SU Hosts Children's and Young Adult Literature Festival Through Apr. 21

SALISBURY, MD---Salisbury University’s 17th annual Children’s and Young Adult Literature Festival brings together authors and illustrators for four days of readings and discussion Wednesday-Saturday, April 18-21.

This year’s theme is “New Beginnings: Celebrating Individuality and Diversity in Children’s Literature.”

Public events begin 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, with a presentation by 2017 John Newbery Medal winner Matt de la Peña in the Patricia R. Guerrieri Academic Commons Assembly Hall. Admission is free.

A New York Times bestselling author, De la Peña earned the award for his picture book Last Stop on Market Street, which tells the story of C.J., a young boy who takes the bus home with his grandmother every Sunday after church.

When C.J. begins to ask questions like why they don’t have a car like his friend, why he doesn’t have an iPod like other boys on the bus and why they always disembark in the “dirty” part of town, his grandmother provides encouraging answers that help him see the beauty—and fun—in their routine and the world around him.

The book also was named a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book and Caldecott Honor Book. De la Peña’s other works include six young adult novels (Mexican WhiteBoy, We Were Here and The Living, among them) and three additional picture books.

The Eastern Shore Reading Council’s Young Authors Awards ceremony and reception continue the festival 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 19, in the Wicomico Room of the Guerrieri Student Union. The event celebrates student authors from the Lower Eastern Shore.

The festival culminates with its annual education conference 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21, in the Dr. Ernie Bond Curriculum Resource Center, Conway Hall Room 226.

Guest authors and illustrators include Derrick Barnes (Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut), Sharon Flake (The Skin I’m In), Chris Barton (Dazzle Ships) and Bryan Collier (Between the Lines).

Special events include the unveiling of this year’s Green Earth Book Award winners by Jenny Schmidt, The Nature Generation program director, and the presentation of the second annual Sonia Lynn Sadler Illustrator Award.

Presented by The Nature Generation, the Green Earth Book Awards recognize sustainability in children’s literature.

The Sadler Illustrator Award is presented in memory of its namesake by Dr. Patricia Dean of SU’s Early and Elementary Teacher Education Department; Sadler’s parents, Wellington and Inez Sadler; and author Jen Cullerton Johnson, whose book Seeds of Change Sadler illustrated. The prize honors diverse illustrators who create books for youth.

This year’s recipients are Daria Peoples-Riley for This Is It and Gordon C. James for Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut.

Additional activities include poster presentations, a roundtable discussion with guest authors and illustrators, book signings, raffles and books for sale by The Children’s Book Garden of Berlin, MD. Lunch is provided.

Conference admission is $35, $20 for SU students. Advance registration is required. To register visit the festival website at www.salisbury.edu/childlitfestival.

For more information email Dean at pkdean@salisbury.edu.