Pequot Library's Children's Picture Book Festival on Sunday was a meeting of a mutual admiration society, as celebrated authors and illustrators met some of their most devoted fans in person.

Fourteen bright stars in the firmament of children's contemporary picture books descended on the library about 11 a.m. They came to read their stories, draw, autograph their books, share their poetry, answer questions and stimulate the imaginations of dozens of young readers and soon-to-be-readers.

To the 4- and 5-year old set, they might have been rock stars.

Calef Brown, an author and illustrator, and Calum MacBain, 5, provide a case in point.

One of Calum's favorite poems is "A Camping Tale" from "Flamingos on the Roof," which Brown wrote and illustrated.

"We read it over and over again, and it always makes us laugh," said Calem's mother, Ellen, who explained that they came to the festival expressly to meet the, to them, legendary Calef Brown.

With a little prompting from Patch, she recited Calem's favorite lines from "A Camping Tale" as Brown autographed three of his books for Calem:

"Thinking fast, I hollered 'Halt!' and grabbed a jar of garlic salt. I shook it in the campfire smoke which quickly made the vampire choke."

Brown told them in return that he used garlic salt in the poem, in lieu of the customary clove of garlic to ward off vampires, because "salt" rhymes with "halt."

And while he was accepting accolades from the MacBains, unbeknownst to them, he doodled a drawing just for Calem, much to their delight.

Moments later, Calem had settled into a chair, losing himself in his new Calef Brown books as a sea of picture-book-lovers hovered at the authors' display tables all around him.

Quinn Cunningham, 7, a second grader at Mill Hill School in Fairfield, had a memorable encounter when she met author Jennifer Berne and illustrator Keith Bendis, who collaborated on "Calvin Can't Fly: The Story of a Bookworm Birdie."

"My teacher read it to us!" Quinn remarked excitedly as her copy was being autographed. "My favorite part is Calvin in the library!"

As if on cue, Quinn's sister, Eden, 4, found the page where Calvin, a barn swallow who's more interested in reading books than learning how to fly, is seated in a library.

"Everyone else [Calvin's hundreds of cousins] likes flying figure eights, but Calvin's in the library!" Quinn repeated with a sense of urgent astonishment.

From the Berne-Bendis table, the Cunninghams headed over to meet Peter Brown, author-illustrator of the enchanting "Chowder," the tale of a drooling dog.

"My teacher read us this book!" Quinn exclaimed.

The talented Brown personalized his autograph by deftly drawing a tiny image of Chowder, complete with drools, for Quinn, with the advice: "Be quirky!"

Quinn's dad, Bob Cunningham, headmaster of Gateway School in New York City, who accompanied his daughters on their book-autographing rounds, credited Quinn's teacher, Jeanne Gaughan, with instilling a love of literature in her students.

Channing Malkin, also 5, brought her own copy of "Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11" for author-illustrator Brian Floca to autograph.

"The book was given to her by a cousin who works in aerospace, it has beautiful art and she loves it!" Channing's mother said.

A little later, Luke Laferriere, 6, also a space enthusiast, had his copy of Moonshot autographed by Floca, who personalized it with a tiny drawing of a spaceship complete with exhaust.

Each of the authors and illustrators had a chance to give a short presentation to the young crowd.

Best-selling author-illustrator Tad Hills ("Duck & Goose," "How Rocket Learned to Read") said his dog named Rocket helped inspire his literary ambitions as he assembled shapes on a magnetic board to create a duck for his spellbound audience.

Hills demonstrated how the positioning of an eyebrow can dramatically change a duck's expression from one of cheerfulness to one of gloom.

"How do you get the shapes out of your mind?" a young spectator asked.

"I practiced a lot," Hills answered. "If you practice, it gets easier."

A highlight of the festival was Mary Ann Hoberman's spirted recitation of a few of her choice poems.

Dubbed the nation's Children's Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation, the prolific poetess (and recipient of the National Book Award for her children's classic, "A House Is a House for Me"), recited some of the more than 1,000 poems she's written - and got her audience to recite them back with her a second time with equal enthusiasm.

She closed with a personal favorite, "Yellow Butter," which goes like this:

"Yellow butter purple jelly red jam black bread. Spread it thick, Say it quick.

Yellow butter purple jelly red jam black bread. Spread it thicker, Say it quicker. [Spoken with increasing speed]

Yellow butter purple jelly red jam black bread. Now repeat it while you eat it.

Yellow butter purple jelly red jam black bread. [Spoken as if mouth full]

Don't talk with your mouth full!"