Children's authors are so much more accessible than rock stars

I must confess. I have not read Spaceheadz yet. But I plan to as soon I finish writing this. I went to Hicklebee's today to see Jon Scieszka, the author of Spaceheadz, as well as other fine works such as The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, Robot Zot, and The Time Warp Trio series. Mr. Scieszka also served as the nation's first Ambassador for Young People's Literature and is the driving force behind the Guys Read project. He is also responsible for the The Exquisite Corpse project, of which I wrote a few months ago on this very blog.

Mr. Scieszka paid a visit to Hicklebee's to promote the second book in the Spaceheadz series. The Earth has been invaded by three aliens who have disguised themselves as a fifth grade boy, a fifth grade girl, and a fifth grade class hamster. Everything the aliens know about Earth, they learned from watching TV advertisements. They've come to Earth seeking Charmin, a material which is strong and soft and pleases large bears. Mr. Scieszka brought along his daughter, Casey, who is herself a writer, and her illustrator friend Steven Weinberg. They also have a book they are promoting called To Timbuktu: Nine Countries, Two People and One True Story, which is a book for teens. Mr. Scieszka was very funny and had a terrific audience of elementary school aged kids who were expert spaceheadz. Casey and Steven also run the Spaceheadz website where kids can become SPHDZ and save the world.

Hicklebee's was a great place to see Jon Scieszka, world class author. It's a small store and I thought it would be packed to the gills but the crowd was not that large. I didn't have to wait long to get my books signed (come visit them in the library on Monday!) and I got to chat a bit and have my picture taken with the authors (which will be added to my author wall).

Last time I had a rock star sign a record for me, I had to stand in line for 6 hours, I could only get one thing signed and was not allowed to take pictures and there was no chatting. Children's authors are my new rock stars.