If you couldn’t already tell from reading my stuff, Dav Pilkey is a hero of mine! Whenever I see or read any of his books it’s a bolt of energy to my brain & hand, reminding me why I started drawing in the first place: Comics are fun & easy to make!
Since he & Raina share a publisher, I was lucky enough to spend time with Dav at the Decatur Book Festival this past weekend! And holy smokes, what a totally down to earth, awesome guy! Dav and his wife, Sayuri, are so supportive and encouraging! He even read Teen Boat in preparation for meeting me. How unbelievably cool is that?
After a 6 year hiatus, Dav has a brand new Captain Underpants book called The Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers that is twice the size and three times the extra crunchy fun of the usually not-hardcover chapter books. And recently he’s produced two full-length graphic novels, Super Diaper Baby 2 and Ook & Gluk: Kung-Fu Cavemen From the Future, which I’ve decided is possibly one of my all time favorite books ever. The guy is on a serious roll and I can’t wait to read all the great stuff on the horizon.
I also love all the cool and insightful videos Dav produces like this one:
Other highlights of the Decatur Book Festival…
The town itself is wonderful. The food doubly so!
Hanging out with Origami Yoda author Tom Angleberger, and Sock Monkey author Cece Bell. This was the first time I ever got to see Tom give a presentation for a live audience and it was simply awe inspiring. The amount of energy and humor he brought to the stage whipped the crowd (myself included) into a frenzy!
Visiting Little Shop of Stories. An all around amazing store that gets you excited about the magic of books the minute you step in. The employees were all wonderful and were working with kids on elaborate presentations and performances. Some of the cashiers were even wearing Fake Mustaches, which I assumed was in honor of Tom Angleberger’s hilarious FAKE MUSTACHE book!
Seeing the first copies of DRAMA out on the wild! And of course, the line up of kids excited to get Raina to sign their copies.
