Potter party was HUGE fun! Part 2

This is the second report of the goings on at the July 9th Potter party at the Pima County Public Library's Mission Branch in Tucson, Arizona. [Part one of the report is here]

There will be a second party on Saturday, July 11th at 2pm in the Joel D. Valdez Main Library's Lower Level Meeting Room. Free; no registration required. See you there!

After the Potions class came Care of Magical Creatures, beginning with Rhonda as Professor Grubbly-Plank. She corrected Hagrid's earlier confusion of Gryphons with Hippogriffs and proceeds to teach the different types.

As a special treat, she tells the class that she has a sedated -- but real -- baby Gryphon named Katerina. Hagrid ghoulishly goes into a little too much detail about the damage even a baby could do to fingers and toes while Grubbly-Plank removes Katerina from her cage. And she's a darling. Eventually, however, she begins to get agitated and has to be put back in her crate. "Oh!" says Hagrid, "But not without her bunny!" and adds a stuffed bunny rabbit to the crate. Not a good idea. The crate jumps and bucks violently. Hagrid valiantly tries to rescue the bunny but alas, only pulls out stuffing. Ah well.

For Hagrid's segment of the class he has a special guest, a former Hogwarts professor-turned-werewolf. Ben as Remus Lupin is brought in and the students are told that while he is generally safe due to the Wolfsbane potion, they shouldn't get too close. Hagrid starts the lesson about how well the potion works when Lockhart ambles over to harangue the class about his book Wanderings with Werewolves. Over Hagrid's objections he demonstrates how werewolves like to be tickled on their tummy and behind the ears when he is attacked by Lupin. Hagrid petrifies Lupin long enough to allow Madam Pomfrey to drag Lockhart away. Once Lockhart is safe, Hagrid distracts Lupin by yelling "Squirrel!" and Lupin bounds out the door. My goodness, another close call. You never know what will happen in Care of Magical Creatures class!

We had to be careful with this segment because we knew there would be some very young kids in the audience. We had a full Werewolf costume, but ended up going for comic effect instead of a fearsome one. Curt made a Ben a tale and doggy nose and found some ears, and Ben wore the claws from the costume. It worked perfectly.

Our Hagrid is played by Curt who is, um, a little typecast. Curt, easily 6'6", brings to us a strong theater background and the ability to adjust track lighting without a ladder.

Ben, a Library Assistant from the Himmel Branch Library, was a great sport about the tame werewolf costume and told us at least it was better than when he had to play a puppy for one of the library storytimes.

Rhonda, like Curt and Chris, are active in the Society for Creative Anachronism. Their life-long appreciation for the archaic and arcane adds authenticity and and depth to their performances.

My role as Madam Pomfrey was dead simple: bandage Lockhart up after all his injuries. I had a large bar of chocolate, vet wrap, and goofy band-aids (Barbie, Sponge Bob, Scooby Doo) on hand. He looked pretty funny by the end of the evening!

The last segment was a visit from Simon Wanderman, Ministry of Magic official from the Wizarding Examinations Authority. Mr. Wanderman is visiting to test the students for their magical abilities. Wanderman is played by Chris who is a magician with over 20 years experience.

However, he has a little trouble getting to Hogwarts because he attempts to use a rickety vanishing cabinet. Hagrid puts the 4 broken pieces together and we held our breath while Wanderman emerged unscathed. Whew.

Wanderman has a great time, beginning with some basic wizard hygiene -- cleaning between the ears. My favorite part of the testing is for skill with the Expelliarmus! charm. I won't spoil it, but I can tell you that the child who got the blasted card yelled "Score!" to his friends. Wanderman ends his segment with an appeal to the students to be diligent in their studies because the Wizarding world needs smart, skilled wizards.

Then we snacked on pretzel wands, jelly beans and butterbeer (cream soda). The cast was available for photo ops and other kinds of mayhem afterwards.

I have a gallery of Potter party photos on my flickr account.

