Friday, March 28, 2025
For Children in Grades 4-6 in Northeast Missouri
Pre-Registration for all festival events required.
Authors for 2025
Chris Barton
Chris Barton is the author of picture books including bestseller Shark vs. Train, Sibert Honor-winning The Day-Glo Brothers, and Whoosh! Lonnie Johnson’s Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions, celebrated on 21 state lists. His newest nonfiction books include Glitter Everywhere! (one of National Public Radio’s “Books We Love” for 2023), Moving Forward (an SLJ Best Book of 2022), and How to Make a Book (About My Dog). Chris and wife, Jennifer Ziegler author of Worser, live in Austin and co-host the children’s literature video series “This One’s Dedicated to…” He also serves as vice president of the Texas Institute of Letters.
David Biedrzycki
David is the author/ illustrator (Authorator) of over 30 children’s books, including the award-winning Invasion of the Unicorns, SumoKitty, Ace Lacewing, Bug Detective series, Me and My Dragon series, Breaking News Bear Alert series, winner of the Illinois Monarch Picture Book Award and the Georgia State Picture Book Award. His newest, ARTificial Intelligence is a story about a robot who finds his true calling as an artist.
He creates all his artwork digitally and shares this with aspiring young writers, illustrators, and readers all over the US and in international schools, including Africa, China, Japan, Dubai, Germany, and India.
Rob Buyea
Rob Buyea did not like reading or writing as a kid but loved both when he was a teacher, which ultimately put him on the path to becoming the author of many books. He is best known for his Mr. Terupt series, which has won numerous awards and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He is also the author of the award-winning Perfect Score series and three stand-alone novels, What Comes Next, The Daredevils (Mark Twain nominee), and Carter Avery’s Tricky Fourth-Grade Year. Rob’s books continue to reach classrooms near and far and have given him the opportunity to visit with students all over the world—something he loves to do. You can visit him at robbuyea.com.
Lindsay Currie
Lindsay Currie is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of mysteries for young readers, including her most recent title, The Mystery of Locked Rooms, which was the #1 Indie Next pick for May/June 2024, a Read with Jenna Jr. pick, and a Target Book Club pick! Lindsay grew up on Nancy Drew and loves a good twisty tale. When she’s not writing, she can generally be found looking for an adventure of her own. Lindsay loves researching forgotten history and recently relocated from Chicago to a 220 acre farm in downstate Illinois where she finally gets to see stars every night, and take hikes every day.
Chrystal D. Giles
Chrystal D. Giles is a champion for diversity and representation in children’s literature. Chrystal often says she’s a lover of both words and numbers, she spent fifteen years as an accountant before transitioning to writing full-time. Chrystal made her debut with Take Back the Block, which received multiple starred reviews, was a Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and NPR Best Book, and won the IRA Social Justice Literature Award. Her latest middle-grade novel, Not An Easy Win, received four starred reviews and was named an ALA Notable Children’s Book. Chrystal lives outside Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband and son.
Sandy Grubb
Sandy Grubb’s debut middle grade novel, Just Like Click, won the esteemed Kraken Book Prize, recognizing finely crafted middle grade fiction. Sandy hopes her books will help spark a love of reading in children. Sandy studied English and French Literature at Stanford University, followed with an elementary teaching program at U.C. Berkeley. She has put her passion for words and kids together to become a children’s author. Sandy serves on the Board of World Vision with the audacious goal of ending extreme poverty for all children in our lifetime. When not at home in Lake Oswego, Oregon, Sandy and her family can often be found exploring nature and traveling around the world. She has been to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro and explored all seven continents
Jose Pablo Iriarte
José Pablo Iriarte is a Cuban-American writer, high school math teacher, and parent of two. Their fiction has been finalist for the Nebula, Hugo, Locus and Sturgeon Awards, longlisted for the Otherwise Award, and reprinted in various Year’s Best compilations. Their debut novel, Benny Ramírez and the Nearly Departed was published in 2024 by Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House. Their follow up, AJ Torres and the Treasure of Captain Grayshark is forthcoming on June 24, 2025. José was born in Florida, raised in Miami, and lives and works within a stone’s throw of Disney World.
Jane Kuo
Jane Kuo is an Asian American writer who grew up in Los Angeles. Her books, In the Beautiful Country and Land of Broken Promises, are inspired by the weekends and summers she spent working in her family’s fast-food restaurant. Jane’s essays have appeared in the LA Times and Writer’s Digest and her prose poem, Chinese Bodies, American Cars can be found in the anthology Here to Stay: Poetry and Prose from the Undocumented Diaspora. Jane lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two sons.
Megan Wagner Lloyd
Megan Wagner Lloyd is the Eisner-nominated author of the bestselling and award winning kids’ graphic novels Allergic and Squished, co-created with illustrator Michelle Mee Nutter, and the Super Pancake kids’ graphic novel series, co-created with illustrator Abhi Alwar. Megan is also the author of the children’s novel Haven: A Small Cat’s Big Adventure, the kids’ activity book The Creative Writing Playbook, illustrated by Madeline Garcia, the picture book Finding Wild, illustrated by Abigail Halpin, and several more picture books. She lives with her family in the Washington DC area.
Jennifer Nielsen
Jennifer A. Nielsen was born and raised in Northern Utah, where she still lives today. She is the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of more than 25 books for yung readers, including THE FALSE PRINCE, A NIGHT DIVIDED, RESISTANCE, THE TRAITOR’S GAME, WORDS ON FIRE, and many other titles. Her works have been optioned for film, won multiple state awards, and been translated into twenty languages. Her latest release is the Mt. Everest rescue story, ONE WRONG STEP. Jennifer loves old books, lazy days in the mountains, and spending time with her family.
Jennifer Ziegler
Jennifer Ziegler is the author of several novels for young and young-at-heart readers, including Worser, Revenge of the Flower Girls, and How Not to Be Popular. She also serves as faculty co-chair of Vermont College of Fine Arts’ MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults. A native Texan of Mexican American heritage, Jennifer lives in Austin with her husband (and favorite author), Chris Barton, and their boss, a terrier mix named Ernie. When not teaching or creating books, Jennifer loves to visit schools, festivals, and conferences to lead workshops and presentations, urging readers and writers to recognize their own powers and use them for good.