Featured authors and illustrators for the 2013 festival

Dr. Timothy Rasinski – Literacy Expert
APPEARING AT SATURDAY'S ADULT CONFERENCE ONLY 

Timothy Rasinski is a professor of literacy education at Kent State University.  He has written over 200 articles and has authored, co-authored or edited over 50 books or curriculum programs on reading education.   He is author of the best-selling books on reading fluency The Fluent Reader and The Fluent Reader in Action. His scholarly interests include reading fluency and word study, reading in the elementary and middle grades, and readers who struggle.  His research on reading has been cited by the National Reading Panel and has been published in journals such as Reading Research Quarterly, The Reading Teacher, Reading Psychology, and the Journal of Educational Research.   Tim is currently writing the fluency chapter for Volume IV of the Handbook of Reading Research.

Tim recently served a three year term on the Board of Directors of the International Reading Association and from 1992 to 1999 he was co-editor of The Reading Teacher, the world's most widely read journal of literacy education.  In 2010 Tim was elected to the International Reading Hall of Fame.

Dr. Rasinski’s three sectionals at the Adult Conference will include:

Whatever Happened to the Art of Teaching Reading?
Over the past two decades the teaching of reading has been increasingly described and defined as a scientific endeavor.   Dr. Rasinski makes the case that teaching reading is more than a science – it is also an art.  And when we begin to treat the teaching of reading as both an art and science we will see growth not only in reading achievement but also in the development of lifelong readers.

Constructivist Approaches to Phonics and Vocabulary Instruction:  Word Study that Works!
Word decoding, vocabulary, and spelling are essential skills in learning to read.  In this session Dr. Rasinski will share effective and engaging methods for helping students learn to learn and take delight in words.

Beyond Phonics:  Moving to Fluency and then to Proficient Reading:  Helping all students achieve competence in this key and misunderstood area of the reading curriculum
Fluency in reading has been found to be a key element of any successful reading program (National Reading Panel).  Despite its importance many students fail to achieve sufficiently in this area and many teachers do not feel completely competent in their knowledge of teaching fluency.  In this workshop, Dr. Tim Rasinski will provide theoretical and research background and definition to fluency.  He will share effective and engaging strategies for teaching this all-important reading component that will move students toward better comprehension and greater proficiency in reading.

Donalyn Miller  – The Book Whisperer
APPEARING AT SATURDAY'S ADULT CONFERENCE ONLY  

Donalyn Miller is a Texas middle school teacher. In her popular books, The Book Whisperer and Reading in the Wild, Donalyn reflects on her journey to become a reading teacher and describes how she inspires and encourages her middle school students to read 40 or more books a year and develop lifelong reading habits. Donalyn currently blogs for The Nerdy Book Club and co-authors a column on school-wide reading programs for Scholastic. Her articles about teaching and reading have appeared in publications such as Educational Leadership and The Washington Post.

Her two sectionals will be: 

Bring on the Books: The Best Books of 2013 (so far)
The Nerdy Book Club: Building Reading Communities
 

Kevin Henkes – author and illustrator
APPEARING AT SATURDAY'S ADULT CONFERENCE ONLY.  He will give the author luncheon presentation.

Best known for Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (1996), Kevin Henkes brings an eclectic world of imagination to the page. Beginning with the 1994 Caldecott Honor Book Owen, Kevin has established himself within the world of children's and young adult literature.  Kitten's First Full Moon was the winner of the Caldecott Medal in 2005.  Olive's Ocean, one of many published novels, won a Newbery Honor in 2004. 

Kevin was asked to deliver the prestigious May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture in 2007, an honor given to “an individual who has made significant contributions to the field of children’s literature.” In a review of A Good Day, a critic at the New York Times declared, “It should be said that Kevin Henkes is a genius.”

