Book Conference Review

I never win anything. That has been my fate all my life. I faithfully buy a lottery ticket on Saturday, but alas, I am still working.

So when Jamie told me that I won the trip to the Northwest Wisconsin's Children's Book Conference in Cable, WI, I thought my luck had changed. I drove up to Cable last Thursday morning. The weather was beautiful, and the leaves were changing colors. It is quite a hike to Cable, five hours to be exact. They say that we live in the "sticks" in NE Wisconsin. This trip gave a whole new meaning to the word "sticks!"Not having a children's program at the Oconto Falls Library, I felt that I had much to learn.

I attended the presentation from CCBC for 2008 titles. Great as always. I also attended Storytelling 101 by Stuart Stotts. His workshop was on telling a story telling instead of reading, using expression, gestures, and voice to add character to your story. He is also presenting this workshop at WLA this month. The second workshop was Story Time Techniques by Susan Santner. She presented a DVD that she developed for story time. She received a grant at UW Madison to develop this dvd on techniques. She will be presenting this workshop at WLA. She also said that all libraries will be receiving the dvd soon (hopefully by Children's Book Week). So, I already attended 3 WLA workshops! The final workshop was called Where No Reader Has Gone Before.

It is about Science and Science Fiction in Middle Grades and Teens. This couple from my old stomping grounds of Plymouth MN also told about the history of science fiction. They gave lists of recommended science fiction for our libraries. Even though you may think that you are not a science fiction reader, you would be surprised at how many that you may have already read.

So I can't say any more that I have never won anything in my life, but the lottery would have been nice.

~ Joan Denis