Potter party was HUGE fun! Part 1

Tomorrow I will look at today's great-sounding HBP movie premiere footage, but for now I am still basking in the afterglow of a very fun Potter party. I thought this time I would write a little about the logistics of pulling a party off in case it is helpful (and not boring).

Room set up: There are 5 classes at our parties: Divination, Herbology, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, and testing from the Ministry of Magic, so we set it up so that the classes alternated sides of the room so the next class could get everything ready while the audience was focused in the other direction.

Ideally you'll be in a room that has dimmer lights. If not, bring some floor lamps so the kids can see what's happening even when the lights are out.

We had a full house at Mission Library. Our hosting librarians Lupita and Leila did a wonderful job planning the sorting, door prizes, and food. I thought the sorting technique was especially well thought out. Library staff made Hogwarts house ties out of cardstock and string. It was really easy to see the child's house when awarding and taking points. What I really liked about it was that even the kids who came in t-shirts had a proper school tie.

The decorations

• Iridescent streamers at entry door so that entry looks like a magical veil [source]
  
• A machine that projected the night sky onto the ceiling [source]
  
• Fog machine
• Magic dust (cosmetic-grade iridescent glitter) sprinkled on arms at entry [source]
  
• Faux stone on walls [source]
  
• Handmade banners of the Hogwarts houses
• Candelabras and spell books galore [one source]
  
• Hedwig in her cage [photo]
  
• Several flickering faux flame lamps [source] [source]
  
• Purple twinkle lights [usually only sold at Halloween]
  
• A large mercury glass gazing ball is a cheap substitute for a crystal ball
• Tables covered with black plastic, but also with real fabric and shaggy black fur (4'x6') for accents
• Huge canvas with tropical flowers for the Herbology greenhouse
• Shawls draped all over Trelawney's corner
• A vanishing box, also homemade
• Potions bottles and cauldrons in the Potions classroom
• Bookcarts decorated to look like the teacart on the Hogwarts Express
  

As they entered through the "veil," kids were given a wand (a clear straw with a fat glittery pipecleaner inside wrapped with ribbon) and asked to select a school house tie.

Hagrid welcomed everyone, introduced the professors and school staff, and directed everyone's attention to Professor Trelawney who informed us that she was a true seer who knows EVERYTHING. Laurie plays her with a querulous voice and dry sarcasm, and has concocted around 80 of the most doleful fortunes you have ever heard. She has the kids pick them from a basket and then reads a few of them aloud to the dismay and guffaws of the audience. The rest are handed out and read later when the food is served.

Next is Professor Sprout in her greenhouse with a special guest: Gilderoy Lockhart, on leave from St. Mungo's and still extremely forgetful. Lockhart immediately interrupts to show off his new book, Magical Me, and hands out autographed photos of himself. Once the class starts, he loses interest in helping. Thankfully "Fernie," a remote-controlled potted fern is on hand to bring her things.

Sprout demonstrates the characteristics of the Deadly daisy, Mandragora ("Silencio!"), and Mimbulus mimbletonia. The notoriously grumpy cactus is unfortunate enough to attract Lockhart's wandering attention. Lockhart ignores Sprout's explicit advice and pokes it repeatedly with his wand while her back is turned. Yeah, you guessed it (and so does the audience), prettyboy Lockhart gets stinksapped. With a twinkle in her eye, Sprout turns the plant on the audience and squirts the crowd too.

Her final plant is her deadliest, in fact a young girl in the audience correctly identifies it as Devil's Snare. While Sprout is focused on impressing the crowd with the plant's ferocity, Lockhart seems drawn to it and in a flash he is thrashing on the ground with the vine around his neck. Once Sprout notices she leads the class in a loud "Lumos!" and Lockhart is freed.

Sprout is played by Thania and her husband Steve. Together they are a joy to watch because of their attention to detail and because their gags are so perfectly calibrated to the audience. Both of them have great comic timing too.

Potions is next! The dark professor, Draco at his side, begins by explaining the power and importance of potions and then proceeds to mix a transformative potion. Right in the middle of this, Sprout enters with Lockhart and asks Snape if he could step away to see her snargaluff pods. Snape asks Lockhart to "babysit" the students (BIG mistake), tells Draco not to let Lockhart touch anything, and leaves with Sprout.

