The History of the Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival

Illustration for the second annual Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival, featuring author and illustrator Janet Stevens. Photo courtesy of Jerry Pfabe.

By April Bayer

The following article is part of the Sower’s ongoing History of Concordia series in celebration of Concordia’s 125th anniversary and our publication’s 55th anniversary.

2018 marks the 23rd annual Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival, which served more than five thousand children from the state of Nebraska and surrounding states through school visits and activities on Concordia’s campus on Friday, Oct. 4. The festival will continue with an adult conference on Saturday for educators, librarians and others interested in children’s literature.

This year’s festival includes presentations from 17 authors and illustrators of books for children and young adults, along with several literacy experts. Notable presenters include keynote speaker Jon Scieszka, young adult author Laurie Halse Anderson, and author-illustrators James Ransome and Lesa Cline-Ransome.

According to Festival Director Dylan Teut, the festival continues to expand each year from its humble beginnings in 1996. Teut said that the idea for the festival came 23 years ago when Dr. Judy Preuss, who was Concordia’s dean of education at the time, and Dr. Janell Uffelman teamed up to create an event that would bring parents, teachers and students together to celebrate literacy.

Approximately 200 participants gathered in Weller Auditorium on a Saturday afternoon to listen to a presentation by author and illustrator Janet Stevens. This was accompanied by a small adult conference. Over time, interest in the festival increased, and it grew from an event for families into an event that includes groups from hundreds of schools each year and spans three days.

“We’ve seen a lot of changes over the years, even in the few years that I’ve been here, but our mission has not changed,” Teut said. “We will always be about inspiring young readers to fall in love with reading, writing and art and to follow their dreams.”

Within the last ten years, the number of volunteers involved with the festival has also increased, and several academic departments from the university have gotten involved. Some of these activities include drawing demonstrations from the art department, literacy-themed play and relays led by health and human performance majors in “Literacy on the Lawn,” and performances of children’s books adapted into plays by drama students. In the past, science and music professors have also led sessions.

“We’ve seen a lot of people come together from across campus over the years to really make it not just an education thing or a Plum Creek thing, but it truly is a Concordia event,” Teut said.

In recent years, the Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival expanded even further by teaming up with Chapters Books and Gifts to sponsor book tour stops by other authors and illustrators throughout the year, including Jan Brett, Dav Pilkey, David Shannon and Kate DiCamillo, who will be visiting Concordia’s campus on Dec. 8.      

In 2016, the festival added another event for adults in the spring, known as Breakfast and Books. Attendees have the opportunity to enjoy a catered brunch and listen to a presentation by a children’s author or illustrator. Past presenters have included Jane Yolen, Heidi Stemple and Carmen Agra Deedy. The 2019 Breakfast and Books event will welcome David Small, Sarah Stewart and Molly Bang to campus.

For more information, visit the Plum Creek Children’s Literacy Festival’s website at http://www.cune.edu/about/conferences-and-camps/plumcreek/.