By: Ed Spicer

Ed Spicer — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:03:04 +0000

Thank you for posting this video! I loved meeting Atinuke and, you are correct, her voice is absolutely mesmerizing. She told stories during her talk and I wish I had thought to arrange to film her talk. As it is, I have 24+ minutes of Atinuke that I had to whittle down to 10 minutes. Among the cut footage is her answer about whether or not she has Canadian roots (no, she has never been to Canada but has always wanted to go). We also spoke about the story in which Auntie Comfort is coming back to Africa and the grandparents are worried that she will no longer be African (and Anna keeps sending text messages to her). Anyway, thanks for sharing this video. I do hope lots of folks listen to her, including publishers and agents and others in the education world. She came all the way to Madison smack dab in the middle of the NCTE conference and neither her publisher nor her agent thought to arrange for her to attend NCTE! Ouch! KT had a dinner at her house and Atinuke attended and the conference organizers had a dinner at a restaurant and I got to sit next to her. She is such a delight! I have many stories! Her video demeanor does not completely show just how funny and spontaneous she can be (although the section about dogs does show some of this quite well). I am one lucky and grateful interviewer. And NONE of this would have happened if not for KT Horning, who sent me an email sharing the fact that what I thought was going to be a Skype presentation, was now an in person presentation. I was not planning to attend. I am so glad I did. Certainly Atinuke is worth the cost of admission all by herself, but I was also able to do another interview with the wonderful Mitali Perkins! Thanks again for posting this, Betsy!

Comments on: Video Sunday: Best fake children’s book title – “There’s a Rainbow in My Basement”

By: Ed Spicer