The Mazza Museum at the University of Findlay will hold the 2022 Summer Annual Conference July 11-13. The three-day conference, which will be available in-person and virtually, features educational and engaging presentations from many internationally acclaimed children’s book authors and illustrators.
“It seems like forever since we were together for a Mazza Museum summer conference,” said Benjamin Sapp, director of the Mazza Museum. “Please join us for a three-day conference with nine different authors and illustrators and breakout sessions for teachers, librarians, and anyone who loves picture books.”
The full three-day conference cost for in-person attendance is $265 and includes all main sessions, breakout sessions, daily continental breakfast, chances to win door prizes, and access. recordings of all main presentations. The cost of virtual attendance is $150 and includes access to recordings of the main sessions after the event. Registration closes July 8. Three hours of Findlay University undergraduate and graduate credits are available at an additional cost.
Keynote speakers, authors and artists for the 2022 Mazza Museum Summer Conference include:
.Lesa Cline-Ransome is the author of numerous award-winning and critically acclaimed non-fiction books for young readers, including “Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams”; “My Story, My Dance: Robert Battle’s Journey to Alvin Ailey”; and “Before She Was Harriet”. She is also the author of the novel “Finding Langston”, which received a Coretta Scott King Honor Award and five-star reviews. She lives in the Hudson Valley region of New York.
James E. Ransome’s highly acclaimed illustrations for “Before She Was Harriet” received the 2018 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor. His other award-winning titles include Coretta Scott King winner “The Creation”; Coretta Scott King’s Book of Honor “Uncle Jed’s Barber Shop”; “Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt”; and “Let My People Go”, winner of the NAACP Image Award. He frequently collaborates with his wife, author Lesa Cline-Ransome. One of their recent titles is “Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams,” which received four-star reviews and was an ALA Notable Children’s Book. Ransome is a professor and coordinator of the MFA Illustration Graduate Program at Syracuse University. He lives in the Hudson River Valley in New York.
.Michelle Houts is the award-winning author of a dozen books for young readers, ranging from picture books to middle-level novels. “Sea Glass Summer”; “Silent Swoop”; “WinterFrost”; “Count the wings”; “The County Practical Theater Queen”; and “Kammie on First” are some of the books she has written. Houts lives in Celina, Ohio.
.Angela DiTerlizzi is a mother, wife, and author who loves writing children’s books. His picture books include “Some Pets”; “A few bugs”; “Baby Love”; and “Just Add Glitter”. She and her husband, best-selling author/illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, reside with their daughter in Amherst, MA.
.Liz Garton Scanlon is the author of many beloved books for young people, including the highly acclaimed and honored Caldecott picture book, “All the World”; illustrated by Marla Frazee, and her first novel for intermediate readers, “The Great Good Summer”; as well as “Another way to climb a tree”; “In the Canyon”; “Bob, Not Bob” (co-written with Audrey Vernick), and many others. Scanlon is on the faculty of Vermont College of Fine Arts and currently lives in Austin, Texas.
Mikela Prevost’s illustrations have won awards and been recognized by the Society of Illustrators. “Let’s have a dog party!” was her first picture book as an author and illustrator. Prevost currently lives in Arizona with her husband, three children, two desert tortoises and a dog.
.Salina Yoon is the author, illustrator and format designer of nearly two hundred innovative novelty books for young children, specializing in unique and interactive formats. She has created books that have a playful appeal, like “Rock & Roll”, that make children laugh and learn, like “Opposnakes”, and that surprise and mesmerize, like “Kaleidoscope”. Many of his books have flaps, tabs, cutouts, and wheels. She also created a character named Penguin for a picture book series that will debut with “Penguin and Pinecone.” She lives in San Marcos, California.
.Amy Hevron is an author, illustrator and visual artist who is inspired by wildlife, nature and travel. She is the illustrator of Jim Averbeck’s “Trevor” picture books; “Moon Babies” by Karen Jameson; and “Dust Bunny Wants a Friend”, which she also wrote. Currently, she illustrates “The Definitive Guide to Finding the Perfect Pet” by Estelle Laure, to be published in the fall of 2021 by Harper Collins, and writes and illustrates “The Longest Journey: An Arctic Tern’s Migration”, released spring 2022 by Neal Porter books. Hevron lives in Seattle, WA.
For more information about the summer conference, including the full itinerary and event registration, visit the Mazza Museum website: https://www.mazzamuseum.org/adults/conferences/summer-conference/
