A few weeks ago I attended a local Children’s Literature Festival (you can see my post from last year here) and it was delightful!
There were four authors/illustrators this year – John David Anderson, Jeff Stone, Louise Borden and Loren Long.
I was most excited to hear from John David Anderson. I have read – and loved – several of his books. His presentation was inspiring and a lot of fun! The pop culture references – like Star Wars and Harry Potter – were so fun. It really solidified my high opinion of him. Anderson does skype visits with schools for FREE. If I was a writing teacher, I would get on his schedule asap because he had great things to say about his writing process.
Jeff Stone was a new author to me. I have seen his books in book stores, but I have not read them. Since my son does taekwondo, I was interested in the pieces of his talk that centered on his own martial arts training (he has a black belt in kung fu) and how he wove that into his stories. He has one series that takes place in the past and another that is contemporary. If I was still teaching, I would put these books into the hands of kids who love adventure stories as well as the ones interested in martial arts.
I hadn’t heard Louise Borden speak before but I was familiar with her book on the back story of the author of Curious George. Borden’s presentation felt like she was reading a book; there was a lovely rhythm to her talk. And the research she does for her books made me want to run to the library and start researching something myself. Her presentation was inspiring. If you are looking for excellent nonfiction picture books, look up her material.
Loren Long was the only illustrator in attendance this year. I had never read an Otis book before the conference, but I was familiar with his art work from the covers of Otis books, which I have seen in bookstores, as well as his work on the Obama book, Of Thee I Sing, and Matt de la Pena’s 2018 release, Love. My favorite part of the presentation was when he talked about the evolution of Otis, from his first sketch to the final product.
Any of these four folks would be amazing presenters at schools. If you are a teacher or librarian, be sure to check them out!
