Kaitlyn Coogan
Equinox Staff
People from 13 different states and Canada gathered in the Mabel Brown Room on Oct. 22 and listened to the lives and publications of children’s book authors and illustrators E.B. Lewis, Melissa Sweet, Harry Bliss, Bryan Collier, and David Wiesner at the thirty-fifth annual Children’s Literature Festival.
The festival promotes the reading, studying, and use of children’s literature and authors, librarians, and artists make up most of the members.
Festival Director David White opened the gathering by talking about past years working with the festival and the many awarded authors this festival has brought in.
There were five speakers who each gave a one-hour presentation about where they started as children and where they have come to today, showing pieces of their books and art work.
E.B. Lewis is an artist, illustrator, and a teacher. In his career he has illustrated 54 books over the past 17 to 18 years.
His artwork can be found in the following books: “Circle Unbroken;” “Danitra Brown;” “Class Clown;” “I Love My Hair!;” “The Other Side;” and “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”
“I love the work; it’s not work to me. It gives me an opportunity to express myself. My favorite place in all the world is my studio,” he said.
Lewis has received the Coretta Scott King Award for “Talkin’ about Bessie.”
As a teacher, he educates his sophomores in pictorial foundations, which are foundations of drawing or painting. His seniors are in a class called Senior Portfolio where he helps them prepare their portfolios for students wanting to go into the business of illustration.
During his presentation he discussed his new project idea about scratch-off tickets. He believes that the money that is going to that scratch-off ticket could have gone to children in hunger. He is making artwork where it looks like someone has scratched off a ticket to find a child’s face instead of just numbers.
Melissa Sweet is an author and illustrator who just finished a children’s book called “Balloons Over Broadway.”
The book was illustrated and written by Sweet and is about the true story of the puppeteer Tony Sarg, who is the creator of the giant balloons at the Macy’s Day Parade.
Her book explains where he started as a child, how he came to N.Y., and how he came up with such an idea for the big balloons. Sweet has illustrated more than 40 books and her book “Carmine: A Little More Red” turned out to be one of the 10 Best Illustrated Books on the New York Times 2005 list.
“A lot of times people have no idea what it takes to do a children’s book. You think you just sit down and write it, well a lot of times half of it is the research you do and the people you talk to about your subject. It’s intense,” she said.
Harry Bliss is a cartoonist and cover artist for the New Yorker magazine as well as an illustrator for many children books. He has illustrated book covers for authors like Lawrence Block, Dorothy Uhnak, Bob Dole, and Fiona Buckley. Some of the books he has illustrated for have been put on the New York Times Bestsellers list.
Bryan Collier is an illustrator who struggled for seven years before he finally got his art published in “Uptown,” which he also wrote. His work now appears in books such as “Barack Obama: Son of Promise,” “Child of Hope” by Nikki Grimes, “Visiting Langston,” “Clemente!,” and “Freedom River.” He has also achieved a Caldecott Honor Award for “Rosa,” the story of Rosa Parks as told by Nikki Giovanni.
When he is not illustrating Collier gives presentations in schools about books and art.
“I get so much from those school visits. With the books I’ve been doing, I have this amazing opportunity to bring my art and the process of making artwork and books into the classroom. I ask the students to talk to me and talk to each other about how they feel and what their own experiences are. Basically I ask them to tell their own story. Then I ask them to tell their own story through art. The experience of making art is all about making decisions. Once the kids really get that, you see them making the connection. They go from saying, ‘That’s not about me’ to ‘Hey, look at me. This is who I am,’” he said.
David Wiesner is a former presenter from the festival in 1994. He is an author and illustrator. He is also one of two people who have won the Caldecott Award three times. Those books that received the award are “Tuesday” (1991), “The Three Pigs” (2001), and “Flotsam” (2007).
As the day went from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. authors, librarians, artists, teachers, and book lovers listened to speeches, talked to speakers, and walked through the Rhodes Gallery and Student Center, all finding interesting things to see and buy related to children’s literature.
Kaitlyn Coogan can be contacted at kcoogan@ksc.mailcruiser.com.