Although we seldom see one another, Bobbie is my key problem solver with my site, blog, e-newsletter, endless lists. Much of this work is directly and indirectly connected to Día, of course. I named her a Dynamo because she is an enthusiastic, tireless Día supporter. Working with her partner Laurina, now a Día Angel, she proposed the creative idea for having the first Díapalooza on my blog in 2010 and continues to donate time to Día work. Gracias, Bobbie!

Read my interview with Bobbie & Laurina:

How did you first learn about Día?
Laurina: I was working on a Spanish language focus group for a publisher client, which led me to information about the 2004 Mora Award winners and in learning about the winners, I also learned about Día.
Bobbie: I heard Pat speak at a conference, and I was simply dazzled by her and by Día.

What has been your experience with Día?
Even though we’ve spent a lot of time on Día projects, we haven’t yet had the pleasure of attending an official Día event…as you can imagine, we’re quite busy in April! This year, though, we had the honor of having an April 30th Día dinner in Santa Fe with Pat herself!

You creatively suggested the first Díapalooza for 2010 to Pat. What gave you that idea?
We do some of our best brainstorming in the car while on road trips. In February we were talking about Día, thinking about various things bloggers do to publicize themselves and wondering how to make a big splash about Día this year. Bobbie had the idea of doing something on the blog EVERY DAY in April, and Laurina quickly supplied the catchy name.

What ideas do you have for Día 2011 and what are your hopes for the 15th Anniversary celebration?
We’d like to build on the success of our first Díapalooza. We’d like to see Día become more established as a literacy initiative and especially would like to see more schools participate. We hope that the anniversary will spur further involvement from sponsors, publishers and libraries.

What are you each reading now?
Bobbie: Bobbie: I just finished Linger, a YA fantasy by Maggie Stiefvater. I loved fantasy as a child and as a teen and I have never outgrown it!
Laurina: I often read more than one book at once – my two current ones are an Irish mysteryLake of Sorrows, by Erin Hart and Tell Us We’re Home, YA fiction by Marina Budhos.

What is a favorite bookjoy memory for each of you?
Bobbie: When we first met, of course we spent time talking about our favorite children’s books. Laurina described her “lost favorite,” a book she’d loved as a child but no longer remembered the title of, but it rang no bells for me. Very soon after, a friend of mine gave me a wonderful old children’s book which I ADORED and immediately sent to Laurina to read…you guessed it! It was the “lost favorite”: A Spell is Cast, by Eleanor Cameron.