Henry Drak with Melanie Hope Greenberg,
trying hard not to blink
This month's KidLit Drink Night took place at 5:30pm at the Houndstooth Pub at 520 8th Avenue in New York City.
This was the KidLitCon edition. Librarians, authors, illustrators and other fans of children's literature had a chance to mingle with children's and young adult book bloggers from around the country who were in town for Kidlitosphere Conference 2012 (or KidLitCon).
The conference was hosted by Elizabeth Bird of A Fuse #8 Production
along with Monica Edinger (Educating Alice) and LizBurns (A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy), and took place at the main branch of the New York Public Library, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. After today's sessions, many participants headed over to the Houndstooth. I spotted all three of the hosts deep in conversations around the room at KidLit Drink Night.
I had good conversations with author Mackenzie Reide, one of the hosts of KidLit Drink Night, and with author/illustrator Melanie Hope Greenberg. I spotted Harold Underdown of The Purple Crayon across the room, and had a chance to meet Henry Drak, a librarian from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Sondy Eklund of Sonderbooks. Ms. Eklund was wearing a t-shirt with an illustration that looked like a cross between a bookshelf and the periodic table. I couldn't hear her explanation of the shirt because the ambient noise level was fairly high, but I hope I run into her again and learn the secret.
It was exciting to be in the same room with some of the best-known bloggers of the children's book world. Tonight was yet another example of how cool KidLit Drink Night is, and why you should try to come to the next one.