Mississippi Library Association

Author David Wiesner to visit University of Southern Mississippi

The School of Library and Information Science will host the 43rd annual Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival on April 7-9, 2010, at the Southern Miss Thad Cochran Center. The highlight of the festival is the presentation of the Southern Miss Medallion awarded to an author or illustrator for his or her body of work. The 2010 Southern Miss Medallion winner is David Wiesner. Illustrator of more than 20 books for children, Wiesner is only the second person to have won the Caldecott medal three times. His books include Tuesday (1992); The Three Pigs (2002); and Flotsam (2006) Two of his other titles, Sector 7 (1999) and Free Fall (1988) were Caldecott Honor Books.

Bilingual author and illustrator of children’s books, Lulu Delacre, has won multiple awards for her work. Most recently she received a Pura Belpre honor for The Storyteller’s Candle: La velita de los cuentos (2008).

Charles Ghigna (Father Goose) is an award-winning poet and children’s author of more than 40 books. His poems for children have appeared in numerous textbooks and anthologies and in magazines such as Highlights, Ranger Rick and Cricket.

Maureen Johnson is the author of six books for young adults including The Key to the Golden Firebird (2004), Suite Scarlett (2009), Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes (2005), and Let it Snow (2008), written with Lauren Myracle and John Green. Her books are read worldwide and have been translated into ten languages.

Dan Yaccarino is the illustrator of more than a dozen children’s books. He is also the designer of the Backyardigans animated television character and the creator and producer of Nick Jr.’s Oswald series. His most recent children’s books include Go Go America (2008) and The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau (2009).

In his decades-long career, Richard Peck has produced dozens of fiction titles for children and young adults. He is the winner of multiple awards, including the Edgar Allen Poe Award (Are you in the House Alone?); a Newbery Honor (A Long Way from Chicago); the Newbery Award (A Year Down Yonder); and the Margaret A. Edwards Award. He was the 1991 recipient of the USM Medallion.

Frank McGarvey has been telling tales around Central and Southern Ohio for more than sixteen years. He is particularly well-known for his ghost stories.

Performer, writer, children’s literacy advocate, and educator, Walter M. Mayes (Walter the Giant Storyteller) rally cry is “Love, food, shelter, clothing…BOOKS!” He is the first annual Coleen Salley Storyteller at the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival.

For more information, including the tentative schedule and registration information, please visit www.usm.edu/bookfest or call 601.266.4228.

Submitted by
Karen M. Rowell
Assistant Director, Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival
The University of Southern Mississippi

Entry Filed under: News
Posted on: January 19th, 2010