February 13 & 14, 1999
Alma Flor Ada
Alma Flor Ada is Professor Emerita at USF, founder and first Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the National Assoc. for Bilingual Education (NABE), and award winning author of books for children and adolescents, writes in a variety of genres. Her memoir Under the Royal Palms: A Childhood in Cuba earned the Pura Belpré Award. My Name is Maria Isabel was a NCSS/CBC Notable Book and ABA "Pick of the Lists" and the Hidden Forest book, Dear Peter Rabbit, won the Parents' Choice Award. Her books for teachers include A Magical Encounter and Authors In the Classroom: Transformative Education for Teachers, Students, and Families. New releases are Pio Peep, I Love Saturdays y domingos and Mamá Goose, A Latino Nursery Treasury. Web Site: www.almaflorada.com
George Ancona
George Ancona was born Jorge Efrain Ancona Diaz in New York City. He grew up in Coney Island and began his artistic career by painting signs. As a boy, he loved sketching painting, and doing wood cuts. Upon graduating from high school he went to Mexico to meet his grandparents and large family. He studied painting in Mexico City and returned to New York to begin work as a graphic designer. For the next ten years he worked for magazines and advertising agencies and became interested in the art of photography. He traveled the world as a free lance cameraman and photographer, always exploring new places and enjoying meeting new faces. He has produced documentary films for television and industry. For the last twenty years he has photographed, written and designed children's books, including Dancing Is, Fiesta Fireworks, The Piñata Maker, Mayeros, and he has done the vivid photography for a variety of authors on a vast array of topics from A Williamsburg Household to City! San Francisco. Web Site: www.georgeancona.com
Michael Lacapa
Michael Lacapa was born in Phoenix, Arizona and moved to the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Whiteriver, Arizona. His Roots are with the Hopi, Tewa and Apache. His boyhood passion for art stayed with him as he earned his BA from Arizona State University, Tempe, in secondary education, and an MFA from Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff in print making. He has taught at the Phoenix Indian High School and Chaparral High School in Phoenix. Michael has worked with the Apache Tribe in developing multi-cultural educational curricula for native school-age children, using storytelling as a teaching tool, and he taught art at Whiteriver Elementary School. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He is known as a gifted storyteller, a fine musician, and the talented illustrator of such books as The Magic Hummingbird, Spider Spins a Story, and the new The Good Rainbow Road. He is the author/illustrator of The Flute Player, Antelope Women and Less Than Half, More Than Whole, the latter co-authored with his wife Kathy.
Allen Say
Allen Say was born in Yokohama, Japan, in 1937. He dreamed of becoming a cartoonist from the age of six, and, at age twelve, apprenticed himself to his favorite cartoonist, Noro Shinpei. For the next four years, Say learned to draw and paint under the direction of Noro, who has remained Say's mentor. Say illustrated his first children's book, published in 1972, in a photo studio between shooting assignments. For years, he continued writing and illustrating children's books on a part-time basis but in 1987, while illustrating The Boy of the Three Year Nap (Caldecott Honor Medal), he recaptured the joy he had known as a boy working in his master's studio. It was then that he decided to make a full commitment to doing what he loves best: writing and illustrating children's books. Since then he has written and illustrated many books, including Grandfather's Journey, winner of the 1994 Caldecott Medal, Stranger in the Mirror, Emma's Rug, Allison, and most recently, Tea with Milk.
Website: www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/authors/allensay
Junko Yokota
Junko Yokota is a Professor of Multicultural Literature K-12 at National-Louis University in Chicago and co-author of Children's Books in Children's Hands, (Allyn & Bacon, 2001). Born in Japan, Dr. Yokota came to the United States to attend college. She was an elementary school teacher for ten years before earning a Ph.D. in Reading Education with a minor in children's literature and library science. She now serves as a consultant to school districts, guiding curriculum development and providing professional development for teachers. Dr. Yokota is a frequently invited speaker and her topics most frequently center on issues of multicultural literature, literacy development of students of diversity, and improving literacy instruction in schools. Her publications also include two columns that review children's books, as well as journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Yokota is past president of the U.S. national section of the International Board on Books for Young People (USBBY), and has served on the Newberry, Caldecott, and Batchelder Award Committees, as well as the Notable Books for a Global Society, the Notable Books in the Language Arts and the Parenting Magazine Reading Award Committee. She is an active member of the American Library Association.
Jack Zipes
Jack Zipes is an author, scholar, teacher, translator, storyteller, activist, and an internationally recognized researcher and critic. He has worked with children's theaters in France, Germany, Canada, and the United States. A professor of German at the University of Minnesota, Jack has also taught at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, the University of Florida and New York University. His writings include, Don't Bet on the Prince, The Trials and Tribulations of Little Red Riding Hood, When Dreams Came True, Classical Fairy Tales and Their Tradition, Why Fairy Tales Stick: The Evolution and Relevance of a Genre, and Sticks and Stones: The Troublesome Success of Children’s Literature from Slovenly Peter to Harry Potter. He was editor of The Lion and the Unicorn, the Norton Anthology of Children's Literature, and the four-volume The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature.
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