Saturday afternoon we were overrun with mostly little girls in pink. They had come to Shelburne Town Hall to meet Victoria Kann, creator of the wildly popular Pinkalicious series. Victoria was on tour for her new book, Emeraldalicious. The kids were ready and so were we.
Every time a prolific author comes to visit and we move off site, I’m struck by how many titles one person can write. These three tables were a riot of colors in support of the Pinkalicious franchise. We had I Can Read books, picture books, activity books, sticker books, paper dolls, and more. All the children seemed to hover over the right kind of book for themselves. Usually, at these events we don’t sell a lot of the early readers, but we sure did Saturday. The kids were so excited and honestly, what’s cuter than scores of little kids in pink with wands and sparkles?
Victoria was a consummate presenter. She had the kid’s attention from the moment she stepped up to the microphone. She asked if the kids knew what pink was and all the kids shouted YES. Then she asked if they knew what emerald was, and there was silence. Finally, one kid said, “Um, no.” The moment she started to read Emeraldalicious, every little child was rapt and silent. I have never seen a quieter, more attentive crowd for a reading. Even the smallest fans just listened. It was glorious. One moment that I particularly loved was when Victoria lost her place and admitted to occasionally getting nervous during readings. I think it’s really great for kids to see that even authors can get nervous.
The signing line was long and Victoria needed no help managing her fans. Usually, authors like to have someone helping with the line, but Victoria deftly handled the crush of a little kids and families. An hour after the signing began, the last, very patient family left and Victoria signed overstock as fast as anyone I’ve ever seen.
We have a tradition that authors get to pick a book for themselves after events. Victoria refused. She said, “You’re an indie bookstore. You need to save all you can.” She choose a card instead. Lovely.
