Tickets on Sale for Children’s Art Auction at BEA

Tickets are on sale now for one of the marquee events at BookExpo America — the Children’s Art Auction and Reception, sponsored by the ABC Children’s Group at the American Booksellers Association. Founded by the Association of Booksellers for Children, the silent auction features original artwork by the leading artists and illustrators working in children’s publishing today. Proceeds support the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) and its defense of the free speech rights of young readers.

Elisha Cooper's "Homer" (Homer, Greenwillow Books, May 2012) is one of this year's auction pieces. Watch for an online preview of more auction art coming soon.

The auction will be held on Wednesday, June 6, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in a light and airy section at the end of the South Concourse (Level 2) at New York’s Javits Convention Center.

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

While most of the art will be sold in the silent auction, this year’s event will also feature a live auction of a number of unusual pieces. Author Walter Dean Myers, the honorary chair, will share the auctioneering duties with his son, Christopher, who has illustrated many of his father’s books.

Myers’ own work has been a frequent target of censors. One of his early titles, The Dragon Takes a Wife, was taken out of a library in the Deep South because the fairy was black.

Tickets for the auction and reception are $95 ($75 for bookseller members of the ABC Children’s Group) and can be purchased here. (A ticket to the auction is included in ABC Children’s Institute registration, open exclusively to ABA member booksellers; learn more and register for the Institute here.)

Tickets are limited and may sell out prior to BookExpo. If not, they can be purchased at the event or during a preview of auction artwork in the South Concourse on June 6. Tickets purchased onsite will be $105 ($85 for ABC Children’s Group members).

An online preview of the auction art will be announced soon. The art will also be on preview at the auction site at the Javits Center on June 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.