Children’s Art Auction at BEA to Benefit Free Speech for Kids

Attendees at BookExpo America will have an opportunity to support the free speech rights of children and young readers when the children’s art auction and reception that formerly benefitted the Association of Booksellers for Children (ABC) is relaunched on Wednesday evening, May 25, as a fundraiser for the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) Fund for Free Speech in Children’s Books.  The event will be held in the Javits Convention Center from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

The ABC auction has long been one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the social calendar of the children’s book industry, attracting booksellers, publishers, authors, illustrators, and other industry professionals.  It is not only an opportunity to buy wonderful art but a chance to socialize with friends from around the country.  Light refreshments, beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks will be served.

This year’s auction is chaired by author Laurie Halse Anderson.  Anderson herself has been a target of censors.  Her novel Speak has been challenged in schools by people who object to the fact that it explores the subject of sexual assault.

More than 130 artists have already donated to the auction.  A preview is available online [http://www.flickr.com/photos/silent-auction/show/]

Tickets for the auction and reception are $89 ($69 for bookseller members of the ABC Children’s Group) and can be purchased here [http://images.bookweb.org/silentauction.php] Tickets may sell out prior to BookExpo.  If not, they can be purchased during a preview of auction artwork in the Crystal Pavilion of the Javits Center on Tuesday, May 24, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Tickets purchased onsite will be $99 ($79 for ABC Children’s Group members).

For further information, contact:  Chris Finan, ABFFE, (917) 509-0340