Nationally-recognized children’s book author Judy Blume will receive the 2009 Southern Miss Medallion during the 42nd annual Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival at The University of Southern Mississippi April 1-3.

This event, hosted each year by the School of Library and Information Science, welcomes more than 500 teachers and librarians for sessions and workshops with some of the country's most recognized authors, illustrators and experts in children's literature. The 2009 festival features Blume, along with eight other highly esteemed authors and illustrators whose works total more than 100 publications.

"The entire 2009 speaker lineup is remarkable," said Karen Rowell, festival assistant director. "We have a star-studded festival in the works. It will be an incredible year for the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival, and I am proud to be associated with bringing Judy Blume to the Southern Miss campus."

This year’s 42nd annual Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival is in honor of the late Coleen Cole Salley, a University of New Orleans distinguished professor of children's literature and children's book author.

Blume is author of more than 20 classics of children’s and young adult literature and most famous for such works as "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret," "Blubber," "Just as Long as We're Together" and the five-book series about the irrepressible Fudge in such books as "Fudge-a-mania." She has also written three New York Times bestseller adult novels. More than 80 million copies of her books have been sold and translated into 31 languages. Her recognitions include the National Book Foundation Medal for the Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, the Library of Congress Living Legends Award and the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement from the American Library Association.

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Authors and illustrators scheduled to appear along with Blume during the three-day festival at the Thad Cochran Center are as follows:

·         Ashley Bryan: Illustrator and poet, 1990 Southern Miss Medallion winner, recipient of multiple Coretta Scott King Awards and recipient of the fifth annual Virginia Hamilton Literary Award for lifetime achievement.

·         Eloise Greenfield: Author and poet of more than 40 books for children, including "Honey I love and Other Love Poems," "I Can Draw a Weeposaur and Other Dinosaurs" and "Kia Tanisha." She has won multiple book awards and recognitions for lifetime achievement.

·         Jan Spivey Gilchrist: Artist and illustrator, inducted into the International Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent in 2000, Coretta Scott King Award for "Nathaniel Talking" and a Coretta Scott King Honor for "Night on Neighborhood Street," chosen as a Reading Rainbow Book. She is the illustrator of many of Eloise Greenfield’s books for children.

·         John Green: Novelist for young adults, recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award for outstanding young adult literature for his first book, "Looking for Alaska" and awarded a Michael L. Printz Honor for "An Abundance of Katherines."

·         Yuyi Morales: Illustrator and teller of Mexican folk tales, a two-time recipient of the Pura Belpré Award for illustration for "Just a Minute! A Trickster Tale" and "Los Gatos Black on Halloween" and a Pura Belpré Honor for her illustrations in "Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez."

·         Arthur Yorinks: Author of more than 25 children's books, including the 1987 Caldecott Medal winner, "Hey, Al." He is also an actor and writer for opera, ballet, film and theater.

·         Pat Scales: Current president of the Association for Library Services to Children, middle-school librarian for 30 years and author of "Teaching Banned Books: 12 Guides for Young Readers." Scales will be the Ezra Jack Keats lecturer.

·         Louise Borden: Author of 25 picture books, with three more currently in production. She has won numerous awards for her work, including a Christopher Award in 2000 for “Good Luck, Mrs. K.” In 2008, Louise appeared in a documentary that aired on the Weather Channel and has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, the BBC and NPR.

Book festival participants may also attend breakout sessions and workshops including the following.

·         Banned Books Exposed! by Kathi Barco, a session that provides basic information on books that have been banned or challenged in school and public libraries;

·         Libraries ROCK!: Reinventing Our Children's Knowledge by Laurie Fowler, a session demonstrating several ways for librarians and teachers to engage young people with children's and young adult literature;

·         Seeing is Believing by Sarah C. Campbell, a discussion on the power of photography and the importance of storytelling in children's nonfiction literature

The Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival also serves as an event to highlight the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection, one of North America's leading research centers in the field of children's literature. Founded in 1966, the collection holds the original manuscripts and illustrations of more than 1,200 authors and illustrators, as well as 100,000-plus published books dating from 1530 to the present.

"I think the lineup will be in keeping with the great history of the book festival," said Ellen Ruffin, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection curator. "We are especially thrilled to have someone of Judy Blume’s stature to receive the Southern Miss Medallion. She is joining the company of authors such as Beverly Cleary, E. L. Konigsburg, Eric Carle, Ezra Jack Keats and so many others. Her influence with young people is incomparable."

The schedule includes two days of workshops and presentations on Wednesday, April 1 and Friday, April 3. Continuing education units will be available for Mississippi Educators. Individuals who wish to attend the festival may register at the door. For all three days of events, the cost is $210. Single day registrations are available at the following rates: Wednesday, April 1 - $100; Thursday, April 2 - $150; Friday, April 3 - $85. For more information plus a complete schedule, visit http://www.usm.edu/bookfest or call 601.266.4228.