2019 Plum Creek Children's Literacy Festival to host Breakfast and Books event

The Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival will be hosting a Breakfast and Books event from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at Concordia University, Nebraska Saturday, March 16.

The event is aimed toward teachers, librarians and book lovers and will consist of book sales, a breakfast buffet and keynote addresses from children’s book authors, Molly Bang, David Small and Sarah Stewart. Book sales begin at 8 a.m. followed by a breakfast buffet at 8:30 a.m. Bang’s keynote on visual literacy and the use of illustrations to teach science will begin at 9:15 a.m. Bang will also have a workshop from 2-4:30 p.m. Small and Stewart’s keynote on the collaboration of picture books is at 10:45 a.m., followed by a book signing by the authors.

“This year’s Breakfast and Books program is offering a fresh format with not one keynote, but two,” said Dylan Teut, executive director of Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival. “We’re thrilled to hear from some of America’s most iconic authors and illustrators – Molly Bang, Sarah Stewart and David Small. Browse the library for their titles and you will instantly recognize some of their classics you may have grown up with, and new and wonderful titles from the last few years. It’s guaranteed to be a delight for book lovers, teachers, librarians, and writers and illustrators.”

Molly Bang has been writing and illustrating books for children for over 40 years. Her awards include 3 Caldecott Honors, The Boston-Globe/Horn Book Award, the Giverny Award for best science picture book, and the 2010 and 2012 AAAS Prize for best science picture book. Her book “Picture This,” is the basic text for understanding how picture structure affects our emotions and is used in college arts, photography and graphic design courses around the country. Bang is quite internationally driven, having spent a year each in Bangladesh and in Mali, West Africa as an education consultant in public health programs as well as a year and a half in Japan as a student. She also speaks French and Japanese.

In her keynote, Bang will discuss how she turned scientific concepts that are generally invisible to humans, such as energy and molecules, and illustrated them in a way that children could grasp the fundamental concepts. In addition, she is offering a special interactive afternoon workshop at no charge, which will invite participants to use pieces of construction paper to create emotionally driven illustrations.

David Small was a struggling playwright when he discovered his talents for illustration. After getting his master’s in Fine Arts from Yale Graduate School and teaching art at the college level, Small wrote his first picture book, "Eulalie and the Hopping Head." He has now illustrated more than 50 picture books, which have been translated into seven languages, been made into DVDs, films and musicals, and have won many prestigious awards, including three Caldecott Honor books and two Christopher Medals. His graphic novel memoir, “Stitches,” was published in September 2009 to critical acclaim as a National Book Award Finalist, the American Library Association’s Alex Award and a Michigan Notable Book of the Year.

An avid reader, daydreamer and gardener, Sarah Stewart grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. Though she studied Latin and philosophy in college, writing remained at the center of her life. Stewart is now the author of six acclaimed children’s books, collaborating with her husband, Small, for the illustration on the latest ones. Stewart has received countless honors with “The Gardener,” being one of the most honored children’s books of 1997, with First Place Juvenile Literary Award, a Caldecott Honor Book, a Christopher Award, an American Bookseller’s Award Honor Book and a Publisher’s Weekly Cuffie to name a few. Stewart was named recipient of the 2007 Michigan Author Award.

Stewart and Small will share their points of view on the different approaches to the creative process in their keynote, titled “The Collaboration Tango.” The couple’s latest book, “This Book of Mine,” will be released this fall.

The event is $15 for Concordia University, Nebraska undergraduate students and faculty and $35 for all other attendees. Without breakfast included, the event is free to Concordia Nebraska undergraduate students.

For more information and to register, visit cune.edu/breakfastandbooks. For additional information contact Dylan Teut at dylan.teut@cune.edu.