“Are there any questions?” I asked. It was my second Book Fair reading of the day. The Book Fair folks had planned an amazing event; the room was packed with kids who had listened fairly attentively. Friends were there and it was great to look out and see not only sweet little faces but the faces of friends who had come from all over to hear my ten minute program. I pointed to a little boy across the room. “Yes?”

“When is this going to be over?” he asked.

W.C. Fields, where are you when we need you? Talk about taking the wind out of an author’s sails. I reminded the little tyke that there was still The Tushy Book to hear about and a visit with a dog who was blind and deaf but who was very sweet. Maybe if faces weren’t his thing, tushies and dogs would be.

It’s been a heady couple of weeks traveling to Connecticut to talk about I Love Jewish Faces and then being a part of Book Fair here, and then traveling to Ann Arbor for readings to two Sunday School classes and then a local author event out there as well. The response to the book has been so gratifying and the kids I read to in Ann Arbor really got the book’s message. They picked up on the image of a mom and her daughter adopted from China which led to a short conversation about how families are formed. Each event I felt a bit more confident, adding some elements to my program, taking away others.

The challenge remains getting the word out, hoping the book reaches the audience I want it to (basically every Jewish family in America, not to mention schools, libraries, and houses of worship!) And more than that I hope its message begins to broaden awareness that Jewish faces come in all colors, from all places and races.