On September 30, Eden and I went to Minneapolis to hear Kate DiCamillo speak. She's a children's author who has written books like Because of Winn Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, and The Beatrice Prophecy (and lots of others). She is definitely one of our favorites! She was a great speaker, mostly interacting with questions from the kids in the audience. We got three books signed by her, and Eden took the opportunity to hand her an envelope which contained a letter and one of Eden's stories.
While we were in Minneapolis we had some fantastic wood-fired pizza at Punch Pizza, and then we went on to Mankato to spend some time with Maud Hart Lovelace, another one of our favorite authors. We stopped at Mom and Pops for ice cream that night, and we took breakfast up to the Big Hill and ate it there the next morning. While we were there we found a wallet that belong to a 14 year old named Kale. We took it to Front Street and turned it in to the police, which we felt was exactly what Betsy and Tacy would have done. Then we went to see the houses. It was a Sunday, so we knew they wouldn't be open, but we still wanted to stop by. Just as we got there, we met a group of older folks who had booked a private tour and they invited us to join them. We did and had a great time! It turns out they were siblings who grew up in Mankato but have since scattered, and they were having a family reunion. They were super sweet. We also walked to Lincoln Park, as is traditional. On this trip we discovered (through the tour) that Jab (Cab) was one of the boys who set off the cannon in Lincoln Park! Such a Cab thing to do. We thought this sounded like the real-life equivalent of putting tar on the high school roof.
Then, several weeks later, Eden got a postcard from Kate DiCamillo! Wow! Ms. DiCamillo read her story and liked it!! Here it is:
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| The postcard says, "Dear Eden, Thank you for believing in the power of stories. I hope you will keep reading. Your friend. P.S. Thank you for the beautiful letter. You are a true writer. I do not say that lightly. You are going to produce amazing books." |
