Books of Wonder.

Yup.

THE Books of Wonder.

The place is a celebrated children’s bookstore, and for good reason. It’s huge. It’s awesome. It’s got gazillions of books. And its owner, Peter Glassman, wrote MY WORKING MOM, the picture book that Tina Fey trashes (unfairly) in her book BOSSYPANTS. Come on, what’s cooler than that?

I was thrilled that BOW wanted to host a launch celebration for Charlie Joe Jackson. It was one of those “I guess I’m actually an author now” moments.

My 98-year-old Force Of Nature grandmother came as a surprise! She doesn’t look a day over 78 fyi.

Lots of my colleagues were there from Spotco, which is the greatest place to work on earth.

The whole Roaring Brook/Macmllan gang was there, including Nan, Lizzy, Kathryn and Emily. I heard a rumor the head of Macmillan’s Children’s Group was there, but he vanished into the night before he had a chance to tell me that I was his favorite author.

Old friends were there. New friends were there. Even a few total strangers were there!

I read from the book. Then, as an awesome surprise, Macleod Andrews, who reads the Brilliance Audiobook of Charlie Joe, came up and read a section.

He was HILARIOUS.

Because I wanted to read something with a beginning, a middle and an end, I also read a short story I wrote called THE BIG ONE, which is an ice-fishing tale that will appear in the September issue of Scholastic’s magazine Storyworks. The story is about the one and only time I went ice-fishing with my son Joe. That was five years ago. I just got the feeling back in my toes last Tuesday.

Did I mention that ridiculously delicious baked goods were provided by my wonderagent Michele? If this agenting thing doesn’t work out, she could make a very comfortable living selling cookies.

And finally, I signed a bunch of books. I tried to talk to everyone and sign something specific for each person, even if I didn’t know them. So it took a while. On the fluke chance that they’re reading this, I’d like to thank everyone for their patience.

After the reading, my Spotco pals threw me a party with nothing but screwdrivers, pigs in a blanket, chocolate chip cookies and the Beatles, which is pretty much my desert island line-up.

Then I drove home with my wonderful wife, Cathy. At the door, I got a hero’s welcome from my lab mixes, Moose and Coco, who were thrilled to see me.

Not because I was a published author.
Not because I’d just had a reading at Books Of Wonder.
Not because there was a line of people who wanted me to sign their copy of my book.

But because I was home.

I love dogs.