Sara Pennypacker Author

Sara is the New York Times best-selling author of seventeen children's books, including the Clementine series; Summer of the Gypsy Moths; Pierre in Love; Sparrow Girl; Stuart’s Cape; and Stuart Goes to School. She has also contributed four books to the venerable Flat Stanley series. Her books have won numerous awards, including a Golden Kite Award and a Christopher’s Medal, several children’s choice state awards, and have appeared on many 'Best Books' lists.

sarapennypacker.com

Marla Frazee Illustrator

Marla has received two Caldecott Honos for All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, and for A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, which she also wrote. She is the author-illustrator of Roller Coaster, Walk On!, and Santa Claus the World's Number One Toy Expert, as well as the illustrator of many other books including NYT bestselling Clementine series with author Sara Pennypacker, who will appear with her at the 2013 UVU Forum on Engaged Reading.

marlafrazee.com

Jim Murphy Author

Jim is the Newbery Honor and Sibert award-winning author of more than 35 nonfiction and fiction for children and young adults, including Truce, the Day the Soldiers Stopped Fighting and The Crossing: How George Washington Saved the American Revolution.

jimmurphybooks.com

Loreen Leedy Author/Illustrator

Loreen has written and illustrated over 40 picture books with math, science, language arts, and other curriculum content. Schools and libraries nationwide have copies of Measuring Penny, Fraction Action, Symmetry, Crazy Like a Fox: A Simile Story, and many of her other titles. Her newest book is Jack & the Hungry Giant, which introduces the MyPlate nutrition program.

loreenleedy.com

Matthew S. Holland Utah Valley University President

Dr. Matthew S. Holland is the President of Utah Valley University, where he has been serving since June of 2009.

 

Before assuming his current position, President Holland was an associate professor of political science at Brigham Young University, where he taught courses in political philosophy and American political thought. There he received BYU’s “Civically Engaged Scholar of the Year” in 2008 by Utah Campus Compact. His scholarly research on how ideals of Christian charity influenced the development of American political life garnered national attention. In 2005, he won Princeton University’s James Madison Fellowship. He has written and collaborated on a number of scholarly books including Benjamin Franklin’s Intellectual World (2012), A Fork in the Road (2012), and Bonds of Affection: Civic Charity and the Making of America (2007), which was selected as an "outstanding academic title" by Choice Magazine.

 

He graduated from Brigham Young University with honors in 1991 as valedictorian for the political science department. That same year he was awarded the Raoul Wallenberg Scholarship for a year of graduate study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Before going on to earn his master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science at Duke University, President Holland served as chief of staff for the top executive of the international consulting firm Monitor Group and, later, as special assistant to then-Governor Michael O. Leavitt.

 

Currently, he serves on numerous community boards, including the editorial advisory board of the Deseret News and the boards of the Utah Valley and Salt Lake City Chamber of Commerce, the Wells Fargo Community Board, and is Chair of the Utah Campus Compact Board of Directors. He and his wife, Paige, have four children, Jacob, Mitzi, Grace and Dan.

Donalyn Miller

A Texas sixth grade teacher and author of "The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child" and The Book Whisperer blog.

Donalyn_Miller/blog

Steven I. Layne

Children's literature professor at Judson University in Illinois, a respected literacy consultant, motivational speaker and author of 21 books including teen thriller "This Side of Paradise."

stevelayne.com

Christopher Paul Curtis

Learn more about Christopher Paul Curtis at

nobodybutcurtis.com

Patricia Reilly Giff

Two-time Newbery Honor Award recipient and young adult author "I want to see children curled up with books, finding an awareness of themselves as they discover other people's thoughts. I want them to make the connection that books are people's stories, that writing is talking on paper, and I want them to write their own stories. I'd like my books to provide that connection for them." --Patricia Reilly Giff