Can you guess? Lockhart proclaims himself a skilled potions master and finishes Snape's potion, which starts bubbling. When Snape returns, he sees the bubbling glass, proclaims it ready to drink and quaffs it in one gulp. "I feel funny" he proclaims and in a flash he is whipping around. Once he steadies, he asks the audience -- in a Borscht Belt voice -- why 6 is afraid of 7 (because 7-8-9). One more corny joke, and he whips around and is Snape again. Snape is suspicious of the laughter, but before he can figure things out he is whipping around for more vaudevillian jokes. You get the idea. I really loved this part. The physical comedy reminded me of the Boggart lesson in the third movie when Snape turns into Neville's grandmother.

Mike plays Snape, cast against type, because he is one of the funniest people I know. He's been doing stand-up for years and writes filks satirical of libraryland that help make our library's holiday parties the stuff of legend. Draco is his lovely daughter Wren.

I will write more later about the Care of Magical Creatures class and the visit from the Ministry of Magic. The adrenaline has finally worn off and I'm off to sleep.

UPDATE: Part 2 is now posted.

--Lisa

Just an update

I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this blog, but here goes...

Here's what's been going on. Our book The Lexicon: An Unauthorized Guide to Harry Potter Fiction was published in mid-January. I don't have any sales figures yet but my friends sure bought a lot of them =) and our local bookstores -- both chain and independent -- displayed it prominently.

For me personally, this victory was tempered when my mom got sick in November and died in April. I was able to show her a copy of the book, but oh well, you know how it goes. It was wonderful to have the family all together again, and I am comforted by knowing that mom had a good life and was loved by many. Miss her though.

Steve came out in March for the wildly successful first annual Tucson Festival of Books. Steve's talk was standing-room only and got great reviews, and I think I just *glowed* when I saw the line that formed afterward at our signing tent. Next year will be even better -- I'm on the committee that selects the children's and young adult authors and illustrators!

And now? Steve will have a booth for the book at Azkatraz, and he's invited me to come help. Not one to turn down free registration, I've booked a hotel room and am looking for a quiet person (well, female) to share it with. Anyone want to come to a Potter convention in San Francisco? There's some really exciting programming and a huge Wrock fest!

But before that, our library will again be putting on 2 more Potter parties. Our first planning session is tonight. One date is still undecided -- I will post an update when everything is confirmed.

More news coming, but for now I need to get ready for work!

Local article about The Lexicon (and Tucson Festival of Books!)

The Arizona Daily Star interviewed me and Steve about our book last Wednesday for an article in today's paper. Danielle did a great job, and Fred took some lovely photos!

Article "Librarian/writer's Harry Potter knowledge is voluminous"

Steve's talk and our booksigning: Sunday, March 15th at 2:30pm, Catalina Ballroom of the University of Arizona Student Union

Signed copies of the book available at: Kids Center, 1725 N Swan Rd, Tucson, AZ

Tucson Festival of Books

List of exhibitors in attendance [pdf]

Come to the Book Festival next weekend! Karen Cushman (Catherine Called Birdy), Gail Carson Levine (Ella Enchanted), Richard Peck (A Long Way from Chicago), Charles de Lint (Widdershins), J.A. Jance (Cruel Intent), Diana Gabaldon (Outlander), Luis Alberto Urrea (Hummingbird's Daughter), Richard Shelton (Crossing the Yard), Gregory McNamee (Moveable Feasts), and over 350 more authors and illustrators will be speaking and signing their books.

Other friends speaking, storytelling, and/or signing: Marge Pellegrino, Martin Rivera, Lynn Bevill, and Liz Danforth.

Potter Parties next week!

