Bond Children's Literature Conference

Today I had the privilege of spending the entire day (from 9-3:30pm) listening to four fantastic children's authors speak, giving us humor and insight into the mind of the authors and illustrators writing books for our students.

The cast included Kadir Nelson (We Are the Ship, Henry's Freedom Box, Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People To Freedom). Kadir Nelson is an AMAZING illustrator of primarily African American's in history. We Are The Ship is his most recent book which features page after page of illustrations and historical narrative, written in first person, which captivates the attention of any reader. During my Black History unit I had several of my students begging me to be able to read the book.

The next author was Sara Pennypacker who is an author of the Clementine series, Pierre in Love, and the Stuart series. I was introduced to her children's series Clementine, a third grade student who doesn't care about anything, though she sometimes should. These books follow Clementine with her troubles and celebrations from the point of view of the little girl with a lot of attitude. They are books that really make you think differently about the students in your class who you may think are distracted and just asking to do the wrong thing day after day. They are books that any child can read and say, "Me too!" (which is the author's goal!).

Joan Bauer was our other guest who told fantastic stories and has written many great intermediate novels, including Hope Was Here (pictured above) which she won a Newberry Honor for. I have just recently started reading this novel and I am already hooked! She explained to the audience that she needs humor in life and that's why she writes. That is definately true because regardless of the situation presented in the story there is always a humorous undertone. Students in third and above would love her books!

Brian Selznick was the last of the authors for the conference today. Brian Selznick is a funny and very talented artist and author, including his Caldecott Award winning novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret. I have yet to read the entire novel, which is told primarily through pictures with text to support and guide the reader's attention. The illustrations are drawn in all black and white through the use of charcoal and pencil drawings. The story will captivate all readers!

During the conference each of the authors spoke for an hour, with a lunch and book signing break half way through. The authors and illustrators were fantastic, very personable and just inspiring to hear speak. I am very excited to go and hope to continue that tradition in my professional development.