Children’s Literature Conference

We are excited to announce a special children’s literature mini-conference on Thursday, March 11, 4:00-9:00 p.m. in the Kiva, College of Education, University of Arizona. The conference is free and open to the public. The conference theme is Exploring a Sense of Belonging through Literature. Professional credit will be available for teachers.

Ying Chang Compestine will open the conference by sharing her journey of writing her award-winning novel, Revolution is Not a Dinner Party, based on her experiences of growing up in China during the Cultural Revolution. She will talk about her career as a writer, shifting between Chinese and American cultures, the challenges of writing in her second language, and her writing process. Ying will close the conference by talking about her new book, A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts, with a slide show of the locations where the stories take place and her use of food as a metaphor, as well as tell some Chinese ghost stories!

Adam Rex will share his process as an illustrator of picture books, particularly how he integrates references to popular culture into his books. His picture book, Frankstein Makes a Sandwich, a collection of stories about monsters and their problems, was a New York Times Bestseller. Other books include Pssst!, Frankenstein Takes the Cake, and The True Meaning of Smekday. Adam says he is near-sighted, bad at all sports, learning to play the theremin, and usually in need of a shave.  He likes animals, spacemen, Mexican food, Ethiopian food, monsters, puppets, comin books, 19th century art, skeletons, bugs, and robots.

Another highlight of the mini-conference will be time to explore sets of books put together by LRC 480 preservice teachers around themes related to a sense of belonging.  Ying and Adam will autograph books and their books will be available for purchase.

Children’s Literature Mini-Conference
Exploring a Sense of Belonging through Literature

4:00 to 5:00 – Ying Chang Compestine, My Journey as a Writer­ Being a Writer in Two Worlds
5:00 to 5:30 – ExploringText Sets on a Sense of Belonging
5:30 to 6:15 – Break and food
6:15 to 7:15 – Adam Rex, Integrating Popular Culture into Illustrations
7:15 to 7:45 – Exploring Text Sets on a Sense of Belonging
7:45 to 8:30 – Ying Chang Compestine, A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts
8:30 to 9:00 – Autographing

Visit the official Children’s Literature Conference Web site for more details regarding scheduling, registration, and information. For additional information call 520.621.8097, or e-mail litconf@email.arizona.edu.