The Book Release Party was Quite the Party!

The book release party at Porter Square Books in Cambridge this past Saturday was a joyful success! Thank you so much to everyone who came out on a wintry day. I did some math, and I think that there were more than fifty people who attended! Here are some photos to relive the fun...

The Cambridge Wildlife Puppetry Project came to hand out wildlife trading cards and greet people as they entered the event... and they brought their incredible great horned owl puppet and red-winged blackbird! Their selection of species to display for the day was perfect, as both great horned owls and red-winged blackbirds living in Cambridge inspired poems in Hidden City: Poems of Urban Wildlife.

The great horned owl seemed to like poetry too! It flew in for the beginning of the reading, and perched atop a few different bookshelves. The kids were delighted... and so was I.

The bookstore was packed... they had to keep adding more seats. There were goodie bags stuffed with bookmarks and other book swag treats, activity sheets for the kids, local city wildlife art (check out the wonderful work of Rosemary Mosco), and other fun things. For those who wanted something sweet, there were butterfly cookies.

And, of course, there was poetry. It was such a treat to read and talk about some of the poems from Hidden City in the city that inspired so many of them. In fact, every one of the poems I read was inspired by something within (roughly) a mile of my book release party!

I was signing books for around an hour, which makes my head spin whenever I think about it. It was so lovely and meaningful to chat with people of all ages who were excited about Hidden City. Thank you to everyone who waited in line for your patience and enthusiasm.

Porter Square Books was a dream venue, and the booksellers were as gracious and helpful as always. It felt like the whole store was downright jovial. And, I'm happy to say, they sold out of my book! (And trust me, there were a LOT of copies on hand.) But, never fear! You can still get a signed copy from Porter Square Books. Just click on this link, order a signed copy of Hidden City, and I'll pop on down to the store to sign it for you. Then, they'll mail it right to your door.

And again, thank you, thank you, thank you to my amazing community. You really pulled together to create a splendiferous day. I am very lucky, and very grateful.

Hidden City: Poems of Urban Wildlife is off to a great start. I can't wait to see what happens next!