It’s time for another of my favorite comics events: the
Maine Comics Arts Fest, or MeCAF for short!

I’m headed up to Portland for this fun one-day show, taking place at the Ocean Gateway, right on the water and near Portland’s downtown shopping district. Since SMILE just won the Maine Student Book Award, I’m really excited to meet the kids, teachers, and librarians who voted for me! Here are the event details:

Programming will be held on the first floor of the main building. It is accessible from both the walkway and a flight of stairs from the main exhibit room.

And for the rest of the day, I’ll be stationed at my table on the show floor–look for my big SMILE banner! I’ll have copies of SMILE in both hardcover and softcover; SMILE T-shirts, DRAMA bookmarks, and some original art! Joining me at the table will be Dave and John, who just released their superfun graphic novel, TEEN BOAT! All three of us look forward to seeing you there!

Been a busy few weeks here at the Comics Bakery headquarters! April 28-29 we had MoCCA, right here in NYC, and I spent some time signing and wandering around at the show.

A few days later I boarded a plane for Vermont, where I was giving an endnote speech at the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Conference. The DCF Award is given out every year to a book voted on by 4th-8th graders in Vermont. I was invited to speak because Smile was one of 30 nominees…and shortly before the conference, I found out that it WON!

So, I was speaking as the winner of the DCF Award, which was especially exciting! The morning keynote speech was by amazing writer and Ambassador For Children’s Literature, Jon Scieszka, who is basically a legend in hilarious speech-giving. Following that up was a challenge, but I had a great time talking to the 150 teachers and librarians there about comics, and why I love them. I’ll be going back to Vermont in less than a month, to accept the award itself and meet the kids who voted for me. So thanks, Vermont!

From there, I flew straight to Toronto (and by ’straight,’ I mean by way of a triangular flight pattern that had me laying over in Philadelphia). That’s where TCAF is!

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is easily one of my favorite comics-related events anywhere. This year was no exception. I had a fantastic weekend! Highlights include speaking on a panel with Alison Bechdel (!), Michel Rabagliati (!) and both Holm siblings (!!) about depicting childhood in comics…hanging out with some of my very favorite comics-making friends…the Comics Quickfire! Challenges…and of course, meeting a huge number of my wonderful readers and fans!

I was delighted to see so many new faces at TCAF. OwlKids Magazine took out some advertisements, and the local Toronto papers ran ads too, and this year’s programming was extremely kid friendly…so, I got to meet a lot of parents and kids who were checking out the show for the first time! I’d like to think it’s a great introduction to the wonderful world of indie and self-published comics, as well as the books especially for kids that me and many of my friends create!

You can read more about TCAF and see tons more photos in Dave’s write-up of the Comics Quickfire! Challenge, over on his website.

Next up: the Maine Comics Arts Festival, May 20 in Portland, ME! I’ll write up a separate post about that, soon…

The galleys, or Advance Reader Copies, of DRAMA have arrived!! This means that reviewers, booksellers, and some librarians will soon get to read my new book. Well, this version anyway–the first 16 pages are in color, but the rest of the galley is in black and white. The final, print version will be in full color, of course!

It’s not for sale until September, but I made a little video showing it off. I’m so excited, it looks GREAT. Enjoy!

***Pre-order DRAMA

***Add DRAMA to your Goodreads shelf

***Raina’s Facebook Page

This coming weekend I’m heading up to Toronto for one of my very favorite comic events, the Toronto Comics Art Festival! (Or TCAF, for short.) TCAF is FREE to attend, and draws one of the best crowds (of both cartoonists and attendees) in all of North America.

Where to find me! Click the image to see it LARGE.

I’ll be at TABLE 265 with Dave Roman and John Green, who are debuting their graphic novel TEEN BOAT! at TCAF! Table 265 is on the second floor of the library, in the OwlKids Exhibitor Area–we’ll be near Jenni and Matt Holm (Babymouse), Andy Runton (Owly), Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), and Kean Soo (Jellaby), which is awesome. We’re right by the upstairs bathroom, and on the way into the OwlKids panel space. We’re at the end of the row, but you should be able to find us! Look for the TEEN BOAT! banner! I’ll have some copies of Smile, as well as Smile T-shirts and some art for sale! And, I’ll have Drama bookmarks!!

If you’re looking for me, I will be at the table signing and sketching for most of the show, with the exception of the following fine programs!

Saturday, May 5

1:00pm-1:45pm: Kids Comics Quickfire!
Location: Toronto Reference Library, 2nd Floor:
Appel Salon, Novella Room
Part drawing jam, part fast-paced game show! Volunteers from the audience are paired off with (or against) professional cartoonists in a series of fun-filled drawing challenges! Featuring Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy),Raina Telgemeier (SMILE), John Green (Teen Boat) and Bob Flynn (Heeby Jeeby Comix).

1:45 – 3:00 – Comics Childhoods
Location: The Pilot Tavern, 22 Cumberland Street
What was your childhood like? Four cartoonists discuss their depictions of their own childhoods in comics. Why does childhood have strong pull on cartoonists’ stories? And what’s involved with visually recreating youth? With Alison Bechdel, Jenni Holm, Michel Rabagliati, and Raina Telgemeier. Moderator: Robin Brenner

Sunday, May 6
12:45 – 1:30 – Turn Your Life Into A Comic!
Location: Toronto Reference Library, 2nd Floor:
Appel Salon, Novella Room
The inspiration for Raina Telgemeier’s book, Smile, comes from her own life as an eleven-year old girl who injures her two front teeth. Are you ready to tell your life story in comics? Get tips on how to pick ideas from your own life to create your own autobiographical comics.

