I’m back from a fabulous time in North Carolina for Heroes Con (Friendly Southerners! Hot weather! The best cornbread I’ve ever had!) and am now gearing up for this coming weekend’s Kids Read Comics event in Dearborn, Michigan.

KRC is a free event taking place at the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, June 12 and 13. The weekend will feature hands-on workshops, panels, and presentations for kids, families, and educators. You can see the programming schedule here; I’m involved in the following events:

Panel Discussion – Drawing From Life
Sat, June 12, 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Not every comic tells a made up story about costumed adventurers, fantasy princesses or rodents dressed in human clothes. There are many engaging comics memoirs, histories, biographies and more that explore real people and real events. Join Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Ryan Estrada, Jim Ottaviani, and Stephanie Mannheim as they talk with moderator Paul Storrie about how they’ve brought real life to life in comics form. All Ages.

Demo – Cartooning Styles
Sun, June 13, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Join cartoonists Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier for a humorous interactive presentation about art styles, featuring images of popular cartoon characters like Sponge Bob Squarepants and Mickey Mouse, and how different artists interpret them. Explore character design, followed by an interactive drawing demo, in which you, the audience, will instruct Raina in creating characters and images! All Ages.

Live Reading – Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman
Sun, June 13, 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman will read (and perform) chapters from their all-ages graphic novels as the illustrated panels are projected onto a large screen for all to see. They’ll also ask for some volunteers from the audience to play some of the characters. All Ages.

As I said, this event is totally free and open to the public, so you’ve got no excuse not to come. Bring the family! See you there!