Children's Literature Festival at the University of Central Missouri

Name: Children's Literature Festival at the University of Central Missouri
Address: Warrensburg, MO, US
Telephone: +16605434306
Price range: $
Rating: 5

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Warrensburg, MO
Children's Literature Festival at the University of Central Missouri

The Festival grew, and over the years the number of participating authors has varied, with a high of 48 authors in 2003 and 2004.

The Children’s Literature Festival at the University of Central Missouri began in 1969 when Philip Sadler, professor of children’s literature, and Ophelia Gilbert, laboratory school librarian, invited five Missouri authors to speak to local students. We welcome anyone interested in children's literature to attend!

03/12/2025

Thank you to all of our authors and illustrators for presenting at the 2025 Children’s Literature Festival! And thank you to all of the participating schools! See you next year!

2025 Presenters:
Varsha Bajaj
Kelly Barnhill
Pablo Cartaya
Mary Downing Hahn (virtual session)
Leah Henderson
Natalie Lloyd
Pedro Martín
Dorinda Nicholson
Celia Pérez
Tom Phillips
Lilliam Rivera
Sarah Sax
Gary Schmidt
Roland Smith
Traci Sorell
Melissa Stewart
Erin Stewart
Aiden Thomas
Roderick Townley
Andrea Wang
Jeff Zentner

03/08/2025

Tomorrow's the day! With one day left until CLF 2025, we are thrilled to welcome Jeff Zentner! 🎉 Jeff Zentner is the author of New York Times Notable Books "The Serpent King" and "In the Wild Light," as well as "Goodbye Days," "Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee," and a YA novel in verse, "Sunrise Nights," coauthored with Brittany Cavallaro. Among other honors, he has won the ALA’s William C. Morris Award, the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award twice, the Muriel Becker Award, the International Literacy Association Award, and been longlisted for the Crook’s Corner Book Prize and twice for the Carnegie Medal. Learn more at https://www.jeffzentnerbooks.com/.

03/07/2025

With only 2 days left until CLF 2025, we're so excited to welcome Andrea Wang! 🎉Andrea Wang is an acclaimed author of children’s books. Her picture book "Watercress" was awarded the Caldecott Medal, a Newbery Honor, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor, among other accolades. Her other books, "Summer at Squee," "The Many Meanings of Meilan," "Luli and the Language of Tea," "Magic Ramen," and "The Nian Monster," have also received awards and starred reviews. Her work explores culture, creative thinking, and identity. She lives in Colorado with her family. Learn more at https://andreaywang.com/.

03/06/2025

Rob Buyea will not be able to attend the Festival due to unforeseen circumstances. We appreciate your understanding. If you were registered for Rob's session, please see the cancellation email for schedule adjustments and contact us with any questions.

03/06/2025

We're 3 days away from CLF 2025, and we're so excited to welcome back Roderick Townley! 🎉 Roderick Townley is best known as a writer of children’s fantasies. "The Great Good Thing," the first book in his Sylvie Cycle, a trilogy, has just been relaunched in a special 25th anniversary edition. The Harry Potter artist, Mary Grand Pre, illustrated his award-winning book, "The Blue Shoe". Almost always the tallest man in sight, Roderick met his 6’ wife Wyatt, Poet Laureate of Kansas Emerita, in New York at a poetry reading across a crowded room. Visit him at RoderickTownley.com.

03/05/2025

We're so pleased to welcome first-time CLF presenter, Aiden Thomas, to CLF 2025! 🎉 Aiden Thomas is a trans, Latinx, New York Times bestselling author of young adult novels. They received an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Originally from Oakland, California, they now make their home in Portland, OR. Aiden is notorious for not being able to guess the endings of books and movies, and organizes their bookshelves by color. Learn more at https://www.aiden-thomas.com/.

03/04/2025

There are only 5 days until CLF 2025 and we're thrilled to welcome Melissa Stewart to CLF for the first time! 🎉 Melissa Stewart has written more than 200 science books for children, garnering such awards as the Sibert Honor, AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books, eighteen NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students, two Green Earth Book Awards, and three ALA Notables. She co-wrote "5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children’s Books," edited the anthology "Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-winning Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing," and maintains the award-winning blog "Celebrate Nonfiction." Educators can find resources from Melissa at https://melissa-stewart.com/educators/.

03/03/2025

We are so excited to welcome CLF newcomer, Erin Stewart, to CLF 2025! 🎉 Erin Stewart is an award-winning author of realistic fiction for teens and tweens. Her most recent novel, "The Words We Keep," received the Schneider Family Book Award from the American Library Association for its portrayal of living with anxiety. Her third young adult novel, "Every Borrowed Beat," hits shelves with Penguin Random House in early 2025 along with her middle-grade debut with Simon & Schuster, "The Forgotten Magic of Zoey Turner." Erin’s writing is fueled almost entirely by peanut M&Ms and anxiety, and she wouldn’t have it any other way! Learn more at https://erinstewartbooks.com/.

03/02/2025

We are one week away from CLF 2025! To celebrate, we're welcoming first-time CLF presenter, Traci Sorell! 🎉 Best-selling author Traci Sorell is a two-time Sibert Medal and Orbis Pictus honoree and award-winning audiobook narrator and producer. Eight of her books have received awards from the American Indian Library Association. In 2024, she shared two fiction picture books: "Being Home," illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Michaela Goade, and "Clack, Clack! Smack! A Cherokee Stickball Story," illustrated by Joseph Erb. A former federal Indigenous law attorney and policy advocate, Traci is a Cherokee Nation citizen and first-generation college graduate. She lives within her tribe’s reservation in northeastern Oklahoma. Learn more at www.tracisorell.com.

03/01/2025

We can't wait to welcome Roland Smith back for CLF 2025! 🎉 New York Times best selling author Roland Smith has written over 50 books. His 30th novel is "The Switch." His most recent novels are "The Wildes" series. His most recent nonfiction book is "They Are Here!" Learn more at https://www.rolandsmith.com/.

02/28/2025

We're so pleased to welcome back Gary Schmidt to CLF 2025! 🎉 For almost forty years, Gary Schmidt has taught writing, children's literature, and medieval literature at Calvin University, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the author of "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy"--a Newbery Honor books--and "The Wednesday Wars"--both a Newbery Honor and Printz Honor book--and "Okay for Now"--a National Book Award finalist. Recent novels include "The Labors of Hercules Be," "Just Like That," "Orbiting Jupiter," and "Jupiter Rising." He lives in Alto, Michigan, in a 200-year old farmhouse--along with his Border collie. He gardens--along with the Border collie--and splits wood for the coming winter--along with the Border collie--and writes--with the Border collie curled under his desk.

02/27/2025

We're thrilled to welcome CLF newcomer, Sarah Sax, to CLF 2025! 🎉Sarah Sax studied storytelling and sequential imagery at Hampshire College and worked in education and gaming in the Bay Area before starting her publishing journey. She is the illustrator of the first three books ("Escape This Book: Titanic;" "Escape this Book: Tombs of Egypt;" and "Escape This Book: Race to the Moon") in the inventive, interactive Escape This Book series, which has been translated into eight languages. "Picture Day," her first of four graphic novels in the Brinkley Yearbook series, was published in June 2023. "Tryouts," the next graphic novel in the series came out in May of 2024. Sarah lives and works in Portland, Maine with her husband and a small menagerie of pets. Learn more at https://www.sarahsax.me/.

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Warrensburg, MO

Telephone

+16605434306

Website

http://clf.ucmo.edu/

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