I did a really fun thing last week: I made my way to the La Mesa Children’s Book Festival.  I had a lot of fun, and I have no idea why it’s taken me a week to blog about it.

I heard about it on Jeff and Jer, which is a local morning radio show.  Jer wrote a children’s book called My Personal Panther, and I really wanted a copy.  So I went, got a signed copy, and also looked around.

There were lots of authors, and 3 different “stage.”  One had entertainment, and I saw the Lakeside Middle School drama club perform songs from Seussical The Musical.  There was also a storytime stage, where different people read from picture books.  The last stage had some sort of illustration thing going on.  I saw some kids drawing though.

It wasn’t as big as I thought, but there was still a lot going on and a lot to see.  I thought there would be a range of books, from picture books to really short novels.  But it was mostly picture books, which is fine because I don’t usually look at picture books.  It was nice to see something I don’t normally look at.

I did end up with a few picture books.  Of course, I got My Personal Panther, which is awesome.  I just loved it!  The illustrations are beautiful, and it just jumps off the page.  And I love the story too.

I also got Kathryn The Grape’s Colorful Adventure, which is very colorful.  And while I’m not someone who normally looks for meaning or messages in books, I think there is a pretty good message in the book.

My last signed book is The Tooth Fairy Meets El Raton Perez.  I haven’t read it yet, but from what I can see, it’s a pretty cool book about how different cultures have similar ideas.

I also have a book called The Monster Princess, which I have yet to read.  I love princesses, but it looks cool, and the colors in the illustrations seem to be slightly darker than what you’d normally see in a picture book.

The last book I got is It’s Kind Of A Funny Story.  It’s a YA book about a guy who ends up in a mental hospital.  The cover is really interesting, and it’s nice to see a book about a guy who has issues.  There’s nothing wrong with a female dealing with mental health issues, of course, but it’s nice to see something different every once in a while.

Overall, it was a really fun trip, and I’m really glad I ended up with a few picture books.  I so rarely read children’s books, and I definitely want to read some more of it in the future.