Well, our parties are next week and they are beginning to shape up. Trelawney will be there, as long as she stops hitting the sherry (j/k Laurie), as will Professors Sprout and Lockhart (visiting from St. Mungo's). Snape (sorry, Professor Snape) will be teaching Defense against the Dark Arts and for some reason he requested a karaoke machine. I can't wait. Mike's filks are famous here at the library. Hagrid and Professor Grubbly-Plank will squabble, er, teach Care of Magical Creatures, and Simon Wanderer from the Ministry will be testing kids for their magic abilities. For some reason Umbridge decided to come, and there was no polite way to dissuade her. Hopefully she won't disrupt the classes -- and there won't be any centaurs around.

What's new? Well I think I found a way to have stars on the ceiling like the Great Hall's. We'll see. And I hear rumors that we will have live Celtic music before and after, which will be super cool.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

5:30pm-7:45pm

Himmel Park Branch Library

All ages welcome.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

6:00pm-7:45pm

Eckstrom-Columbus Branch Library

Space is limited, so all attendees must register beginning Tuesday, November 19th. All ages welcome.

Many thanks again to Scholastic Book Fairs which has generously donated the door prizes.

Now, where did I put my wand?

My "While You're Waiting for Beedle the Bard" reading list

My library just published my list of suggested reading while you wait for The Tales of Beedle the Bard to be published, and we've got a fabulous cast again for the library's Potter parties celebrating the book's publication. No Umbridge for me this time (I had too hard a time not grinning to be a good one); I'll be playing Molly. My library has over 300 copies of Beedle on order!

More photos from Riikka's visit

A Visit from Riikka

Riikka Jäntti, the Finnish artist behind the Accio Quote! Artwork, is visiting America! She spent a week with us in Tucson where we were blessed with fabulous weather and lots to do.

Riikka brought me copies of her delightful book, Nokikätkön ritarit ja Kuuhiisi (The Knights of the Sooty Nook), and kept us enthralled with her sketched account of her travels via Amtrak from New York to Chicago to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon, to Tucson. In the picture on the left she is drawing the sunset over the Avra Valley in Tucson Mountain Park. She says she will send us scans of it when she gets back.

Riikka, it was awesome to finally meet you! I hope the rest of your trip is full of adventures too.

More Potter coolness in Tucson

Tucson's two newspapers recently published features on our Summer of Potter!

Arizona Daily Star reporter Levi Long scored interviews with American Library Association President Loriene Roy, Melissa Anelli and Emerson Spartz for his article "Local fans share their love for Harry Potter series" (don't miss the great photos!) while the Tucson Citizen created an awesome Marauder's Map of local events [exhaustive list of events here], and "Potterians wait for final book," an article written by Carrie Bui with interviews of several local fans (me included!). It was a real kick to be interviewed by reporters who were also Potter fans.

My plans on Friday? One more library party (Murphy-Wilmot at 2pm), Jo's reading (4pm), then two or three different parties; around 11:45 I will go to Kids' Center to pick my book up.

Umbridge for a day (Tucson's Potter parties)

Oh why didn't we film this??? Our Potter parties this week were a blast and pretty freaking amazing!

Professors Hagrid, Sprout, Trelawney and Snape were joined by a representative from the Ministry's Wizarding Examination Authority and me, Dolores Jane Umbridge Hogwarts High Inquisitor for "An Evening at Hogwarts" with crafts, classes, and magic skills testing, with door prizes generously donated by Scholastic Bookfairs (thanks Lisa!). Whew. "Hem Hem"-ing is harder than it seems!

Thania planned tonight's party at the Valencia Branch Library, and she set up tables where everyone could decorate wizard hats with glitter glue and stick-on stars, and make wands by twisting glittery pipe cleaners and putting them in clear straws. This was a brilliant idea, because it ensured that even the kids who came without a costume had a cool hat and wand.

Then Madam Trelawney (Laurie in a memorable bright caftan, blonde wig and nerd glasses) kicked the performances off by telling fortunes, with nary a cheerful one in the bunch. Here's a sample: "You will forget to wash behind your ears and a healthy crop of rutabagas will grow there." Although maybe that one is cheerful if you like rutabagas. Umbridge of course, demanded a prediction and was given a rather gruesome one that involved getting her knickers in a twist. Heh. That one came true!

