Children’s Institute Registration Now Open to All ABA Member Booksellers

Registration for the 2015 ABC Children’s Institute (Ci3), to be held April 19 – 21 at California’s Hilton Pasadena, is now open to all bookseller members of the American Booksellers Association. For the past two weeks, registration has been open exclusively to members of the ABC Group at ABA.

Booksellers who are interested in attending are encouraged to register as soon as possible as space is limited and open to a maximum of five registrants per member business. The institute’s nonrefundable conference fee is $79 per person. A number of publisher-sponsored scholarships will be awarded.

Ci3’s wide-ranging program includes three plenary sessions, a featured talk, 10 breakout sessions, five roundtable discussions, a reps’ speed dating lunch, an Author Reception, a Scholastic Meet & Treat After Party, a tour of Vroman’s Bookstore, and more.

The event opens at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 19, with a plenary talk by Jeff Kinney, the author of the bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (Amulet Books) and a soon-to-be bookseller. This spring, Kinney will be opening An Unlikely Story in his hometown of Plainville, Massachusetts, and at the Winter Institute he will be sharing insights gleaned from his career as an author, as well as from his preparations to open the bookstore. The opening plenary will be followed by a welcome reception for all attendees.

Monday’s packed schedule begins at 8:00 a.m. with a breakfast plenary featuring Mac Barnett and Jory John, the co-authors of The Terrible Two (Amulet Books), who met through their jobs at 826LA and 826 Valencia, nonprofit centers that give children free help with their creative and expository writing. Barnett and John will discuss their work with 826 and their belief that free, fun, high-quality writing instruction, especially in low-income neighborhoods, is essential to ensure a diversity of voices in our literature.

Monday will also include the featured talk “Creating a Picture Book.” Two-time Caldecott Honor-recipient Marla Frazee and Beach Lane Books publisher Allyn Johnston will share a behind-the-scenes look into the editorial and artistic development processes involved in the creation of bestselling picture books.

The ABC Children’s Institute will conclude at 12:15 p.m. on Tuesday with a closing keynote by Jewell Parker Rhodes, whose books for young readers include Ninth Ward, Sugar, and Bayou Magic (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). Parker Rhodes will discuss why diversity in children’s literature is our next civil rights frontier, one in which we’re all obligated to become engaged to ensure the future of our nation.

Ci3’s educational programming will also offer 10 breakout sessions whose topics are:

• Best Practices for Greater Diversity
• Buying and Merchandising Non-Book Inventory
• Creating Book Subscription Clubs and Gift Registries
• Gauging Age-Appropriate Reading
• Hosting In-Store Birthday Parties
• Making Storytime Fun and Profitable
• Marketing to Grandparents
• Partnering for Diversity With Schools and Nonprofits
• Reaching Reluctant Readers
• Starting Teen and Middle Grade Book Festivals

For those interested in attending the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which will be held on April 18 and 19 at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, just prior to the institute, ABA has arranged for a central meeting place. Luggage storage for Ci3 attendees will also be available in Board Room 201 on the second floor of the Radisson Hotel on the USC campus.

For up-to-the-minute information about Ci3, visit BookWeb.org/ci2015. Details about public transportation options to and from LAX, USC, and the Hilton Pasadena will be posted as soon as they are available.

Questions about Ci3, or anything relating to children’s bookselling, should be addressed to ABC Group Manager Matthew Zoni.

Register now.