What a wonderful time Richard and I had in Abilene! We were at the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature (still jeez to the name, but I did learn its acronym is pronounced nickel and not 'encil) to see a wonderful show, and quite a haul of original art from Coretta Scott King Award winners and honors. Curated by (former) executive director Debbie Lillick and (former) exhibits and programming director Sujata Shahane, the exhibit was beautifully presented, each piece accompanied by an informative note and (gross) a QR code that led the viewer to some (interesting) tidbit at TeachingBooks.net. NCCIL is planning to tour the show, although, as a couple of my parenthetical asides above would indicate, it is undergoing some internal tumult, so what will happen when and where is anyone's guess.



Jerry and Gloria Jean Pinkney were the guests of honor at NCCIL's annual fundraising gala, and Jerry gave an affable presentation of his work and history (he used to work in my hometown, Dedham, MA!). Other guests included Nick Clark (whose article about Ashley Bryan's wartime art is in the upcoming May/June issue of the Magazine), Lynda Bird Johnson Robb (whose story-over-lunch about Barbara Bush at Lady Bird's funeral was both sweet and hilarious), and Diane Johnson-Feelings and Nancy Tolson from the University of South Carolina (both of whom I hope to have convinced to contribute to our 2019 special issue commemorating the 50th anniversary of the CSK Awards). Many thanks to Sujata and Debbie and Becky Rawls McDonald for making us feel so welcome and, oh my God, you have no idea, well fed.