Children's Literature with Pat Burns Lit Matters

One of my favorite lines in Kate DiCamillo’s Newbery Winning children’s story, The Tale of Despereaux, is “Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Tell a story. Make some light.” Today, Pat Burns, the Executive Director and Co-founder of the Orange County Children’s Book Festival, one the largest in North America, joins the Lit Matters podcast to shine a bright light on the importance of reading, story-telling, and the power of the written word for children. Pat discusses not only her own journey to becoming a reader, but also the impressive guests who have graced the festival’s main stage: Kobe Bryant, Jamie Lee Curtis, Buzz Aldrin, Kristen Bell and so many more.
Many of the highlights of last year’s Virtual Festival can be viewed at https://www.kidsbookfestival.com/ along with the interview I did with the Library of Congress’ Ambassador for Young Peoples’ Literature, Jason Reynolds, the two time Newbery medalist and  best-selling author, Kwame Alexander, and U.S. Congresswoman Katie Porter. The link for this interview is found on the Festival Webpage or at https://youtu.be/CejQEtO2zG8
 
A list of some of the books discussed this episode:
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s What Color is My World: The Lost History of African American Inventors
Buzz Aldrin’s Reaching for the Moon
Kwame Alexander’s The Crossover, Swing, and The Undefeated
Kristen Bell’s The World Needs More Purple People
Kobe Bryant’s The Wizenard Series: Season One and Legacy and the Queen
Jamie Lee Curtis’ Big Words For Little People and Today I Feel Silly
Jason Reynold’s Long Way Down, Miles Morales Spiderman, and Look Both Ways
Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are