Jactionary: October 2014

I recently attended the 19th Annual Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival hosted by Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. Each year the two-day festival hosts school children, school teachers, librarians, college students, scholars, and fans of children’s literature. The festival begins with one day of events for the school children followed by a one day conference for adults. The festival consistently features prominent and award-winning writers and illustrators of children’s and young adult literature.

This year’s authors and illustrators included Rosemary Wells, Nick Bruel, Brian Lies, Jack Gantos, J. Patrick Lewis, Jim Murphy, Floyd Cooper, Dandi Daley Mackall, Jeff Kurrus, Steve Jenkins, and Linda Hoyt.

The Marxhausen Gallery also hosted the Golden Legacy Art Exhibit, a display of sixty-two pieces of original artwork from the Little Golden Books.

Watch the video below to see more about the 2014 Festival Kickoff.

Below are my book recommendations for some of the authors and illustrators featured at the festival.

Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Be Good to Eddie Lee 
Grandpa’s Face 
The Blacker the Berry

Written by Dandi Daley Mackall

A Girl Named Dan 

Larger than Life Lara 

The Silence of Murder

Written and Illustrated by Nick Bruel

The Bad Kitty series


Written by Jack Gantos

Hole in My Life 

The Jack Henry adventures 

Written by Jim Murphy

Blizzard! 

The Great Fire 

An American Plague