Web: www.kevinhenkes.com

Judy Schachner – author and illustrator

Judith Byron Schachner is the #1 New York Times best-selling author and illustrator of the wildly popular Skippyjon Jones series. While Judy is best known for creating this lovable Spanish-speaking cat, her twenty-year career in children’s books spans many different genres. Judy tells her readers, “The great thing about my job is that one day I can be writing about history, as I did in Mr. Emerson’s Cook. The next day I’m drawing a wacky old woman for  I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie. Or I can bring to life a beloved pet cat in my book The Grannyman.”

Among many other awards earned, Judy was the first-ever recipient of the E.B. White Read Aloud Award in 2004. This award honors books that embody universal read aloud standards.

Web: www.judithbyronschachner.com

Neal Shusterman – author

Neal Shusterman has earned a reputation as a storyteller and dynamic speaker. Degrees in both psychology and drama give him a unique approach to writing. His novels always deal with topics that appeal to adults as well as teens, weaving true-to-life characters into sensitive and riveting issues, and binding it all together with a unique and entertaining sense of humor.

Unwind was a One Book One Nebraska selection for teens in 2010, and Full Tilt and Dark Side of Nowhere made the Golden Sower list.

Neal grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he began writing at an early age. Within a year of graduating from UC Irvine, he had his first book deal, and was hired to write a movie script. In the years since, he has made his mark as a successful novelist, screenwriter, and television writer. His books have received many awards from the International Reading Association and the American Library Association.

Currently Neal is adapting his novel Everlost as a feature film for Universal Studios.

Web: www.nstoryman.com

Anna Dewdney - author and illustrator

For New York Times best-selling author/illustrator Anna Dewdney, her work is all about “the power of the book for the child.” She is frequently contacted by parents who share how her books helped their children through a divorce, an accident, or the illness of a family member.

With that kind of power, she takes her job seriously. “I was an anxious child and I’m an anxious adult,” she says. “My books are an expression of my experience. The world can be overwhelming, but with love and support it’s not really that bad,” she says. “The theme of all my books is relationships make the world less scary.”

Anna is the author/illustrator of Llama Llama Red Pajama and New York Times Bestseller Llama Llama Mad at Mama. In her five Llama Llama books, she reflects on her childhood and describes the little llama “as the quintessential anxious little person.”

Web:  www.llamallamabook.com

Barbara McClintock - author and illustrator

Award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Barbara McClintock draws like a dream’ her “beautifully restrained use of color may evoke a long-ago time, but her compositions are so dynamic that there’s always something for contemporary children to discover” says Michael Cart, Booklist. Full of humor and with and strong characterizations, her books are timeless charmers.

Barbara McClintock’s books have won 4 New York Times Best Books awards, a New York Times Notable Book citation, a Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor award, and numerous other awards, recommended/best book lists, and starred reviews.

Barbara writes: “The method of study that most appealed to me was continuing to copy from art books I checked out of libraries. What a vast treasure of art books was available to me once I was in New York! I also sketched paintings and drawings in museums in New York City, as well as London, Paris, St. Louis, Vienna and Lisbon. I’m essentially self-taught as an artist/illustrator, and can thank the public library system for my free education.”

Some of her best known books are Adele & Simon, Dahlia, The Gingerbread Man (written by Jim Aylesworth), Animal Fables from Aesop, and The Heartaches of a French Cat.

Web:  www.barbaramcclintockbooks.com

Marla Frazee – author and illustrator

Marla Frazee is the author/illustrator of A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, which received a Caldecott Honor Award and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor. She is the illustrator of many books, including the New York Times bestselling Stars, and the New York Times bestselling All the World, which also received a Caldecott Honor Award. Other titles include Roller Coaster, Walk On!, Santa Claus the World’s Number One Toy Expert, and The Boss Baby.

Marla Frazee found her early inspiration in children's books such as Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are and Robert McCloskey's Blueberries for Sal. She illustrated her first book in third grade, which was called The Friendship Circle. After it won awards in state competitions, Frazee created a duplicate for her school library. It was Frazee's first book.

In 2006, she illustrated Clementine, a series of chapter books written by Sara Pennypacker. Marla uses pen and ink drawings to make the story of an overly-active and imaginative third-grader come to life. Clementine and the Spring Trip is the latest in the series.

