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I had the most amazing experience at the Heartland Book Fest at the Kansas City Public Library’s Central branch last Saturday. The day was filled with activities for all ages, talks by authors, illustrators, and book lovers, writing workshops, movies, discussions, and storytime for kids.
I really enjoyed the session with Sarah Chapelle, who created the Taylor Swift Style blog and social media account and was thrilled to have her first book published. She talked about how much reading she does to learn about fashion and different designers and also shared how important reading and writing were to her growing up. She started her blog while in college studying journalism and was able to marry her love of writing, fashion, and Taylor Swift into a career. I knew the Swifties at my school would be excited to read her book, so I bought a copy for the library. I was even able to educate my husband (who went to the festival with me) on Taylor’s eras. It was interesting and educational for all!
After a lunch break (amazing steak tacos from Wrap It Up Tex Mex Grill), we browsed the tables of local authors, bookstores, and literacy-based organizations.
The day ended with the session I’d been waiting for: Mychal Threets and Stacey Abrams discussing the importance of libraries. Their conversation was wonderful! I’m so glad the book fest organizers made a video recording so I can watch it again and so that other people can listen and enjoy. I posted the video below (watch minutes 22-23 to hear the heart of Abrams's message). Stacey is the daughter of a librarian and is such an amazing advocate of libraries and freedom to read. She was so eloquent in her description of libraries as “buildings full of knowledge” and “a judgment-free zone.” I also loved her message of the importance of celebrating kids when they learn to read and when they seek knowledge because we want them to connect the feelings of achievement and celebration with reading and books. I wasn’t familiar with Stacey Abrams’s work as an author but definitely left as a fan. I even received a free copy of her new picture book Stacey Speaks Up for our elementary library. I absolutely loved the Heartland Book Fest and hope to go again! They had amazing speakers and gave away some fun swag, including a tote bag, stickers, and tea bags. One last thing: If you have never visited the Central Branch of the Kansas City Public Library, you need to. It is a stunningly beautiful building (we’re talking marble floors, pillars, and chandeliers) that used to be a bank. It has an art gallery and the current exhibit was artwork created by employees of the KC Public Library System across its various branches. Artwork on display included paintings, collage, music composed and played by a library employee (on video), a historical dress, photographs, an afghan, and more. The library also features a movie screening room, an amazing children’s area, and is across the street from (in my opinion) the world’s most beautiful parking garage because the outside is decorated with book spines and the stairs are shaped like a stack of books. For more photos of the library, take a look at this Book Riot blog post and this Flickr photo album.
 At the amazing Library Palooza lit festival in San Antonio, they have a panel discussion featuring all of the visiting authors and illustrators, and then there are three sessions with individual authors. It was so hard to choose just three author sessions! I was very glad that the panel allowed me to hear from all of them. The book creators talked about their craft of writing and illustrating, their process, their work, and gave tips to aspiring writers and artists. Here are some highlights I took away from the panel and individual sessions.
Victoria Aveyard: You have to have a thick skin to be a writer. Show your work to other people! She started off writing fan fiction. She grew up in a very small town in New England where everyone knew her but didn't feel like she fit in. She moved to Los Angeles for college and got to figure out who she was. Feels writing is a compulsion, not a choice. Writes epic fantasy stories. The Red Queen series she describes as Hunger Games meets Game of Thrones. Fans have also compared it to the Selection series. She wrote the Realm Breaker trilogy because she wanted to see females as part of the Lord of the Rings-type quest. She describes it as Lord of the Rings meets Guardians of the Galaxy. The idea for Red Queen came to her as an image of a girl in an arena about to be killed when she electrocutes her executioner. This image led to so many questions: What has the girl done? How did she electrocute someone? What's happening in the world she is living in? Victoria loves maps and world building. She loves creating unusual names for people and places in her books and is well known for throwing in unexpected plot twists. She also shared that Red Queen is being adapted into a streaming series!
Kelly Yang: Take writing seriously like it's a sport. Put in the time and work to get better. She moved to China from the U.S. at age six. Her parents only had $200 when they came to U.S. and the whole family had to learn English. There were a lot of hard years where they moved a lot and didn't have much money. She said stories gave her hope. As a kid she didn't find books about people who looked like her, so now she is writing them! She did a lot of research on how social media changes the architecture of our brains for her new book, Finally Heard. She learned that when we watch videos online, our brain releases oxytocin, a chemical that encourages love and trust and helps people bond. This chemical makes people want to keep watching, even when they're actually bored and would rather do something else.  Marc Favreau: Started as a publisher. If you want to write, just do it! Follow through. Didn't start writing and publishing until he was in his 40s. Writes history for kids. Loves seeing kids disappear into literature. Says most history we learn in school comes from the perspective of white men. He seeks broader perspectives and has included the experiences of Japanese and African Americans in his books
Gabriela Epstein: In learning to draw, a great technique is to copy work of the masters as a learning exercise. You can apply the same idea to writing. She likes that she can choose when and where to work. She grew up as an athlete playing ice hockey which helped her grow a thick skin. When she was young, she drew political cartoons her dad published in the newspaper. Some of her work made people angry, and she liked that because it made her feel powerful. I was very excited to hear Gabriela speak for a few reasons. 1) She is a graphic novel author and illustrator and GNs are super popular! 2) Her graphic novel Invisible is on next year's William Allen White list. At her session, she shared tons of info and photos of the whole process of creating Invisible. I am looking forward to sharing what I learned with my students to get them even more excited about reading Invisible. 3) She has experience adapting someone else's story into a graphic novel (Baby-sitter's Club) and working on an original story, so she had lots to share! 4) She is funny, sarcastic, honesty, and completely engaging. 5) She shared her experience as a female person of color working in book creation.
