I Forgot

A bonus post for this week, the one I should've lead off with on Tuesday, seeing as this event occurred over Labor Day weekend!
Politics and Prose in DC was hosting a presentation with Mr. Brian Lies, a children's book illustrator/author most notably known for his "Bats at the ____" series. Mr. Lies anthropomorphizes a group of loveable bats who frolic at night either in a library, at the beach, or in a baseball field. In this 4th book, "Bats in the Band," the bats are back making music and mischief. Mr Lies, in town for the Annual National Book Festival, gave a fantastic presentation in a more intimate setting, where he talked about how the "Bats" books came about, revealed secret "Easter eggs" within the book, showed original art, present and past (one he did in the 2nd grade, spelling errors and all), and got dared by a child in the audience to pick up his over-sized, over 30-lb book he had made especially for presentation purposes.
This presentation was really special to me for so many reasons. The fact that he showed where he started in his own art as a kid echoed my thoughts about my own art in my bumblebee collage. Also, I too had wanted to create an over-sized book myself, so that at a presentation setting, the kids could physically immerse themselves in the book, by being able to practically sit "inside" the book! But most of all, he was just an encouraging, thoughtful person who is very clearly interested in entertaining the kids. In the frustrations I have had throughout my journey thus far, I frankly have forgotten about this goal at times. So thank you Mr Lies, you just made a fan for life out of me!