The ABC Children’s Group at ABA is once again partnering with the Children’s Book Council (CBC) to host several events at BookExpo America [7] that are open exclusively to ABC Group member booksellers. Designed to promote networking and education, the events all have a special focus on children’s books and bookselling. From an author speed-dating luncheon to special tours of illustrators’ studios, these events provide great opportunities to indulge in the world of kids’ lit.

ABC Group members may choose to attend one, two, or all three of the events, but preregistration is required [8]. Space is limited, and a wait list will be created for each event. 

ABC/CBC Illustrator Studio Tours
Wednesday, May 29, Noon - 3:45 p.m.

Get a behind-the-scenes peek into the creative lives of today’s top talent through intimate studio tours of children’s illustrators [9]. See where the likes of Brett Helquist, Katie Yamasaki, John Green, and Jakava Steptoe put their skills to work to create the imagery and artwork booksellers know and love. Registrants will visit up to three studios for 30-minute visits with illustrators with a small group of fellow booksellers. There is a limit of two booksellers per ABA member company, regardless of the number of store locations. There is no fee for this event, but participants must coordinate their own transportation.

ABC/CBC Speed Dating Lunch With Children’s Authors
Friday, May 31, 12:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Javits Center Room 1E14/15

ABC Group members are invited to enjoy a lively lunch with more than a dozen children’s book authors as they pitch their new projects. “Learning the list” has never been this much fun! Up to three booksellers can register per ABA member company, regardless of the number of store locations. The fee for ABC Group members is $25 per person.

Speed-date with the following authors:

• Heather Terrell (The Testing, Soho Press)
• Paula Freedman (My Basmati Bat Mitzvah, Abrams Books)
• Yasmine Surovec (I See Kitty, Macmillan)
• Sara Farizan (If You Could Be Mine, Algonquin)
• Courtney Sheinmel (Stella Batts series, Sleeping Bear Press)
• Joelle Charbonneau (The Testing, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• J. Scott Savage (Farworld series, Deseret Book Company)
• Sarah J. Maas (Crown of Midnight, Bloomsbury/Walker Books)
• Matt Phelan (Bluffton, Around the World, Candlewick Press)
• Michael Fry (The Odd Squad: Zero Tolerance, Disney Publishing)
• Bill Harley (Title to come, Lost and Found, Night of the Spadefoot Toads, The Amazing Flight of Darius Frobisher, Peachtree Publishers)
• Jarrett Krosoczka (Lunch Lady and the Sinister Superintendent #10, Random House Children’s Books)
• Jeff Hirsch (The Darkest Path, The Eleventh Plague, Magisterium, Scholastic Press)
• James Proimos (The Year of the Jungle by Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press)
• Corey Haydu (OCD Love Story, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
• Betsy Bird (Giant Dance Party, HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• Margaret McNamara (The Fairy Bell Sisters, HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• Maile Meloy (The Apprentices, Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Michael Garland (Car Goes Far, Fish Had Wish, Holiday House)

ABC/CBC Tea With Children’s Authors and Illustrators
Friday, May 31, 3:30 p.m. - 4:45 p.m.
Javits Center Room 1E12/13

ABC Group members are invited to sit down and share an intimate and relaxing teatime with a beloved author or illustrator. This event is a perennial BEA favorite! Up to three booksellers per ABA member company may register, regardless of the number of store locations. The fee is $20 per person.

Have tea with one of the following authors:

• Jacquelyn Mitchard (What We Saw At Night, Soho Press)
• Lauren Myracle (Title to come, Abrams Books)
• Audrey Penn (The Kissing Hand, Tanglewood Books)
• Gene Yang (Boxers and Saints, Macmillan)
• David Wiesner (Mr. Wuffles, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Betsy & Ted Lewin (You Can Do It, Look!, What Am I Where Am I?, Holiday House)
• Holly Black (The Coldest Girl in Cold Town, Tithe, Spiderwick Chronicles, White Cat, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• Elizabeth Wein (Rose Under Fire, Disney Publishing)
• Tad Hills (Rocket’s Mighty Words, Random House Children’s Books)
• Neal Shusterman (UnSouled, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
• Rita Williams-Garcia (P.S. Be Eleven, HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• Oliver Jeffers (The Day the Crayons Quit, Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Peter H. Reynolds (The Smallest Gift of Christmas, The Dot: Make Your Mark Kit, Candlewick Press)
• Paolo Bacigalupi (Zombie Baseball Beatdown, Ship Breaker, The Drowned Cities, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)

ABA Bookstore members that are interested in joining the ABC Children’s Group at ABA should e-mail Shannon O’Connor [10], group manager.

Preregister now for ABC/CBC special events [8].

BookExpo America will also feature a host of other special events focusing on kids’ books and bookselling that are open to all BEA registrants.

Among them is the Annual Children’s Art Silent Auction and Reception [11], to be held Wednesday, May 29, from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. at the Javits Center’s River Pavilion (Galleria Level/4th Floor). The event benefits the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression [12] (ABFFE), with funds going to support and protect the free speech rights of young readers. The auction will be hosted by Jack Gantos and Lauren Myracle, both authors whose works have been challenged. The original artwork up for auction has been donated by award-winning artists and illustrators. Tickets are $99 per person [13]; ABC Group member booksellers may attend the auction and reception for free.

An online auction, which launches one week earlier, will feature additional artwork for sale. The online event provides an opportunity for people across the country to join in the fight against censorship.

BEA’s annual Children’s Book & Author Breakfast, which is also open to all BEA registrants, will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Friday, May 31, in the Javits Special Events Hall. Master of ceremonies for the event is Octavia Spencer, author of Randi Rhodes, Ninja Detective: The Case of the Time-Capsule Bandit (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers). Featured speakers are Mary Pope Osborne (Magic Tricks From the Tree House, Random House Books for Young Readers); Rick Riordan (The Heroes of Olympus, Book Four: The House of Hades, Disney-Hyperion); and Veronica Roth (Divergent, Book III, Katherine Tegan Books). For ticket prices, visit BookExpoAmerica.com [7].

Complete details about ABA programming at BEA are available here. [14]