On Saturday, September 21^st, the Wheedle traveled to Washington, D.C. to represent our state in the Pavilion of the States at the National Book Festival.

The Pavilion of the States represents the reading and library promotion programs and literary events in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. When people entered the Pavilion they picked up a Discover Great Places Through Reading map of the United States, which they took around to each state and territory in the Pavilion to be stamped or stickered.  Over 2,500 Washington State Seal stickers were placed on maps throughout the day.

On the back side of the map was a “Great Reads about Great Places” list of books.  Each state selected a work of either fiction or nonfiction about the state or by an author from the state that is a good read for children or young adults, who are the primary audience for the Pavilion of the States.  Washington’s selection for 2013 was “Wheedle and the Noodle,” written by Stephen Cosgrove and illustrated by Robin James.  Stephen Cosgrove generously had his art department create a bookmark to help publicize the book and 5,000 were quickly given away at the Festival.  Children and adults alike oohed and aahed over the adorable illustrations on the bookmark and many took a moment to page through the book.

While the Pavilion of the States is only open on Saturday, the various genre tents at the Festival were open both Saturday and Sunday.  Over the course of the weekend over 100 authors spoke and many of them signed books as well.  Thousands of people enjoyed listening to authors and learning about books.

The National Book Festival is organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress, while the Pavilion of the States is organized by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and sponsored by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  The Festival just completed its 13^th year.