A surprise guest was in store for the Herbology lesson in greenhouse 13. Our lovely Professor Sprout (Thania) was joined by Gilderoy Lockhart (Steve), fresh from St. Mungo's, though when he wasn't engrossed in a copy of Magical Me he was tormenting Sprout's plants. Unfortunately for him, one was a Mimbulus mimbletonia (stinksap all over him and the audience), and the other was Devil's Snare (oh, the horror!). The most memorable demonstration, however, was the baby Mandrake. No one fainted, though we came close because its cries were so piercing. Unfortunately the lesson was interrupted when Sprout had to take Lockhart to Madam Pomfrey after the devil's snare incident.

Snape (Mike) followed, teaching a mixture of potions and DaDA with a large dollop of drollery. He says "People have been asking me 'How are you? What have you been doing, Severus.' As if they care." Well it turns out that Snape has been learning yoga -- and reading classics such as Charlotte's Web and Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret." His favorite book is apparently How the Grinch Stole Christmas, though he says the ending could be better. Questioning from Umbridge didn't keep him from instructing students in how to do a Patronus or from leading rousing choruses of "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Fun stuff.

Hagrid came next. Our Hagrid (Fergus) is part Three Stooges slapstick, part rock-and-roll fireworks, and part wise old mountain man. Watching him handle the hecklers is half the fun. Hagrid's class in Care of Magical Creatures covered a monstrous South American bee (ouch!), fairy dancing with his assistant (too bad she had such explosive cooties), a cooties cure with a Tesla machine, an exploding frog, and the mixture of a mash for baby boggarts. The mash was an edifying concoction of flesh-eating slug slime, 4-year-old pumpkin juice, hippogriff mucus (yes, Buckbeak recently had a cold), graveyard dirt, chopped mandrake, Texas gillyweed, pudding, and evaporated milk. Everyone had a go at tasting it and said it was pretty good. Hagrid left them with advice on dealing with people and magical creatures: treat them with respect and all will be well. Magnificent.

Then came Simon Wanderman from the Ministry of Magic's Wizarding Examinations Authority, who tested the kids in the audience for their magical ability. The Wingardium Leviosa test was just awesome, as were the rope tricks. Simon closed with admonishments not to neglect their studies because the Wizarding World is in need of smart people.

After Simon the door prizes were handed out, the grand prize being a deluxe edition Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!

These are my last parties before Book 7 comes out.

Oh my.

Breeeeeathe.

Yes, perhaps I will join Severus in some yoga.

More photos available on my flickr account...

Thank you Beth, Thania, Gina, Fergus, Chris, Mike, Laurie, Steve, and the staffs & teen volunteers of Himmel and Valencia libraries! Books+creativity+love x kids=joy.

Cast list for Valencia Branch party:
Rubeus Hagrid: Curt "Fergus" Booth
Severus Snape: Michael Sterner
Sibyll Trelawney: Laurie Fleetham
Pomona Sprout: Thania Mayorga
Gilderoy Lockhart: Steve Shull
Simon Wanderman: Chris Lyon
Luna Lovegood: Beth Rubio
Minerva McGonagall: Michelle Martinez
Draco Malfoy: Wren Sterner
Hagrid's "fey" assistant: Cheyenne
Dolores Umbridge: Lisa Bunker

Harry Potter Family Craft Night at the library

The Potter fun continued in Tucson today as nearly 50 children, teens and parents came to Columbus Branch Library to make "magic quills." OK, they're not really quills, they're feather pens.

I *did* bring a real feather quill and a modern calligrapher's pen and a bottle of ink so kids could try them out. The feather quill was a big hit because of the scratchy noise it made.

I also bought novelty paper that looked like a scroll, printed J.K.'s address at the top and encouraged the kids (and parents) to use their new pens to write a note to J.K. Rowling.

