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Some of the nation’s top authors and illustrators of children’s books will speak during the 44th Annual Georgia Book Awards and Conference on Children’s Literature March 8-9 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education.

The popular conference is a celebration of children’s literature and the culmination of the Georgia Book Award programs that involves thousands of Georgia children in reading every year. Winners of the Georgia Children’s Book Award and the Georgia Children’s Picture Storybook Award are invited each year to the conference to speak and accept their awards.

This year’s conference will feature five acclaimed authors and illustrators:

• 

  Wiles

  

  Johnson

  Deborah Wiles has written four novels: Love, Ruby Lavender, Each Little Bird that Sings, Aurora County All Stars, and most recently, Countdown. She has also written two picture books: Freedom Summer and One Wide Sky.

• Angela Johnson is an award-winning author whose books include: Bird, When I Am Old With You, Daddy Calls Me Man, A Sweet Smell of Roses, and Lily Brown’s Paintings. She has won three Coretta Scott King Awards, one each for her novels Heaven, Toning the Sweep, and The First Part Last.
• 

  Bang

  

  Mora

  Molly Bang is an acclaimed author and illustrator. Her books include: the 1981 Caldecott Honor Book, The Grey Lady and The Strawberry Snatcher, The Paper Crane, Nobody Particular: One Woman’s Fight to Save the Bays, and When Sophie Gets Angry — Really, Really Angry…. She is also the author of Picture This, a book about visual art.

• Pat Mora author and literacy advocate, has written more than 30 books for children, teens, and adults. Her books include: Agua, Agua, Agua, The Beautiful Lady, Our Lady Guadalupe, and A Birthday Basket for Tia.
• 

  Noll

  

  McWilliams

  Amanda Noll and Howard McWilliam are the author and illustrator team of I Need My Monster, which received the 2011-2012 Georgia Children’s Picture Book Award.

   

Hundreds of K-8th grade teachers and library media specialists, as well as many public librarians throughout Georgia attend the conference, sponsored by the UGA College of Education’s department of language and literacy education.

The Georgia Children’s Book Award was established in 1968 by Sheldon Root, a professor in UGA’s department of language education. The purpose of the award is to foster a love of reading in the children of Georgia and to introduce them to a collection of engaging books of literary excellence.

In addition to the author sessions, the Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl State finals and author autographs are popular events. Typically, each speaker is available for autographing several times during the conference. A rich and varied number of small group sessions that address ways to foster the enjoyment and the teaching of literature in the home, classroom, school media centers and public libraries also are offered. In addition to books by all of the session speakers, other children’s and professional books are available for purchase.

The reduced early registration fee deadline is February 18.

For more information and to register online visit:
www.gcbac.com/