This past weekend was the Tucson Festival of Books. It was the third one since it began and each year it has gotten bigger and bigger. I heard people saying that over 100,000 people were expected to visit the festival over the weekend. Staggering numbers. Most of my time was spent listening to various panels and presentations and spending time at the SCBWI booth. What an wonderful weekend it was. I must admit that I was somewhat star struck when being in the presence of three (yes 3) Caldecott winners.  

E.B. Lewis, David Wiesner, Eric Rohman and Chris Gall  

On Saturday, I watched in awe as E.B. Lewis, David Wiesner and Eric Rohmann bantered with Chris Gall, who moderated the panel, about their work, inspirations and passion. Each one of these incredible artists shared wonderful pearls of wisdom with the audience about what drives them. Eric Rohman described himself as someone "who sits alone in his room trying to reach as many people as he can." E.B. Lewis, who uses the term "Artistrator" instead of illustrator, at one point turned to the audience and said, "I don't know about you guys but I'm having fun here." What became obvious is that the three of them, all Caldecott winner...