Wow, it was such a pleasure to be in Portlandia last weekend for the Portland Book Festival, an incredible one-day event (Saturday, November 9, 2019) put on by Literary Arts. I had the great honour of being the opening act at the Oregon Historical Society Kids’ Stage, giving a reading of Great Job, Mom! and Great Job, Dad! and talking about my fibre art. Here I am just before taking the stage with venue host Emily Arrow, a musician and kidlit author in her own right.

Of course, I always have to bring along fuzzy friends!

I warmed up the Kids’ Stage for the wonderful Carson Ellis:

After my presentation, I met up with fans Emi and her son Jin, who live in Portland and brought me an AMAAAAZING gift! If you cane believe it, Emi and Jin were in Japan, where art from the Bologna Children’s Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition was touring. My art was an Official Selection for the 2019 show, and Emi brought back a copy of the Japanese catalogue for me! Thanks so much, Emi!

Later in the day, I joined a panel at the Portland Parks Foundation Tent. The panel, entitled “Words & Pictures: Making Children’s Literature,” featured yours truly, Catherine Lazar Odell, and Toni Yuly, and was moderated by Jennifer Abel Kovitz. I always love talking books, and it was amazing to join such an esteemed panel.

I also had the chance to take in some other panels, like this one entitled “Star-Crossed: Love & Friendship” featuring Faith Erin Hicks, Sabina Khan, and Abdi Nazemian.

The really wonderful thing about going to the Portland Book Fest was that my family came with me! In our down time, we explored Powell’s Books, which bills itself as the world’s biggest independent bookstore. No kidding! You can’t tell from this photo, but the store takes up an entire city block and is several stories high!

I attended a little event for authors in the evening, hosted by Amanda Bullock of Literary Arts (with the mic), and got the chance to meet book creators in all genres.

Sunday was free for me and my family to enjoy. We started the day off by attending a get-together over brunch at the home of comic-book creator Aron Nels Steinke, best know for his Mr. Wolf’s Class series of graphic novels. Aron and I were on the exact same fall book circuit — we did a presentation together at the Vancouver Writers Festival and also both attended the Seattle Children’s Book Festival. Here’s the comic genius himself showing me how he inks his drawings.

I also got to meet a personal kidlit hero of mine at the brunch — Raina Telgemeier, who needs no introduction. It seemed gauche to take ask to take a picture with her, so instead, you get a picture of me as a goatlike creature snapped during the family’s afternoon ambling along Belmont Street.

A trip to Portland with kids wouldn’t be complete without a trip to OMSI – the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. A great museum!

I also received a wonderful invitation to visit the Portland Art & Learning Studio, a 10,000 square foot studio for artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Gallery Director, Daniel Rolnik, invited me to tour the facilities, meet some of the artists, and, of course, see some of the incredible art — some of which is now much sought-after by collectors!

Finally, we ended the extended weekend with a trip to the Portland Japanese Garden. It was serene and majestic. Then it was back on the train for our journey back to Vancouver. Thanks, Portland, for showing us such an unforgettable time!