Apples Plus Art Equals--Book Launch!

Apple varieties from the Kilchermans' farm

A whole tree!

We had apples inside the bookstore, courtesy of Phyllis and John Kilcherman of Northport, who grow many heirloom varieties on their farm, and we had a live apple tree outside the door, brought by Bill and Lynne Rae Perkins, to be raffled off to the lucky customer whose name would be pulled from the box at the end of the evening. It was apparent from the beginning that this would be no ordinary book launch.

Perkins creativity in different forms

Just above you see the back of the new book, Seed by Seed, illustrated by Lynne Rae Perkins, several copies held in place by beautiful rustic twig-and-stone bookends created by her husband, artisan furniture-maker Bill Perkins. And in the foreground is Lynne's Newbery-award winning YA novel, Criss Cross.

We had pretty much the full range of human ages in Tuesday evening's crowd. Lucy entertained a group of children in the gallery by reading the story of Johnny Appleseed to them, while parents and grandparents kept infants and toddlers closer by.

The crowd came for Lynne. They came for books. They were additionally treated to sweet cider from Tandem Cidery on Setterbo Road (Tandem is also known for their hard cider) and chocolate chip cupcakes made by Lynne Rae and Lucy Perkins--cupcakes decorated to look like apples, with twig stems and mint leaves. A friend of Lynne's brought apple crisp. I'm told it was delicious but was too busy selling books to find out. For a bookseller, that's a good thing. And Lynne was kept busy, too, signing books and visiting with friends and customers.

Seed by Seed was written by Esmé Raji Codell and is the first complete story book that Perkins has illustrated for someone else. Usually she both writes and illustrates her own book. You can read about her new experience by going first to her blog (always interesting in itself) and then following the link you’ll find there.

The exciting book-and-apple party was a great way to round out my bookstore events for summer of 2012! What will the coming season bring? We already have one guest author who made a big hit on his first visit and has promised to come back in November, but long before then, coming soon on Books in Northport, will be a review of a new book, If the Buddha Had Kids. Sneak preview hint: You don’t have to have kids to get a lot out of this book!