Author Mo Willems signing at BEA, pictured with his editor Tracy Keevan

The longest line for a kids book author signing at BEA (although it did not beat the two-hour wait to gaze upon the latest internet sensation Tartar Sauce, aka Grumpy Cat) was for Mo Willems signing his two spring titles, the 19th Elephant and Piggy book, A Big Guy Took My Ball! (Disney/Hyperion) and  That Is Not a Good Idea!, (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray).

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Mo Willems’ award-winning Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, Disney published It’s a Busload of Pigeon Books!, a boxed set of three classic Pigeon titles with a smaller trim size and featuring an original poster illustrated by Willems.

Also, Don’t Pigeonhole Me!, (Disney Editions), available on June 18, gives adults a rare glimpse at Willems’ early self-published Pigeon illustrations, along with two decades’ worth of cartoons and sketches.

The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, will be unveiling their newest exhibition Seriously Silly: A Decade of Art and Whimsy by Mo Willems on Saturday June 22nd.

Kevin Henkes Snags A Galley

Kevin Henkes read aloud during BEA from his new middle grade novel, The Year Of Billy Miller, due out in September (HarperCollins/Greenwillow). Sadly, there were no galleys to be had, but it was fun to see Henkes get excited about a galley that he was dying to read, snagging the last copy at the HMH booth of My Mistake by Daniel Menaker.

What book lover could resist the publisher’s description:

“Daniel Menaker started as a fact checker at The New Yorker in 1969. With luck, hard work, and the support of William Maxwell, he was eventually promoted to editor. Never beloved by William Shawn, he was advised early on to find a position elsewhere; he stayed for another twenty-six years. Now Menaker brings us a new view of life in that wonderfully strange place and beyond, throughout his more than forty years working to celebrate language and good writing.”

The National Book Festival announced its line up of authors for the event to be held on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, Sept. 26.

Authors include:

• Children’s authors Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, Kate DiCamillo, Shannon Hale, Craig Hatkoff, Lois Lowry, Megan McDonald, Sharon Robinson and Kadir Nelson, Charles Santore, Jon Scieszka and David Shannon, and Mo Willems

• Teens & Children authors Judy Blume, Pat Carman, Paula Deen, Carmen Agra Deedy, Liz Kessler, Jeff Kinney, Rick Riordan, James L. Swanson and Jacqueline Woodson

• History & Biography authors Douglas Brinkley and David A. Taylor, Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan, Kirstin Downey, Haynes Johnson and Dan Balz, Gwen Ifill, Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor, Mark Kurlansky, Jon Meacham, Rickey Minor, Asar Nafisi, Annette Gordon-Reed, Simon Schama and Patricia Sullivan

• Fiction & Fantasy authors Sabiha Al Khemir, Julia Alvarez, Junot Diaz, John Grisham, John Irving, Katherine Neville, Jodi Picoult, Nicholas Sparks, Jeannette Walls, Colson Whitehead and David Wroblewski

• Mysteries & Thrillers authors David Baldacci, Lee Child, Mary Jane Clark, Michael Connelly, Craig Johnson and Walter Mosley

• Poetry & Prose authors Edward Hirsch, Jane Hirshfield, student winners in the Poetry Out Loud competition and Kay Ryan, Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress

There will be a 2009 National Book Festival, according to an AP story, appearing in USA Today.

The day-long festival, which is held on the Mall in Washington D.C., was founded in 2001 by Laura Bush. It attracts about 120,000 people each year.

This year’s festival will be held on Sept. 26.