Author Jason Lefebvre on his experience at the International Literacy Associaton

Too Much Glue author Jason Lefebvre was a guest at the International Literacy Association. Here’s what he said about his time at the conference:

“To say that I was excited to be a part of the International Literacy Association conference in July 2017 would be an understatement. Not only did I get to visit beautiful Orlando, FL for the first time, I also got to meet the hardworking Go Teach team from Newell brands, the parent company of Elmer’s Glue.

When my book Too Much Glue was published by Flashlight Press in 2013, we were thrilled to see that kindergarten and 1^st grade teachers LOVED using it as an intro to teaching glue skills. (“Glue raindrops, not puddles!”) Soon after, Elmer’s Teacher Club created a free literature-based teaching guide, The World of Glue, featuring Too Much Glue. Fast forward 4 years, and Go Teach graciously invited me to appear at their ILA booth to sign copies of Too Much Glue over the course of the three-day conference.

When I arrived, I saw that Go Teach/Elmer’s had brought 500 books for me to sign! Being a prototypical, pessimistic New Englander, I immediately thought, “Oh no! What if no one stops by to visit me?” The conference began on Saturday morning, and a few people trickled into line. The trickle turned into a steady flow, and my pessimism hit again. “Oh no!” I thought, “What if we don’t have enough books for all three days?” I quickly realized that the Go Teach team had planned well, and I could settle in and enjoy the experience.

Being surrounded by educators is an amazing thing. They are the perfect audience to understand the creative chaos in Too Much Glue, and I was soon laughing, swapping stories and having an all-around awesome time. Hearing these people – who dedicate their lives to teaching our children – express how my story resonated with them blew me away and was a little tough to get my head around. What wasn’t hard to understand was the high praise they had for illustrator Zac Retz.  Countless people commented on what an amazing talent he is and how special it must feel to have someone, so unbelievably creative, work on a story you have written. They were right. I definitely lucked out when Flashlight Press chose Zac to illustrate my story.

When the conference finally wound down on Monday, I wished it would go on just a little longer. It was a special three days. If you had told me five years ago that I would spend an entire weekend autographing a book that I had written, I would have thought you were crazy. Of all the remarkable things I have experienced since Too Much Glue came out in 2013, and fortunately there have been many, this ranks right up there. I am also keenly aware that none of this would have been possible if the people at Flashlight Press hadn’t seen something special in a bizarre manuscript about a kid who glues himself to a desk. I will always be grateful that they did.”