Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Kevin Henkes Comes to Cambridge Library

To the delight of a packed auditorium, Kevin Henkes, Caldecott Award-winning writer and artist, came to the Cambridge Public Library on Wednesday, March 30.  The Friends of the Cambridge Library provided pizzas (over 28 were eaten!) and bottles of water for the overflow crowd.

While waiting, kids and their grownups talked about favorite Henkes books.  Most mentioned were Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse and Julius, the Baby of the World, but many kids said, “I’ve read them all.”

Among the adults in the crowd were a group of future teachers attending Lesley University who had spent an intensive weekend studying Henkes’ work. “Just call us his groupies,” said one young woman.

On stage, Henkes read from his new book and talked about the creative process. “It’s hard to explain creativity,” he said, noting that often one book sets off a train of ideas that leads to the next.  “Every bit of me goes into every book.” He said that when creating a picture book, the words come first because there are so few of them, so every word must count.

Asked which of his 41 books was his favorite, he responded, “My favorite book is always the next one – because I think it will be perfect.”

There are always great things happening at the library!  For more information on how you can get involved with the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library, click here.




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