Auction of One-of-a-Kind Artwork to Benefit ABFFE

All BookExpo America [1] attendees are invited to the ABC Children’s Group Silent Auction and Reception [2] to benefit the new ABFFE Fund for Free Speech in Children’s Books. Tickets for the event, to be held on Wednesday evening, May 25, at the Javits Convention Center, are on sale now.

© Elisa Kleven, from The Paper Princess Flies Again.

The auction will feature more than 100 artworks from beloved children’s illustrators. Robin Preiss Glasser, Diane deGroat, Barbara McClintock, Jerry Pinkney, Chris Raschka, Lane Smith, Mo Willems, and Ed Young are just a few of the well-known names contributing art for this year’s auction. The event’s honorary chair is Laurie Halse Anderson, whose bestselling novel Speak has been the target of censorship attempts in schools and libraries around the country.

A preview of this year’s Silent Auction artwork is available online through Flickr and is accessible here [3]. Ticket prices for the Silent Auction and Reception are $69 for bookseller members of the ABC Children’s Group at ABA and $89 for all others. Buy your tickets here. [2]

Profits from the auction will support the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression [4]’s efforts to fight censorship of children’s books through education, advocacy, and participation in legal cases around the country.

All BEA registrants will be able to preview select pieces of Silent Auction artwork on Tuesday, May 24, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., in the Javits Convention Center’s Crystal Palace.

The Silent Auction and Reception will be held from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on May 25 in Rooms 1E09/10/11 of the Javits Convention Center. Light refreshments, beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages will be served.

If the event is not sold out prior to BEA, tickets will be sold during the preview and at the entrance to the reception on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets purchased on site will cost $79 for ABC Group members and $99 for all others.

Raffle tickets for chances to win a few special pieces of artwork will be sold at Tuesday’s preview and at the Silent Auction reception.