Judy Blume, Jeff Kinney, and Sharon Creech were just some of the 70 authors who showed up at the ninth annual National Book Festival in Washington, DC, on Saturday. Despite all the rain, this year broke all previous attendance records, with more than 130,000 book lovers crowding Washington's National Mall.

The Delaware Valley Elementary School in Milford, PA, sent six roving student reporters to interview authors for their school's morning newscast, while former first daughter, Lynda Johnson Robb, was spotted in the crowd with an armful of books. The skies opened in the afternoon just in time to hear Mo Willems announce that his popular Knuffle Bunny books will be turned into a musical, and to hear Judy Blume confess that she was a "shy kid afraid of dogs, swimming...everything" and that she made up her book reports.

If you couldn't attend this year's festival, the Library of Congress has it available for one week on their Web site. A Young Reader Tool Kit is also available, which features information about the authors who participated in the festival including podcasts of their readings, teaching tools, and activities.