Our Son Got To Meet His Favorite Author: DJ MacHale

This definitely falls under First World problems. Lately, we have to stay on Tyler about reading too much. Not the quantity, more like how late he stays up at night to do it. This kid is flying through books. Most recently, he fell in love with the Pendragon series by DJ MacHale. Combined, the 10-book series has just over 4500 pages. He read them all in about  2 1/2 months.

To say we are incredibly proud is an understatement. But. Our son floats through life as though time doesn't pertain to him (is that true for most kids?). We tell him it's time to go to bed, and that he can read until his bedtime, which is 9:00. If we don't follow up, he'll keep on reading. I admit, we've started watching a movie and forgot all about him until we go to bed ourselves.

Since this is one of the only problems we have with Tyler, we usually let it slide. He's a good kid, and reading until 11:30 on a school night is no big deal in the grand scheme of things. So, a few weeks ago when I saw a posting on MacHale's website that he would be signing books locally, I decided to surprise Tyler and take him to the book store.

When we got there, he saw the poster outside with MacHale's photo promoting his newest book.

"Hey, that's the guy who wrote the books I'm reading."

"I know. He's inside. We're going to buy that new book and he'll sign it for you."

Tyler's eyes got so big. "I get to meet him?"

"Yep. You can ask questions, too."

We bought the book and waited for the author to come out. He was so nice to all the kids. He asked them questions, posed for pictures and hinted at new projects he's working on. Tyler was in heaven.

We couldn't stay long because we were on the way to hockey practice, but Tyler was in heaven. He was one of the youngest kids there something MacHale pointed out after he asked Tyler his age. He assumed Tyler was in 6th grade and was surprised that he'd only recently turned 9. We could tell Tyler was proud of himself when MacHale said Tyler was one of the youngest readers (of his works) that he'd met.

Tyler and his favorite author

I really hope we get to do something like this again. We definitely don't have a problem getting Tyler to read, but having him meet the people behind the words he reads I know will make a really lasting impression and reinforce that reading is fun.

Have your kids been able to meet any of their idols?