Festival of Books

i have been wanting to go to the festival of books at ucla for years and i finally got the chance this year. we joined the verwys family for a day of books and entertainment. this year's theme was the very hungry caterpillar, one of ely's favs! eric carle (the author) was there doing a book signing and reading, unfortunately we didn't get to do either one! the line for the signing was so long and the reading was too late, but we still enjoyed the festival.

there were alot of booths with some wonderful kids books. i wasn't allowed to buy any. apparently i have too many books, which i disagree with. you can never have too many books! there was a also a kid's stage with different kinds of entertainment.

one of our favorite books is how i became a pirate. it's a wonderful book that we read at least once every week. the illustrator is david shannon and he was at the festival. he read another book that he illustrated and then he and the audience "created" a toy. he took suggestions from the kids in the audience and made an...interesting picture. i couldn't get a good picture of it though.

preston, ely and malachi watching david shannon

david shannon

there was a huge wall that housed where eric carle was signing with the question "what book are you reading?" people wrote in marker what book they are currently reading. ely signed her name and then what book she is reading.

signing her name to the book wall

writing what book she's reading. she chose the bible

"bible" can you see it?