Anyway, after the Smackdown, I went to have lunch with 2,000+ of my closest friends. We had some kind of grilled chicken salad and celebrated the with the winners of the Siddie Joe Johnson and Texas Bluebonnet awards. As always, seeing the student representatives and hearing their presentation of the Texas Bluebonnet Award are some of the most fun parts of the conference. After all, promoting good books for kids to read is one of the things we like to do best! Having them there reminds us why we spend time and effort promoting these books every year. The winning author, Lucy Nolan, told some great stories about the dogs she’s had in her life and how they have influenced her writing. Her book Down Girl and Sit: On the Road was a definite kid favorite, earning 19,000+ votes.