Oliver Jeffers at the Writers and Readers Festival 12th May 2012

First page of my freshly signed copy of The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers did a fantastic job of tailoring his presentation to suit the audience, which was full of adorable, wide-eyed children. He was very entertaining and spoke with refreshing candor about his work and about making picture books. From the drawing demonstrations to the making of paper planes, every minute was engaging.
I'm looking forward to his next book, This Moose Belongs to Me, which he laughingly described as "a thinly veiled platform for my political rantings." Love it.

Afterwards at the Book Signing
Em and I stood patiently in line debating which books we should get signed... we had all of them with us but it seemed rude to present him with a pile! I decided on The Heart and the Bottle (above) and The Great Paper Caper.

Oliver Jeffers: Can I make these out to someone?
Me (star-struck): Hi. Um. Nah, that's okay, thanks.
Oliver Jeffers: Will probably be worth a bit more on eBay that way, aye?
Me (in my head): Doh, oh no! That wasn't what I meant! Ah!
Me (out loud): No, they absolutely won't be going anywhere! I promise.

It's hard meeting your heroes. He was so cool. And I was so not.
Writers and Readers Festival