The 11
th annual Western Washington University
Children’s Literature Conference was held last weekend in Bellingham. For those
who haven’t attended, this conference is generally aimed primarily at the
teacher/librarian crowd and the speaker line-up is packed with big-name authors
and illustrators. This year’s speakers shared
fascinating stories about their process, their research, and their books. A couple of fun tidbits from each presenter:
From
Jennifer Holm:
The biggest stumbling block she sees for young authors is that the
first time they do something, they want it to be perfect. Helping kids get over
that hump, helping them learn that writing becomes good through revision, is
the best way to help them with writing. True for writers who are grown too, no?
From
Laura Vaccaro
Seeger:
She broke all the rules to break into publishing. She called
the president of the publishing company she wished to work for, out of the
blue, at his home, at 6:30 a.m. his time, to ask if he wanted to see her work.
Really! And it worked! It’s probably not a strategy to repeat, though...
From
Nic Bishop:
He takes all the photography for his non-fiction nature
books himself often using custom-built cameras with laser-sensitive triggers to
catch animals at just the right action-filled moments. He does much of his
research by working directly with the animals as he takes photos. He’s a
great author to learn more about if you are interested in field research for
nonfiction.
From
Steve Sheinkin:
As a textbook writer, Steve gathered lots of interesting
facts his editors never let him use because nothing in a textbook can be controversial. Now Steve uses this sort of fact in his narrative nonfiction to make history come alive for readers. Steve also sometimes gets ideas by surfing the
Smithsonian’s website, which is
full of interesting, inspirational tidbits.
Save the date for next year's WWU Children’s literature
conference on Feb. 28, 2015. Speakers will include
Yuyi
Morales,
Matt de la Peña, Peter Brown, and
Joyce Sidman.
