Here There Be Dragons by Jane Yolen

Last weekend was the annual Reading the World conference at the University of San Francisco. As usual, we spent the weekend selling books in the book market to the hundreds of educators and multicultural book lovers that attend the conference. The conference is amazing: with keynote speakers like Jane Yolen, Joseph Bruchac, Yuyi Morales, and others, there is no shortage of talent walking around the hallways. Yet at the same time, the conference is small enough to feel cozy and make the authors seem more like real people than celebrities, and very approachable.

Every year, the NCCBA sponsors its Otter Dinner on the same weekend so that Reading the World attendees can share in the other celebration of children’s books. The Otter Dinner has its own amazing lineup of speakers each year, and this year they were Robert Sabuda, Matthew Reinhardt, and Robert San Souci.

E and I arrived at the dinner after we closed up the book market and found our name tags with our table assignments. As I approached our table and looked for a seat with a good view of the podium, I glanced at the woman who was already seated. Of course, I looked for her name tag immediately and accidentally exclaimed too loudly, “I’m at Jane Yolen’s table!”

Jane Yolen must get that all the time. She widened her eyes, mimicked my gesture, glancing at my own nametag, and cried, “And I’m at Renee Ting’s table!” Such a good sport she is.

I don’t think I said another word to Jane Yolen all evening. I’m not good at making small talk with strangers to begin with, and I didn’t want to say anything else that would make her feel self-conscious. My friend EJ, who is Jane Yolen’s biggest fan, couldn’t believe my story when I told her a few days later. EJ is the type of person who might go ahead and engage a famous author in conversation, but I can never think of anything to say.

I am racking up an alarming number of these types of stories. I hope I don’t look back years from now and regret that I had missed so many opportunities to engage with interesting people.

Here There Be Dragons by Jane Yolen

Tags: children's books Otter Dinner Jane Yolen