Web: www.marlafrazee.com

Marc Tyler Nobleman – author and cartoonist

Marc Tyler Nobleman is the author of Boys of Steel: The Creators of Superman, which made the front page of USA Today for a startling discovery he made during research, and Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, which has been covered by Forbes, NPR, and MTV and led to a TED Talk; it reveals a discovery that may change pop culture history.

Marc has been invited to speak internationally at schools, conferences, libraries and museums. At http://noblemania.blogspot.com, he reveals research secrets and shares promotional adventures. He is also a cartoonist whose work has appeared in more than 100 magazines.

Sheilah Egan, Literature Consultant, writes: “The various subjects covered in his career have allowed him many opportunities to pursue research on a wide range of topics. With over seventy books to his credit, Nobleman has written about: nature (including eagles, tigers, foxes, sharks, etc.), history (the Klondike gold Rush, The Great Chicago Fire, The Hindenburg, Election Day, Martin L. King, Jr. Day, Rosa parks, Green Berets in Action, etc.) monuments (the Washington Monument, The Liberty Bell, The Statue of Liberty, etc.) and many other things such as aliens and UFOs, mummies, werewolves, shipwrecks, blizzards, gladiators, pirates, etc. just to name a few. Boys often gravitate to nonfiction and unusual topics, so Nobleman has covered the appeal factor of enticing boys to read.”

Web:  http://noblemania.blogspot.com

Candace Fleming – author

Candace Fleming awarded herself the Newbery Medal in fifth grade after scraping the gold sticker off the class copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond and pasting it onto her first novel—a ten page, ten-chapter mystery called Who Done It?. She’s been collecting awards (her own, not Elizabeth George Speare’s) ever since.

Today, Fleming is the versatile and acclaimed author of more than twenty books for children, including the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award-winning biography, The Lincolns; the bestselling picture book, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!; the beloved Boxes for Katje; and Clever Jack Takes the Cake. Her scrapbook biographies have given readers a new take on nonfiction and her Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School books are popular choices for reading aloud.

In conjunction with Eric Rohmann, she has written the newly released and highly acclaimed picture book, Oh No!.

Candace Fleming’s love of words and storytelling enables her to successfully write for a wide range of readers. For the younger ones, her picture books offer the perfect balance of silliness and facts. Her middle-grade contemporary fables present morals with a healthy dose of humor. And for older readers, Candace’s biographies bring a fresh and approachable perspective to the lives of the famous.

Web:  www.candacefleming.com

Eric Rohmann – author and illustrator

Eric Rohmann grew up with woods and a creek near his house, spending countless hours exploring, discovering, and collecting rocks, leaves, minerals, and insects. At school Eric was an unmotivated student who would rather be drawing than reading and writing. Fortunately, throughout his school years, Eric always seemed to have a teacher or two who recognized and encouraged his artistic abilities.

Time Flies, Eric’s first book, a surreal, wordless tale of one bird’s journey back to the time of living dinosaurs, was awarded the Caldecott Honor in 1994. He has also illustrated books written by other authors, including the book jackets for Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

Eric believes that each story needs illustrations that match its tone, content, and sensibility. As a children's book illustrator, this means knowing how and when to use different media and techniques. For The Cinder-Eyed Cats Rohmann painted with oils. For his 2002 Caldecott Medal book, My Friend Rabbit, he used wood cuts. For his picture book, A Kitten's Tale, he spent two months experimenting with a watercolor ink he had never used before. Trying new media can be scary, Eric admits, but it also keeps his artwork fresh. "Anxiety's a good thing," he says with a smile, "even for a children's book illustrator."

Web:  www.ericrohman.com

Festival REGISTRATION

Friday, Sept. 27

Children’s Day for Surrounding Area Schools 

• Where: Concordia's Seward campus
• Time: 9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.
• Download the registration form

Saturday, Sept. 28

Adult Professional Conference

• Where: Concordia's Seward campus
• Expanded format for 2013. Additional afternoon sessions.
• Register online 

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