Over two months have passed since my last post and I apologize. I finally had arthroscopic surgery on my right knee, am still having PT and, as two friends who know my lack of patience separately told me, I need a big dose of it for what will be a long slog before my legs do what I want them to.Despite difficulty walking, I decided to follow long-made plans to attend, altho' briefly, the American Library Assoc. conference in Washington, DC. I crashed in friend Wendie Old's room Sunday night after hearing Jerry Pinkney give a witty and wonderful thank you speech when he received a Caldecott Medal for The Lion and the Mouse. A detailed article on his work is here or google his name. I met Jerry and his wife, Gloria, when I chauffeured them to and from hotel at a book festival about ten years ago. They are a delightful couple and he much deserves this prestigious award to place with his many other well-deserved honors.The Caldecott/Newbery dinner was truly gourmet. One example: Dessert was layered chocolate cake, caramel, and chocolate mousse, with dark chocolate on top and a strawberry sitting on whipped cream to the side. The menu, folded into multiple parts, used illustrations from Pinkney's book — a magnificent wordless picture book (except for animal sounds) of Aesop's fable and takes place in Kenya/Tanzania. He said he spent hours looking in the bathroom mirror, trying to mimic expressions animals would use to "say" something. I am attaching a photo of my menu taken with cell camera to give you an idea but it doesn't really do the art work justice.Monday the line to purchase and have him sign The Lion and the Mouse was very, verrry long and required more than I could (literally!) stand, so I ordered the book as soon as I got home to go with my copy of Jerry's Aesop's Fables. If you love wild animals, love Africa, and love beautiful illustrations in children's books, you too will want a copy. It is truly a winner!If you want to know more about the conference, Wendie tells all at her blog.