Another BIG night on the Kidlit Party Calendar

It's that time of year again, full of fun and frolic for all of us kidlitters. We get out of our basement offices, shed our yoga pants, and go out for a night on the town. Or two. Or ten.

I was barely recovered from Tuesday night's extravagantly wonderful TD Children's Book Award Gala, but I forced myself to go out to dinner with my #Torkidlit peeps, Mahtab Narsimhan, Bev Katz Rosenbaum, Claudia Osmond and Jo Shwartz. The occasion was warming up for Marsha Skrypuch's presentation at the CANSCAIP meeting.

Unbeknownst to Marsha, she was going to be given the Canscaip "pin" for service to the organization - the highest honor we've got. Naturally I wanted to be there to give a hearty round of applause to this great lady who has done so much for writers and readers everywhere.

Marsha (at right, holding pin) with author and CANSCAIP goddess Gillian Chan

An added bonus for me was I FINALLY got to meet Werner Zimmermann, the artiste extraordinaire behind A Porcupine in a Pine Tree, my current Christmas book with Scholastic. What a thrill this was!

We cooked up some fun plans to video school choirs singing our version of the familiar Christmas carol, and talked sequel!

I'm so excited. I LOOOOVVVVEEE the porcupine, and want to see him in many, many MANY new books. We have already discovered that the book is going back for a second rush reprint as it's selling out right across the country - a quick peek at the rankings on Book Manager put A Porcupine in a Pine Tree at #35 on the National Bestseller List - for kids AND adult books combined!

It's lovely to know that I'm not the only one out there with a crush on cutiepie Porky. And on Werner.