More than 900 people gathered at the Yellow Box Theater on Friday evening for a book signing event featuring Naperville-native and Emmy-nominated actor Bob Odenkirk.
The “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul Star” appeared alongside his children, Erin and Nate, who worked with him to publish “Zilot & Other Important Rhymes.”
“We’ve had him two or three times now, and every time has been fantastic,” said Ginny Werhli-Hemmeter, who’s the Director of Events and Marketing at Anderson’s Bookshop. “This is really special to share his book that he wrote with his kids and illustrated with his kids with Naperville. There’s so many people who knew him, who taught him, who went to school with him, and that’s a really great thing to give to the community.”
Family affair Odenkirk style
Naperville is just one stop for the Odenkirk’s as they continue touring the country to promote their collection of poems.
The father-daughter duo never thought they’d be working together like this, but after Erin started adding illustrations to childhood rhymes during the pandemic, the idea for the book was born.
“This was kind of a family project from our childhood. So we wrote a bunch of these poems when we were little kids,” said Erin Odenkirk. “I was 4, 5, or 6 and Nate was 6, 7, and 8. And a lot of those original poems made it directly into this book. A lot got edited and made it into the book. And we also added 20 or 30 more totally brand new.”
Fans of all ages
The night started with a panel discussion and Q&A with the Odenkirk’s before attendees had a chance to meet the famous family.
One young fan came all the way from Minnesota for the event, and was starstruck when it came time for him to chat with his idol.
“It didn’t seem real at first, when I was meeting him,” said Dean. “I’m a huge fan of ‘Better Caul Saul’ and ‘Breaking Bad’, so it’s awesome. I haven’t read any of the poems yet, but I’m excited to, maybe on the drive home.”
Plenty more children were among those in the crowd, which pleased the Odenkirk family.
“Part of the theme or purpose for the book is to have kids enjoy language, make up their own words, use big words, even if you make a mistake and use them wrong a little bit,” said Bob Odenkirk.
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