COLLEGE OF

Education and Human Development

2024 Book Week

A celebration of children's literature

Every Good Story
Kate DiCamillo will provide a meditation on how reading and writing stories can help us become ourselves.

Book Week is the annual celebration of children’s books and authors organized at the University of Minnesota since 1941. The event attracts teachers, librarians, educators, students, and audiences passionate about young readers’ literacy. Over the past 80 years, Book Week has featured some of the most notable authors of children’s and YA literature, including Madeleine L’Engle, Kate DiCamillo, Christopher Paul Curtis, and Gene Luen Yang. Book Week is hosted by faculty and graduate students from the children’s literature program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. The guest author’s books are available for sale and autographing.

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2023 Book Week highlight video

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2024: Kate DiCamillo

The theme of hope and belief amid impossible circumstances is a common thread in much of Kate DiCamillo’s writing. In fact, DiCamillo’s own journey is something of a dream come true. After moving to Minnesota from Florida in her twenties, homesickness and a bitter winter helped inspire Because of Winn-Dixie—her first published novel, which, remarkably, became a runaway bestseller and snapped up a Newbery Honor. “After the Newbery committee called me, I spent the whole day walking into walls,” she says. “I was stunned. And very, very happy.”

Her second novel, The Tiger Rising, went on to become a National Book Award Finalist, followed by The Tale of Despereaux, her first Newbery Medal winner. Since then the master storyteller has written for a wide range of ages, received countless awards, and currently has over 44 million books in print worldwide. Her stories have been translated into 41 languages, and she continues to enjoy a robust following of readers all over the globe. She has collaborated with some of the top illustrators of the day, including Sophie Blackall, Chris Van Dusen, Jaime Kim, Carmen Mok, Timothy Basil Ering, and Harry Bliss.

Beloved by the entertainment world, many of her books have been adapted for stage and screen. There are popular feature film versions of some of her classic novels, including Because of Winn- Dixie, The Tale of Despereaux, Flora & Ulysses, The Tiger Rising, and The Magician’s Elephant.

Kate DiCamillo, a literacy advocate and a Library of Congress National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Emerita, says about stories, “When we read together, we connect. Together, we see the world. Together, we see one another.”

Featured books

The Hotel Balzaar

Ferris

Orris and Timble

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The University of Minnesota campuses were built on the traditional homelands of the Dakota and Ojibwe, and scores of other Indigenous peoples who have walked on these lands from time immemorial. It is important to acknowledge the peoples on whose land we live, learn, and work as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with our tribal nations. We also acknowledge that words are not enough. We must ensure that our institution provides support, resources, and programs that increase access to all aspects of higher education for our American Indian students, staff, faculty, and community members.