I love literature festivals, and Library Palooza was outstanding. I got to spend the day with hundreds of fellow book lovers and learn from talented book creators. I even won some amazing books in a drawing! And I love meeting the authors and illustrators personally and getting books signed. Library Palooza was a fabulous experience. I soaked up a lot of learning and added several new books to my TBR list.
Over the weekend I attended Library Palooza , a literature festival held in San Antonio, TX, focused on middle grade and young adult literature. I had been following Library Palooza on Instagram for a while and was very impressed with the diversity of authors at the festival. When they announced the authors and illustrators being featured for 2024, I knew I had to ask my administrators to let me attend. Take a look at this incredible group of book creators! 
 Fifth- and sixth-grade students gathered in the Sterling Grade School Library on Feb. 7 to celebrate World Read Aloud Day with an online author visit from Marsha Skrypuch (pronounced skrip-ick). Skrypuch is a Ukrainian-Canadian writer of historical fiction novels such as Making Bombs for Hitler and Stolen GIrl. She read aloud from her latest novel Winterkill, a story about the 1930s Russian invasion of Ukraine. Through questions asked by students, they learned that Skrypuch felt that the Ukrainians' story during World War II had not been told. Her mother-in-law, Lida, was living in Ukraine when Nazi soldiers took over her home to use as a headquarters. Lida was not allowed to leave the house and instead had to serve the soldiers. This family history inspired Skrypuch to write historical fiction for middle grade readers. She doesn't like overly simple stories and insteads writes books that respect the intelligence of young readers. Students learned that Skrypuch conducts research through interviews and visiting libraries and archives where she can view historical documents. She is currently working on a new trilogy called Kidnapped from Ukraine, which "follows two sisters as they struggle to survive the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022" (description from Amazon.com). The first book will be published in Nov. 2024. Through World Read Aloud Day activities, students learned more about Skrypuch's books as well as other popular historical fiction novels. By the end of the session, the room was buzzing with excitement and kids were discussing which books they wanted to read first. "An author visit can really excite kids about reading," explained district librarian Amy Brownlee. "Getting to hear the inspiration behind the stories and learn about the research process creates a powerful motivation to read." 
 I am always amazed by the depth of research that goes into Jan Brett’s books, Her text and illustrations are brimming with authentic details. When I heard Brett speak in Wichita in December 2023 on her Winter Wonderland tour, she explained how she doesn’t just research by reading about the animals she draws so vividly in her books, she gets up close and personal with them. She told the story of partnering with a zoo veterinarian who had sedated a polar bear in order to give it a health check-up. While the bear was sedated, Jan was able to examine it closely and catch tiny details that made her illustrations in The Three Snow Bears as authentic as possible. She observed that polar bears have black skin and tongues and their fur isn’t actually white, it’s transparent.
At the presentation I attended, Brett focused on sharing Cozy, a book about animals who take shelter under a muskox’s fur during cold weather. The idea for the book came when Brett visited her daughter, who had recently moved to Alaska. Her daughter lives near a muskox farm and took Brett there during her visit. After expressing her desire to examine one of the animals up close, two employees led Brett on a walk across the pasture (that’s what we’d call it in Kansas-not sure of the correct term in Alaska) to see “Little Man,” the gentlest of the muskox herd, who was at the far end of the enclosure. As they trekked across the space, Jan and her escorts were charged multiple times by other muskoxen. The employees, who had experience in working with the animals, stood with their arms overhead, spreading their arms and legs to take up the most space possible, with Jan standing behind them. Each time, the charging muskox stopped before reaching them. Eventually they made it over to Little Man, who had a long “skirt” of fur reaching almost to the ground. Brett was able to look under the skirt and see that Little Man’s legs were covered with white fur. She learned that muskoxen have a small tail like a goat that’s hard to see and have orange eyes with an elongated rectangular pupil like goats. All of these details are reflected in her artwork.
At the author talk event, Brett did a live drawing of a muskox using pencil and markers. She said that for her books, she uses pencil first and then watercolors. It takes her an hour to complete one inch of artwork, and she spends about a year on each of her books. In addition to loving animals, Brett is also interested in fiber arts and has included detailed needlework in her illustrations. At the presentation I attended, she showed a hat she made from muskox wool, which is harvested by combing through the muskox’s fur when the under-wool is being shed during the warmer months. This muskox wool is prized for being extremely warm. Brett generously invited attendees to touch and feel the hat when we met her during the book signing portion of the event. As Brett spoke to an audience including children and adults, she used scientific names as she talked about the animals in her books and their habitats. She said, “I like big words.” Once her editor asked her if children would understand the scientific terms; for example, would they know what tundra means? “They will after they read my book,” Brett told them. Whether she is researching Scandinavian needlecraft or animal facts - Brett is extremely knowledgeable about both - she demonstrates the same commitment to accuracy. Her books are works of art rooted in science and research. Many readers are unaware of the amount of research she puts in, but I think it’s part of the reason her books are beloved classics that will continue to be read and loved by future generations. [Jan Brett's] books are works of art rooted in science and research."
 Jan Brett's website is a treasure trove of resources related to her books. She provides free printables like coloring sheets and puppets. In the last couple of years, dozens of illustrators have created and shared video drawing lessons for kids. Jan was doing it years ago. My students love watching her video where she introduces them to her pet hedgehog and then teaches them to draw a hedgehog.
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Amy BrownleeLibrarian, reading teacher, presenter. Archives
February 2026
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