Book Expo America!

Next week is Book Expo America at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, and I'm super excited to be making the trip up for it. I get to visit with all my New York buddies, plus share my two new books The Troublemaker and Nana in the City at the conference. It's going to be a fun few days!

·Wednesday, May 28th: BEA kicks off with the 20th Annual Children's Book Art Silent Auction 

This is one of my very favorite events of the year! If you're attending BEA (even if you're not, but happen to live nearby) come to the Javits and bid on some great original art to raise money for the ABFFE (click on the link for all the deets). This little guy below (from Nana in the City) is looking to go home with a new friend.

 

·Thursday, May 29th: day away from the Javits

I'm going to skip the conference to hang out with my friend and former editor, Frances Foster, along with my good friend (and editor extraordinaire) Noa Wheeler. One of the things I miss most about living in NYC is being able to easily take the subway to the UWS to visit Frances and her husband Tony. I haven't seen them since I moved away from the city in January. It's going to be really nice to spend the afternoon with the Fosters :)  

·Friday, May 30th: full day at the Javits

12-12:30 pm -- I will be in the Autographing Area, signing and giving away a buncha Troublemaker's. Info is HERE. Please come snag a copy and say hello!

3:30 pm -- I'll be at the ABC/CBC Author and Illustrators Tea, chatting about The Troublemaker and Nana in the City with a group of awesome booksellers. I wish there was a way to clone myself so that I could also sit at the tables of the other authors— what a lineup (It's crazy to think I'm even going to be in the same room with all these guys)! Info is HERE. Right after the Tea I'll be hopping on a bus back to Baltimore. A short but full trip! I hope that if you are also heading to BEA next week, I will get to run in to you some point . . .

 

Wishing you all a lovely Memorial Day weekend. Hooray, summer is almost here!!!

Silent Auction time!

One of my favorite booky events of the year is tomorrow evening! If you're in the NYC area, come out to the Jacob Javits Center for the 19th Annual Children's Book Art Silent Auction at BookExpo America! Bid on some great original art to raise money for the ABFFE (click on the link for all the deets). Above is a peek at my soggy little donation : )

Hope to see you there, friends!
xo~L

BEA Annual Children's Art Auction

It's time once again for the Annual Children's Art Auction and Reception at BookExpo America! Come out to the Jacob Javits Center tomorrow evening, June 6th, and bid on some great art — all proceeds will go to the ABFFE (American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression). My donation this year is a little ink and watercolor personal piece that I made for Earth Day~

Hope to see you there!
xo~L

Over The Moon

 I'm so pleased to say that I was able to contribute, in a small way,

to this great project that is raising funds to help fight breast cancer.  

Over The Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project

From the website:

Over the Moon: The Broadway Lullaby Project is both a timeless benefit effort and a uniquely compelling, multimedia experience. The ambitious project — which incorporates a 2-CD, 26-song set; a lavishly-illustrated hardcover book of 17 songs from the album; a corresponding e-book encompassing the entire collection; and a documentary film and web series — gathers many of contemporary musical theatre’s greatest composers and vocalists, as well as illustrators, all of whom have donated their talent to deliver an emotionally affecting set of new lullabies, some written specifically for this project.

This collection puts a fresh spin on the classic lullaby form, creating a warmly expressive song cycle that will touch listeners of all ages, while raising funds for respected breast cancer charities, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Young Survival Coalition. The book features 17 songs from the album, with the lyrics illustrated by some of America’s most esteemed theatrical designers and children’s book illustrators, each offering a memorable visual interpretation of a song from the CD bound in the book. The e-book includes illustrations for all 26 songs.

My illustration accompanies the lullaby titled “I’ll Always Be There,” written by Jeff Blumenkrantz and sung by Victoria Clark.  Please check out the Over The Moon website to find out more about this wonderful project, and how you can help! 

XO~Lauren 

p.s. Kathy Lee and Hoda think it's a pretty great project, too!

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International Society for Animal Rights

 Last month I had the pleasure of donating a signed copy of my book Melvin and the Boy as part of a raffle to help raise money for ISAR's (International Society for Animal Rights) International Homeless Animals' Day. 

Here's a bit about this annual event:                                                                          "In 1992, ISAR introduced International Homeless Animals’ Day as an innovative educational vehicle with a purpose of informing society of the global tragedy that overwhelms animal shelters each year – pet overpopulation. Since the conception of International Homeless Animals’ Day, ISAR has reserved the third Saturday of August, commemorating the Day annually, to promote new campaigns, programs, and ideas on the solution to the pet overpopulation epidemic: spay/neuter."

If you're interested in learning more about ISAR, or would like to help, please head over to their website for more information.

American Booksellers Association Silent Auction

I donated this study from MELVIN AND THE BOY to this year's ABA Silent Auction (benefiting the ABFFE Fund for Free Speech in Children's Books) which is part of Book Expo America.

 There's going to be tons of great art to bid on at the event ~ hope to see you there next Wednesday evening, May 25th! You can browse through all the art right HERE! And, details for the auction are HERE.

come join the party!

This Friday evening there is going to be a celebration of all that is good. You should come! There will be tons of artwork filling the walls of the party space, including this piece of mine. (click to enlarge—you'll see Melvin the turtle made it in to the scene!) Details are here. Don't miss it!

ABC (Mostly) Silent Auction

Next week is Book Expo America here in NYC! And each year as part of BEA, The Association of Booksellers for Children(ABC) hosts its fun Not a Dinner and (Mostly) Silent Auction. This year I'm donating art! You can bid on a 'study' from my upcoming book MELVIN AND THE BOY (wall of art from the book in above image). The event will be held on Tuesday May 25th, where there will be lots of independent children's booksellers, lots of mingling, drinks, speakers (David Wiesner is giving the keynote!), the announcement of the 2010 E.B. White Read Aloud Awards, and then finally the auction with tons of great art from tons of great illustrators. If you're in NYC you should come on out and say hi! Here's more information if interested.