At the Luminarias Restaurant for the CLCSC Fall Gala.
A week ago I attended the gala awards ceremony of the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California, held at Luminarias Restaurant in Monterey Park in East Los Angeles. Many members of our Book Chat Thursday group were there helping to celebrate excellence in children's literature.
Book Chat Thursday group: Ann Whitford Paul, Linda Guthrie, Dana Middleton, Colleen Paeff , Caroline Arnold
The event began with a delicious breakfast buffet and fund raising auction followed by the presentation of awards. Poet Mason Granger was an excellent Master of Ceremonies for the program. Awards were presented to Marla Frazee for In Every Life; Sally J. Pla for The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn; Tracy Badua for The Takeout; Abdi Nazemian for Only This Beautiful Moment; Dan Santat for a Distinguished Body of Work; to Stephanie Moran and Muammar Reed of MiJa Books for Distinguished Service in the Field of Children’s Literature; and to Olivia Bates who received the Caroline Gill Award for Exceptional Volunteer Service. After short introductions by members of the award committee, each of the winners gave engaging talks as they accepted the award. The morning ended with a book signing by the winners of the awards.
Book Signing. Dan Santat, Marla Frazee and other awardees.
I attend this event almost every year and enjoy the opportunity to see teachers and librarians and meet with other authors. I am always impressed by the talent and breadth of the children’s literature community in Southern California.
Colleen, Dana and Me
Many thanks to Dana Middleton for the photos..