2:45pm-3:30pm: Spotlight: Explorer The Mystery Boxes
Location: Toronto Reference Library, 2nd Floor:
Appel Salon, Novella Room
Join the creators of Explorer: The Mystery Boxes: Kazu Kibuishi (Amulet), Jason Caffoe (Flight), Stuart Livingston, Raina Telgemeier (Smile), and Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), as they read their stories live on stage, with a little help from the audience!

Here’s a map of all the event locations, and there should be one in your printed program, as well. Some of the programs will be very popular, so try and get there a few minutes early!

There are also tons of panels I’m not on, but that are still connected to what I do! Please check out the programming guide for panels and workshops given by my Scholastic editors David and Cassandra, and featuring lots of other great kids’ cartoonists. I can hardly believe it’s all being squeezed into two days. See you in the great white north!

Here’s a new piece of art I created, to promote the Kids Read Comics celebration in Ann Arbor, MI, this July! It’s a free event, so I hope you’ll consider joining me there this summer! It was a lot of fun drawing downtown Ann Arbor for this piece–I’ve only been there once, but it is a terrific town.

If you’d like to download a print-ready version of the poster, click here!

Special thanks to Gale Williams for helping me flat the colors! (She’ll be a guest at the festival, too!)

Once again, it’s time for the MoCCA Art Festival!
April 28-29
Lexington Ave Armory
68 Lexington Avenue (between 25th & 26th Streets)
NYC

MoCCA holds a very special place in my heart. It was the first comic convention I ever exhibited at, 10 years ago, where I fell in love with minicomics and the small press comics scene as a whole. The show has long been a favorite of mine, and although I won’t have a table there this year, you can find me in a few places:

Saturday, April 28:
I’ll be sketching at the MoCCA Fest Sketch Table (near the front of the exhibition hall) from 1 – 2 PM!

Sunday, April 29:
PANEL, Graphic Novels for Young Adults
11:15am
Panel room A
The New York Public Library’s Betsy Bird talks to some of the brightest talents–Raina Telgemeier, Kevin Pyle, MK Reed, Derek Kirk Kim–in one of comics’ fastest growing demographics. ***I MIGHT have a super-special, advance copy of DRAMA to give away at this event…!

SIGNING, Abrams Comic Arts table
12:15pm-1:15pm
I’ll be signing EXPLORER: THE MYSTERY BOXES at the Abrams booth! Check the program for table number!

And of course, the weekend kicks off on Friday evening with the annual
DRINK AND DRAW LIKE A LADY, which I did the poster for this year:

(Colored by Lucy Knisley!)

DDLL is a chance for all women who are enthusiastic about comics to get together, have a drink, draw some doodles, and have a good time. The event is FREE, and open to all comics artists, writers, editors, librarians, educators, students, designers, letterers, booksellers, and reviewers, but it’s ladies only! Here are the details:

Drink and Draw Like A Lady
Friday, April 27
7 PM
192 Books
192 Tenth Avenue (at 21st Street)
NYC
We have a Facebook invite page, if you’d like to RSVP! Or, just show up, bring minicomics and business cards to trade, and of course, bring your ladyfriends!

Just a few days following MoCCA, I’ll be exhibiting at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, so look for information about that, soon!

I spent Wednesday talking with middle school girls (and workshopping with the fifth graders) at a school near Cleveland. It was great! The kids were talented and very inspiring. Everyone was wearing purple to celebrate a school administrator who’d had a housefire recently (this lady loves purple, you should see her office!)–so the pictures turned out especially fun! Here are some of the students with their freshly-signed copies of Smile.

Thanks to everyone who took part; I had a great time!

Over the weekend, I learned that Smile had won the 2011-2012 Maine Student Book Award! I don’t even think I was aware it was nominated–sometimes I find out about these things from my publisher, and sometimes I don’t. However, about a week ago, I received a bunch of letters from students in Maine, telling me they had all voted for me and were hoping I would win. Cut to a few days later, and I found out that I did!

From the MSBA website:

“The Maine Student Book Award is designed to expand literary horizons of students in grades 4-8 by encouraging them to read, evaluate, and enjoy a selection of new books and to choose a statewide favorite by written ballot each spring.”

4,077 kids voted, and Smile took it home with 746 votes. Thanks so much to everyone who voted, as well as the Maine Library Association, Maine Association of School Libraries, and Maine Reading Association.

***

To celebrate, I’ve added a new event to my calendar: the Maine Comics Arts Festival, happening on Sunday, May 20 in Portland, ME! I was there 2 years ago and it is a lovely, relaxed, family-friendly event. 12-and-under attendees are FREE, so I’m hoping I’ll get to meet some of the students who voted for me, and the librarians and teachers who encouraged them to read and nominate in the first place. Dave Roman and John Green will be tabling with me, in support of their brand-new Teen Boat! graphic novel–perfect for an event that takes place right on the water, in one of the U.S.’s cutest port towns.

Nope, it’s not an April Fool’s joke. I’m doing a reading and signing this Sunday, April 1, at The Community Bookstore in Park Slope, Brooklyn starting at 11 AM. Myself and several other artists from the NURSERY RHYME COMICS anthology will be there for storytime shenanigans! Join us!