Kerlan Award Luncheon & Ceremony

Join other Kerlan Friends, teachers, librarians, and children's literature aficionados as they honor Dr. Karen Nelson Hoyle during a buffet lunch and award ceremony this spring!

2012 Kerlan Award Luncheon and Ceremony
Date: Saturday, May 5, 2012
Time: Noon to 2:30 p.m.
Place: Elmer L. Andersen Library, University of Minnesota, 222 21st Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Fee: $25 for the luncheon; the lecture is free and open to the public.

Reservations for the luncheon are required by April 23, and the registration form can be download here. There are no reservations required to attend the award ceremony.

Dr. Karen Nelson Hoyle, who will retire January 11, 2012 after more than forty years of dedicated service as the curator of the Children's Literature Research Collections, has been an outstanding scholar, teacher, and mentor to countless people who are interested in and passionate about children's literature and the people who create books for children. She has devoted her life to continuing Dr. Kerlan's vision and making it a reality.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Hoyle when I donated the entirety of my book illustrations to the Kerlan Collection last year, and I can't imagine a better recipient of the award. The children's literature community just won't be the same without her! 

2011 Chase Lecture Featuring Jerry Pinkney

Caldecott Medalist Jerry Pinkney will be visiting Minnesota to deliver the 2011 Chase Lecture next week, an event that is not to be missed!

A Sense of Place, Real and Imagined with illustrator Jerry Pinkney
Date: Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Place:  Elmer L. Andersen Library, University of Minnesota, 222 21st Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Fee: Free and open to the public

Pinkney has illustrated over 100 children's books since 1964 and has been honored with the 2010 Caldecott Medal for The Lion and the Mouse. He has also received four Caldecott Honor Medals, five Coretta Scott King Awards, four Coretta Scott King Honor Awards, and many other awards over the course of his career. Pinkney was the American nominee for the international Hans Christian Andersen Award and the international Astrid Lindgren Award, as well as numerous other awards and prizes. His lushly beautiful watercolor illustrations have delighted millions of children and adults alike, while also educating their eyes to the beauty and intricacy of fine art.

The lecture will be followed by a reception and autographing, with book sales courtesy of the Red Balloon Bookshop. This free annual event is co-sponsored by the College of Education and Human Development, Department of Curriculum & Instruction and the Children's Literature Research Collections/Kerlan Collection, University of Minnesota. For more information, please contact Dr. Lee Galda.

My art is now at the Kerlan Collection!

When I first visited the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minnesota in 2009, I was in complete awe of the place. It is a true gem, allowing anyone to study manuscripts, artwork, and other materials of more than 12,000 children’s books.  While holding the original artwork to Gustaf Tenggren’s The Poky Little Puppy, nearly weeping with joy, I realized how much I hoped others would someday hold my own illustrations in their hands and feel the same way. I spent the next year-and-a-half organizing my copious amounts of artwork while thinking very hard about what might happen to it in the future.

The momentous decision came last Monday: the Kerlan Collection is now the final resting place of nearly all of my children's book art, correspondence, sketches, and notes, from the present until I stop creating. This is beginning of what will hopefully be a lifetime of donation.

I've illustrated over a dozen picture books since moving to Minnesota, several of which were published by local Minnesotan publishers. The literary community here is unlike anything I've experienced before, and I've felt so blessed, encouraged, and challenged to create in this state. It seems fitting to keep the artwork in Minnesota even after I’m gone from this earth, so that the art will always be safe, appreciated, and most importantly, accessible to the very community that nurtured its creation.

It was a sweet moment to deliver all of the archive boxes to the Kerlan Collection last Monday. There is no better guardian than Dr. Karen Nelson Hoyle, professor and curator of the Children’s Literature Research Collection. Dr. Hoyle is one of the warmest, most sincere people I’ve ever met and she is well deserving of the honor awarded to her this year by the Eric Carle Museum.

Everything is being processed now and should be available for public viewing soon. I’m going to such a kick out of “visiting” my art, and I hope others will, too!