HOW TO MAKE A MAGIC QUILL
Feathers, the sparklier the better (I used trimmed peacock feathers)
Pilot (TM) pens, caps and casings removed
Wide straws, preferably clear
Glittery yarn or iridescent detailing tape
Optional: 4" pieces of wire and iridescent beads

1) Stick the feather down the top of the straw until it comes out the other end.
2) Insert the pen innards into the bottom until the end of the feather rests on the flaired ledge of the bottom of the pen.
3) Slide the straw down until it meets the flaired ledge of the pen. It should be snug so that the feather doesn't slip out.
4) Take the detailing tape and use it to cover the straw from one end to the other. Spiral up it like a candy cane. Or, if you are using the yarn, anchor it with a knot at one end and either spiral up the straw or make half-hitch knots. Anchor it on the other end with half-hitch knots or glue.

You're done! If you want to have a jewelled quill, make a loop at one end of a 4" piece of wire, string beads on it, bend the wire after the last bead, and stick the free end of the wire down into the straw.

Big thanks to Shannon and Jen, who were a huge help!

I was able to find all of the supplies at a large craft store here in town. The only thing that was a little pricy was the detailing tape. The trimmed peacock feathers (no eye, but still lovely) came in a 10-pack.

Awesome Potter party in Tucson!

Well. What fun! We had about 400 people come to our Harry and the Potters concert tonight. People came from Tucson, Nogales, Green Valley, Sahuarita, Safford, and Phoenix.

Earlier today I joined Sue, Melissa and John for lunch and then they did the PotterCast at the Borders bookstore. I tried to stay in the back of the crowd but they asked if I'd do a face off with John. It's sort of like volleyball where you keep trying to best each other naming stuff in a list. Then Melissa said the category was POTIONS! Ack! Panic! Total mind wipe! I completely bombed and we never made it past naming even 2! Well the PotterCast was good fun and they had a hip, very sharp audience.

Then I headed over to the library where everyone had been decorating and the band was setting up. I have amassed such a collection of things that they were able to decorate the whole room with my stuff, and dress 5 of the staffers and one child in my robes. What? Doesn't everyone have a birdcage with Hedwig in it?

We tried to keep the party simple: get fortunes from Trelawney, photos with Hagrid, and yummy food. We also had a costume contest. And then the Potters took the stage. They are really tight these days! Of course their act has always been great -- we ate up all the earnest dorkiness. What tickled me the most was their explanation of how the Harrys got started as a band. Nope, I won't spoil it for you. It isn't canon, but it should be!

Favorite moments: During the costume contest a precocious 9-year-old Harry entered one round with a 16-year-old Cho. "We're together" he said. Another pair (this time sister and brother) was 5-year-old Harry and a 7-year-old dementor. Totally cool! Or when people were taking photographs together afterwards and someone shouted "Slytherin Stinks" instead of "cheese," then I heard one of the band members say behind me "no, they're just complex." Or the look on Hagrid's face when I pulled my treo out to text someone. Incongruous, apparently, since I was dressed as Molly Weasley.

The Arizona Daily Star will be doing a big article on the party for one of the weekend editions; they even sent a photographer to the party who set up a mini-photo studio to take pictures of everyone's costumes. So there are definitely photos coming!

My library gets dotty for Potter

My library just launched its Potter webpage, and it is simple, but really nicely done: Pima County Public Library.

P.S. The downloadables are mostly ones I made. The "Fiendishly Difficult" one was created by the whole Lexicon staff for the 2005 showdown between PotterCast and MuggleCast.

Pottermania in Tucson, AZ

Humming Horcruxes, Harry! My hometown of Tucson, AZ is going to host both Harry and the Potters and PotterCast!

Date: June 21, 2007
PotterCast: 4:00pm at Borders Books and Music, 5870 E. Broadway Blvd. (Park Place Mall)
Harry Potter Party: 6:00pm at Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone, Lower Level Meeting Room
Harry and the Potters Concert: 7:00pm at Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone, Lower Level Meeting Room

The Knight Bus will make a stop in Phoenix on July 3rd, and my library system is planning additional parties for July 10th and 11th.

I feel like something blibbering.