We have been looking forward to this day for some time now … our local Barnes & Noble was hosting an evening with Jan Brett. They had stated that we would be required to purchase her new book, Mossy, on the day of the event in order to obtain a ticket to her book talk and signing. We thereby arrived early – long before the store opened – to assure ourselves a ticket. We were surprised to discover however, that there was only one other person in line. Fortunately, another homeschool family, so we chatted while we waited for the doors to open.
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| Occupying themselves while awaiting their chance to meet Jan Brett |
She was scheduled to arrive at 5 p.m. and we thereby decided to come at 3 p.m. in hopes of finding a comfortable place to sit. Upon our arrival there were only two others with the same intentions. The staff informed us that we had the option of taking a seat for the book talk OR standing in line for the book signing. At the time, however, the line was queued to wrap around the backside of the book shelves and those in line for the signing would not have a view of the book talk. I talked it over with the munchkins and they voted to sit comfortably at a table – knowing that we might NOT be able to get a book signed in the end.
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| Engaged in conversation while Jan signs their book |
We had brought along our schoolwork and purchased a cocoa and a little snack from the onsite Starbucks. It made for quite an enjoyable afternoon actually – surrounded by enticing books and artistically intriguing illustrations. The kids managed to complete their math assignment but spent the majority of the time browsing the new titles. Sweetie even made a list of books she would like to read.
I was disappointed in how the staff chose to organize the event, however. I felt they could have distributed tickets to patrons upon their arrival to indicate their place in line for the signing that was to follow the book talk. In this way, those that arrived early could have seated themselves comfortably and been assured of a good place in line as well. What further aggravated me was that just prior to Jan’s arrival, the staff chose to move the book shelves to allow the line that had formed for the book signing to have a view of her talk. Had I known they were going to do this, I would have gotten into line. Oh well.
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| Mossy as illustrated by Jan during her book talk |
Thus, after her talk – which was amazing – the crowd that had formed quickly dissemenated into a queue for the signing. Because we were so close to the tiny stage where she had spoken, it took us some time to make it into line. We thereby had to wait quite a long time for the signing. It was well worth the wait, however. Jan inquired if the kids like to draw and they informed her that they did indeed. “We have a nature journal and we draw things we observe in nature all the time.” She was very intrigued to hear this and she stated that this was the first time she had heard a child remark that they had a nature journal. Her remark of course had my kiddos floating in the clouds through the weekend.
As we drove home, I suggested that they write her a letter for the 52 Weeks of Mail Challenge. They were immediately interested. 🙂
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