperback as of last month, and you should probably go get yourself a copy. Or give it as a Valentine's Day gift to a special young reader (or old reader) in your life. Yay!