Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival brings renowned authors to Concordia
Almost 9,000 children and adults gathered to celebrate reading as part of the 16th annual Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival. The event took place Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 22-24, on the campus of Concordia. The festival gave participants the opportunity to connect with nationally acclaimed authors and illustrators in order to enhance literacy enjoyment and education.
“Our goal is to continually improve the scope and diversity of the festival experience while maintaining the quality and hospitality that attendees have come to associate with the event,” said Dr. Janell Uffelman, festival director and one of its founding members.
This year’s festival featured eight authors and illustrators: Bill Harley, Grace Lin, Brian and Jerry Pinkney, Roland Smith, Barbara Robinson, Eileen Christelow and Dyanne DiSalvo. The presenters visited students in Seward-area and Lincoln schools on Thursday. On Friday students from all over the Midwest attended sessions with the authors and illustrators and participated in a variety of literacy activities. Four special sessions by Concordia students and staff were part of this year’s program. The science department presented “Fun Science for Kids;” members of the art department offered “Color Celebration;” drama students led a sectional focusing on folk tales and drama; and education students led author talks and related activities.
The adult conferences included workshops presented by authors, illustrators and literacy experts. The adult sessions were of special interest to early childhood, elementary, middle-level and secondary teachers, reading specialists, home school teachers and media specialists. Book sales were available throughout the conference.
Featured authors and illustrators:
Bill Harley is a children’s entertainer and storyteller who has been called “the Mark Twain of contemporary children's music” by Entertainment Weekly and received the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album For Children in 2007 and 2009. He uses a range of musical styles and appeals to children and adults. In addition to children’s music, he performs at storytelling festivals around the country including appearances at the National Storytelling Festival. Harley also has published six books.
Grace Lin is the author and illustrator of picture books, early readers and middle grade novels. Lin’s 2010 Newbery Honor book Where The Mountain Meets the Moon was chosen for Al Roker’s Today Show Kid’s Book Club and was a NY Times Bestseller. Ling & Ting, Lin’s first early reader, was honored with the Theodor Geisel Honor in 2011. An Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award nominee for the US, most of Lin’s books are about the Asian-American experience.
Acclaimed artist Brian Pinkney is the illustrator of several highly-praised picture books including The Faithful Friend, In the Time of the Drums, and Duke Ellington . He is a graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Penn., and holds a master’s degree in illustration from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Pinkney has won numerous awards including two Caldecott Honors, four Coretta Scott King Honors and a Coretta Scott King Award, and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award. He has been exhibited at The Art Institute of Chicago, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, The Detroit Institute of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The School of Visual Arts, and The Society of Illustrators. He will be joined by his father, Jerry Pinkney, who has been named to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame. He earned a Caldecott Award for his illustration of Lion and Mouse.
Roland Smith was born in Portland, Ore., and graduated from Portland State University. Following a part-time job at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, Smith began a 20-year career as a zookeeper, both at the Oregon Zoo and the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma, Wash. After working to save wildlife following the 1990 Exxon Valdez oil spill, he published his first book, Sea Otter Rescue, a nonfiction account of the process of animal rescue. Smith continued to draw upon his zoo experiences for other nonfiction titles, including Journey of the Red Wolf, which won an Oregon Book Award in 1996.
Barbara Robinson has written many humorous books, probably the best-known being The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, which was made into a movie and a play. She also wrote The Best School Year Ever. A native of Portsmouth, Ohio, Robinson’s small-town upbringing is reflected in most of her writing. She has had stories featured in McCall's, Ladies’ Home Journal and Redbook.
Eileen Christelow is an award-winning author and illustrator of both her own stories and those of others. Christelow’s career as a picture-book creator developed from her interests in architecture and photography. Her illustrations feature expressive animal characters.
Dyanne DiSalvo attended the School of Visual Arts in New York before working for Hallmark Cards. Since 1980 she has been illustrating award-winning books for renowned authors such as Beverly Clearly, Mary Pope Osborne, Jean Fritz, Jane O'Connor, Patricia Reilly Giff, Jean Marzollo and Amy Hest. In her own books, Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen, City Green and A Castle on Viola Street, a theme of helping neighborhoods is prevalent. She received a congressional commendation from the state of New Jersey for her book, Grandpa's Corner Store. She also wrote The Sloppy Copy Slipup, an award-winning chapter book for reluctant readers and writers.