Events and news
Events, exhibits, news, and newsletters from the Children's Literature Research Collections and the Kerlan Collection of Children's Literature.
Upcoming events: The 2024 Chase Lecture featuring Jacqueline Briggs Martin
The Chase Lecture honors the memory of Dr. Naomi Chase, a classroom teacher who became professor at the University of Minnesota, and was especially passionate about empowering children as readers and writers.
Rachel Carson wrote a book, The Sense of Wonder, about sharing the wonder of the natural world with children. In that book she said, "If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder," writes Carson, “he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in." It has been one of my goals to share with children and all readers stories that remind us of the "joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in." Among other things, I hope to talk about finding such stories, shaping such stories within the constraints of non-fiction, and the pleasures of sharing those stories.
Jacqueline Briggs Martin is the author of twenty-one picture books for children including Snowflake Bentley, which received a Caldecott medal in 1999.
Chef Roy Choi and the Streetfood Remix (2017; co-written with June Jo Lee, illustrated by Man One) received a Siebert Honor and an Orbis Pictus Honor.
Begin with a Bee (2021; co-written with Phyllis Root and Liza Ketchum) illustrated by Claudia McGehee received a Riverby Award which recognizes exceptional non-fiction natural history books for young readers. Begin with a Bee was also named a Green Earth honor book.
Creekfinding: A True Story (2017; illustrated by Claudia McGehee) received the Green Earth Award for Environmental Writing for Children. Creekfinding also received a Riverby Award.
Martin has been on the faculty at Hamline University’s Low Residency MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults and taught creative writing at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival.
Event program:
In Person: Tuesday, April 16, 2024, from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM CDT
Via Zoom: Tuesday, April 16, 2024, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM CDT - link to come.
Location
In Person: Elmer L. Andersen Library, 222 21st Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Via Zoom: Link will be provided soon.
RSVP
Find additional information and RSVP with the College of Education and Human Development
News and related resources
The ABC of It exhibit catalog
The catalog for our 2019 exhibit, curated by Leonard Marcus, may be purchased from the University of Minnesota Press or downloaded for free on the Libraries' Publishing Services page.
Kerlan Collection newsletter
View the latest Kerlan Collection newsletter, as well as past newsletters (2004-present).
Kerlan Award
Learn more about the Kerlan Award, including a list of past winners.
The Kerlan Blog
Read curator Lisa Von Drasek's latest children's book reviews and blog posts.
The Chase Lecture
Learn more about the annual Naomi C. Chase Lecture, hosted by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education and Human Development.
The Marion Vannett Ridgway Award
Learn more about the Ridgway Award, given annually to a debut author or illustrator.