Inspire - Toronto International Book Fair

We just got back from two jam packed days at Toronto's Inspire book fair.  I'm exhausted!  I was fortunate enough to win tickets to the show from their booth at Toronto's Word on the Street festival back in September.  Word on the Street is amazing and so much fun but Inspire is a book festival on a whole other level.  First off Inspire was held indoors at the Metro Toronto Convention centre.  We walk in and my husband commented that he wished he'd brought slippers because much of the area was carpeted and decorated in a home and comfort but classy way.  All the areas were so inviting.  It looked awesome!  There were so many amazing authors in attendance.  There were a few highlights for my family.  First up I ran to the washroom and my son waited outside for me.  When I came out he said Margaret Atwood was in there and she said hi to him on the way in.  First off, I love that my 12 son knows who Margaret Atwood is and what she looks like.  While he was recounting the story out she came and she stopped by to speak with us for a moment before going on to do her presentation.  I had met Margaret Atwood a few years ago and I absolutely love her.  She is the absolute coolest 75 year old (happy birthday to her this Tuesday!).  Next up my oldest son getting an autograph and to shake hands with Chris Hadfield.  Another super cool Canadian!  There were so many rock star Canadian authors there - that's probably because Canada has so many great authors!  But the Inspire festival also had some huge American children's authors as well.  We didn't get to meet Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) but we snatched up an autographed copy of his latest book from Chapters.  We did get to meet Dav Pilkey!!  He gave an awesome talk to a group of young kids and we got an autograph and awesome photo.  He was in the Scholastic booth doing more autographs later on and he drew a hilarious evil toilet character from his books for display.  My son bravely asked if he could buy it and Dav generously personalized it for him and gave it to him (for free!).  That's going to look awesome on his bedroom wall.  We ended the day having a chat with Eric Walters - rock star!  It was a fantastic weekend and I hope such a success that this becomes an annual event.  Well done to everyone that had a hand in making it happen.  It was inspiring!!