My First Barnes & Noble Storytime

A few weeks ago, I was invited to join a few local authors at a summer reading kickoff event at the Barnes & Noble in Hamilton, NJ. I gladly accepted!

I was pumped and ready to participate, and then a week before the event, my mom and I got Covid for the very first time and only time (God willing and the creek don't rise). We were sidelined for a full week, so I had to reschedule my storytime. The folks at Hamilton B&N thankfully understood and they rescheduled me for a few weeks later.

Check out the newer flyer they made ahead of the event! So cool.

I was very nervous going into it. I'm relatively new to the game (I've been professionally illustrating for eight years, but if you're under 36, you're still considered an early-career illustrator) and this was my very first solo event, so I thought that people wouldn't be interested in attending. I told my mom that if no one showed up, I'd just read to her in the young readers area!

Imagine my surprise when I walked up to the front door and saw this beautiful welcome sign on the window! I had to get a picture next to it.

I walked inside and I met Shelby, the bookseller who set up the event. She tells me, "you have an audience waiting!" My brain kind of short circuited for a few seconds, and I asked, "...an audience?" She walks me over to the young readers section, and surely there was a solid group of little ones and parents and grandparents waiting for me to start storytime. I was SO touched.

The main picture book that I chose to read was All the Greatness in You, written by Tameka Fryer-Brown and illustrated by me. They also had Recipes for Change: 12 Dishes inspired by a Year in Black History, written by Michael Platt and illustrated by me, in stock for signing. Shelby let me know that there was enough time to read another book, so I chose I Am Enough, written by Grace Byers and illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo.

Storytime was an absolute success. The little kids, and parents and grandparents alike, were locked in to both of the stories.

After I read Greatness and I Am Enough, I was also able to chat a bit with the kids and parents and sign a few copies of Greatness. I think one of the coolest things to hear from the parents was, "I've never met an illustrator before!" It made me feel honored that I was the first illustrator they've ever met in person.

You know what else was very cool? Along with the coloring pages and stickers that I brought with me to storytime, one of Hamilton B&N booksellers made the coolest activity packet for the kids to take home with them. They also had little containers of crayons for the kids to use. You can see them in the background of some of the pictures above. So cool.

I had an absolutely amazing time at storytime today. I'm so grateful for every kid and parent and grandparent that took the time to come out. It was so nice meeting all of you!

I have to give a huge thanks to Shelby Logan-Reese and the folks at the Hamilton, NJ Barnes & Noble! You all made everything run smoothly and I felt so welcomed.

Thanks to my agent Alex Gehringer for setting everything up! You're the best.

Also, thanks to my amazing mom for the moral support. *boops her nose and runs away*

(All pictures are courtesy of Shelby and my mom, by the way.)

Happily,
Alleanna