randomhouse.com

Nadine Wimmer

Nadine Wimmer currently co-anchors KSL 5 Television's Eyewitness News at 5, 6 and 10pm. She is also an Emmy award-winning reporter who produces a series of reports "Staying Safe," to help parents protect their families from danger, injuries and other preventable problems. Wimmer moved up the ranks in the KSL 5 newsroom as weekend anchor, political reporter, education reporter, and producer. She was born and raised in Salt Lake City and began her broadcasting career at KSL Television as a University of Utah intern. Education has always been important to Nadine. She earned her Master's degree in political communication and bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Utah. She attended a fellows program on education and journalism through the University of Washington. Because of her commitment to education, she is most excited about her involvement in the ³Read Today,² KSL¹s Reading Incentive program. Read today aims to boost reading scores by encouraging families to read together. Through stories and our online digital reading tracker we¹re helping parents realize the importance of reading with their children and providing incentives. Nadine won a regional Emmy award for her Staying Safe reports. She has received various awards from Utah Broadcasters Association and Society of Professional Journalists. She serves on the Governor's Literacy Commission and on boards at the University of Utah. In her free time, she loves the outdoors and outdoor recreating in Utah's mountains and red rock country. She is often trail running, mountain biking, hiking, water skiing and has recently taken up skate skiing. She's an avid reader and studies Spanish. Her favorite thing is to spend time with family. She's married to Phil Kirk, who works in law enforcement. They live with their two boys in Park City.

David Booth

David Booth is professor emeritus in education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, where he is Scholar in Residence in the Curriculum, Teaching, and Language Department. For over forty years, he has been involved in teaching children and teachers, as a classroom teacher, language arts consultant, professor, speaker and author. His students have included teachers and administrators enrolled in the preservice, master's, and doctoral programs in education. David has authored many teacher reference books and textbooks in all areas of language development: reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and has worked on several guidelines for the Ontario Ministry of Education. A popular speaker internationally, David has addressed educators in every province of Canada, throughout most American states, and in England, Germany, the Near East, New Zealand, and Australia. He has participated in many international conferences, speaking and presenting workshops in all areas of language learning. He has won several awards in Canada and the United States for his teaching, for his contributions to language and literacy, and for his books for young people.

Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

Caldecott Honor winning illustrator-author tandem Steve Jenkins and Robin Page Robin Page and Steve Jenkins have been working together for more than 35 years. After meeting in design school in North Carolina, they moved to New York City, eventually opening their own graphic design office. Robin’s first children’s book was published in 1986, the year her daughter Page was born. Reading aloud soon became a daily activity for parents and child, a ritual that continued when their son Alec arrived two years later. Steve’s first book was published in 1994, the year the family immigrated to Boulder, Colorado. Since then, Robin and Steve have produced some 27 nonfiction children’s books and their third child, Jamie.

Learn more about Steve Jenkins at stevejenkinsbooks.com For some great insights into what makes Steve Jenkins "tick," take a look at this blog and his fascinating answers to great questions:blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings

Debi Richan

Popular performer, Debi Richan, tells stories with humor, passion and understanding. An energetic and polished artist, Debi has been a regular performer at the renowned Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, Thanksgiving Point, Hans Christian Anderson Storytelling Festival, Weber Storytelling Festival as well as a frequent and enthusiastic performer in libraries, schools, bookstores, festivals, family parties, business meetings, museums, university conferences and gatherings of all kinds throughout the West. "I've been writing and telling stories all my life. It's as natural for me as blooming is to flowers!" Debi has been heard on radio and television, at BYU Women's Conference, the Federal Bureau of Land Management, the Western Museum Conference, Timpanogos Storytelling Conference and the Western Literacy Conference as well as numerous other performances. In addition, she teaches workshops in the art of storytelling and in the researching of the unique historical stories for which she has become so well known. A wife and mother of four daughters, Debi is well acquainted with the perils of parenthood and suburbia. She has visited every one of the fifty United States, Asia and Europe. This love of the "world view" permeates her telling style and she particularly enjoys sharing "whole earth" tales to bring people together through the stories. Past president of the Utah Storytelling Guild, Vice President of the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, Debi has performed professionally for 18 years with an obvious love of the stories and enjoyment of the audience. "Nothing is quite as exciting as throwing out the line of a story and seeing your audience pick it up so the story can tightrope-walk back and forth between you. It's heart-to-heart communication growing right before your eyes!"