Early Bird Registration for the 17th Annual Children’s Literature Conference Ends January 17, 2020
Western Washington University will host four award-winning children’s and young adult book authors and illustrators from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 at Western’s Performing Arts Center as part of Western’s 17th Annual Children’s Literature Conference.
The conference brings together educators, librarians, readers, illustrators, and writers to celebrate children’s literature. Our desire for this conference continues to be a day of inspiration. We trust you will leave refreshed and ready to read, write, teach, and learn with deeper intensity and joy.
This year’s speakers include: Mac Barnett, Jason Chin, LeUyen Pham, and Ruta Sepetys. The day will include author and illustrator presentations, book sales, autographing, and a question-and-answer panel.
Registration is available through the conference website at wwuclc.com. The cost to attend is $175 with an early bird rate of $125 available through Jan. 17. Discounts are available for students, para-professionals, retired teachers and WWU employees.
About this year’s featured speakers:
Mac Barnett
Mac Barnett is a New York Times-bestselling author of stories for children. His books have sold more than one million copies in the United States and have been translated into more than 30 languages. His picture books include two Caldecott-Honor-winning collaborations with Jon Klassen: Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, which also won the E.B White Read-Aloud Award, and Extra Yarn, which won both the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award. Leo: A Ghost Story, illustrated by Christian Robinson, and The Skunk, illustrated by Patrick McDonnell, were named two of the Ten Best Illustrated Books of 2015 by The New York Times. Mac’s novels include the Brixton Brothers mysteries and The Terrible Two series.
Jason Chin
Jason Chin combines imaginative storytelling with intriguing science to create books that both enchant and educate. He is the author and illustrator of Grand Canyon which received a 2018 Caldecott Honor, Sibert Honor and won the 2018 Orbis Pictus award. His other books, include Redwoods, Island: A Story of the Galápagos, Gravity, and most recently Pie is for Sharing by Stephanie Parsley Ledyard. While researching his books, he’s gone swimming with sharks, explored lava fields and camped with scorpions at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
LeUyen Pham
LeUyen Pham is the award-winning and critically acclaimed illustrator of more than sixty books for children. LeUyen (pronounced Lay-Win) is the New York Times bestselling illustrator of the Julianne Moore’s picture book series, Freckleface Strawberry, Kelly DiPucchio’s picture book Grace for President, and Shannon and Dean Hale’s middle grade series Princess in Black. LeUyen is also the illustrator of God’s Dream by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Twenty-One Elephants by Phil Bildner, the Vampirina Ballerina picture book series by Anne Marie Pace, and The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman. When she’s not writing and illustrating, she’s either dreaming about her favorite food, her mother’s cơm gà (chicken rice), dancing in her bathrobe (when no one is watching) or building Star Wars-themed birthday cakes.
Bio source: The Author Village
Ruta Sepetys
Ruta Sepetys is an acclaimed author of Young Adult historical fiction whose novels feature lesser-known pieces of history around the world. Her works are known for their crossover quality, appealing to adults as well as adolescents and they include Between Shades of Gray (2011), Out of the Easy (2013), and Salt to the Sea (2016). Her latest novel, The Fountains of Silence (2019), focuses on Madrid in the 1950s under the regime of Francisco Franco. Ms. Sepetys’ works shine a light on underrepresented stories and have earned many awards including, the Carnegie Medal for Salt to the Sea, the Cross of the Knight of the Order by the President of Lithuania, and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Fellowship. The New York Times Book Review declared, “Ruta Sepetys acts as champion of the interstitial people so often ignored—whole populations lost in the cracks of history.” Two of her books are currently being adapted for film and television.
To find out more information about the conference, please visit www.wwuclc.com or contact Sylvia Tag, Western Washington University Department of English, 360-650-7992 sylvia.tag@wwu.edu