Join us as we celebrate 40 years of honoring the best in Kid Lit

Our 40th Anniversary

40 Years of the Best Kid Lit Authors and Illustrators

Alder, Nancy • Allen, Josh • Ammon, Richard • Ancona, George • Anderson, Bethanne • Anderson, Laurie Halse • Armstrong, Jennifer • Arnosky, Jim • Avi • Barnhill, Kelly • Barron, T.A. • Bartoletti, Susan • Bauer, Joan • Baylor, Byrd • Berry, Julie • Berry, Julie • Billingsley, Franny • Bing, Christopher • Bishop, Nic • Blackall, Sophie • Brady, Irene • Brannon, Rachel • Bryant, Jen • Buehner, Mark and Caralyn • Burleigh, Robert • Cannon, Ann • Chin, Jason • Choldenko, Gennifer • Cobb, Viki • Cohn, Amy • Cole, Joanna • Condie, Ally • Conrad, Pam • Cordell, Matthew • Craft, Jerry • Crow, Kristen • Crowe, Chris • Curlee, Lynn • Cushman, Karen • Cutler, Marcia • David LaRochelle • Davidson, Rosemary • De Felice, Cynthia • De la Pena, Matt • Deborah Hopkinson • Dewey, Jennifer • DiCamillo, Kate • Dillon, Leo and Diane • DiTerlizzi, Tony • Dominguez, Angela • Eagar,Lindsay • Farmer, Nancy • Fisher, Leonard Everett • Fleishchman, Paul • Fleming, Candace • Fletcher, Susan • Florian, Douglas • Frazee, Marla • Freedman, Russell • Fritz, Jean • Gantos, Jack • George, Jean Craighead • George, Jessica Day • Giblin, James Cross • Gidwitz, Adam • Graham, Mark • Haddix, Margaret Peterson • Hahn, Mary Downing • Hale, Nathan • Hale, Shannon • Hansen, Lucille • Heidicker, Christian • Heller, Ruth • Helquist, Brett • Heuston, Kimberley • Hewitt, Kathryn • Hilmo, Tess • Hite, Sid • Ho, Joanna • Holm, Jennifer • Holt, Kimberly Willis • Hong, Lily Toy • Hughes, Dean • Hull, Richard • Idle, Molly • Ingold, Jeanette • Janceko, Paul • Jenkins, Steve • Johnson, Brad • Johnson, Stephen T. • Kellogg, Steven • Kelly, Erin • Kennedy, X J • Kimmel, Eric • Kirby, Matthew • Klassen, Jon • Kobrin, Beverly • Konigsburg, E.L. • Krull, Kathleen • Kuskin, Karla • Lasky, Katherine • Le, Minh • Levine, Gail Carson • Lewis, Barbara • Lewis, E.B. • Lewis, Patrick J. • Lichtenheld, Tom • Lin, Grace • Long, Loren • Lowry, Lois • Lynch, P.J. • Macaulay, David • MacLachlan, Patricia • Maolucci, Gina • Marcus, Leonard • Marsh, Katherine • Martin, Ann • McDermott, Gerald • Meddaugh, Susan • Mederis, Angela • Medina, Meg • Meltzer, Milton • Meyer, Stephanie • Minor, Wendell • Montgomery, Sy • Morales, Yuyi • Mull, Brandon • Murphy, James • Napoli, Donna Jo • Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds • Nelson, Kadir • Nielsen, Jennifer • Nix, Garth • Nye, Naomi Shibab • Oaks, Harold • Oppel, Kenneth • Park, Linda Sue • Parker-Rhodes, Jewell • Partidge, Elizabeth • Partridge, Elizabeth • Paterson, Katherine • Paulsen, Gary • Pennypacker, Sara • Pham, LeUyen • Phelan, Matt • Pinkney, Brian • Pinkney, Jerry • Plummer, Louise •  Pringle, Laurance • Rallison, Janette • Rand, Ted • Ransome, James • Ransome, Lesa • Rappaport, Doreen • Rex, Adam • Ricks, Sam • Rocco, John • Rohmann, Eric • Rosenthal, Amy Krouse • Rosoff, Meg • Ruckman, Ivy • Ryan, Pam Munoz • Sabuda, Robert • Sachar, Louis • Saeed, Aisha • Santat, Dan • Say, Allen • Schertle, Alice • Schmidt, Gary D. • Scieszka, Jon • Seeger, Laura • Seiter, Dave • Sepetys, Ruta • Shannon, David • Sheinkin, Steve • Shub, Elizabeth • Shulevitz, Uri • Sidman, Joyce • Siegal, Aranka • Siegel, Beatrice • Simon, Seymour • Singer, Marilyn • Skurzynski, Gloria • Small, David • Smith, Roland • Soontornvat, Christina • Spinelli, Jerry • Spirin, Gennady • Spofford, Ad • St. George, Judith • Stanley, Diane • Stanley, Jerry • Staples, Suzanne Fisher • Stead, Philip and Erin • Stead, Rebecca • Stevens, Janet • Stewart, Melissa • Stewart, Sarah • Stifvater, Maggie • Stork, Francisco • Sweet, Melissa • Tunnell, Michael O. • Usborne, Peter • Van Draanen, Wendelin • Vanderpool, Clare • Velde, Vivian Vande • Voigt, Cynthia • Waber, Bernard • Walton, Rick • Ward, Kathy • Weatherford, Carole Boston • Wein, Elizabeth • Wells, Rosemary • Wiesner, David • Wiles, Deborah • Williams, Barbara • Williams, Carol • Williams, Terry Tempest • Wilson, William • Wisniewski, David • Wohnoutka, Mike • Wolk, Lauren • Yang, Gene Luen • Yee, Lisa • Yep, Laurence • Young, Ed • Zarr, Sara • Zelinsky, Paul

• Newbery Award
• Caldecott Award
• Both Awards

40 Years of Memories

"The folks at BYU put on a damn good conference. Check out that Last Stop fishbowl, I mean . . . "
—Matt de la Pena 2017

"I just wanted to send you a final thank you, Emilee, and to your entire team. You put on a wonderful conference, and I was honored to be a part of it. "
—Jennifer Nielsen 2013

"Please, please, please thank your committee and everyone—everyone!—involved in making the BFYR conference so amazing and meaningful last week. I was just blown over by all of you and so grateful that I was invited to come speak and so happy to be with you all. What a conference! I detailed so much of what I loved to Gene at dinner on our last night, and I hope he’ll pass it on to you. I hope you’ll pass on my thanks. And I hope our paths will cross again someday. It’s a singular feeling, when you know you’re among people who are doing great good work in the world, and you get to participate in that. I will long remember all of your kindnesses and all that I learned. Many thanks and much love to you all. "
—Deborah Wiles 2017

"Thanks again for an absolutely wonderful conference. "
—Rebecca Stead 2011

"Just another note to say how much I enjoyed the conference. The people, the organization, BYU—it was all very special. Many thanks again. "
—Robert Burleigh 2011

"I had a great conference—thank you for all the work you put in to make it special for all of us. Thanks again. Very good job. "
—Karen Cushman 2013

"Educators and aspiring authors/illustrators: If you’re already thinking about attending a conference or two next year, consider one of these: Children’s Literature Conference at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA or the BYU Symposium on Books for Young Readers in Provo, Utah. I cannot say enough about the wonderful people I met at these places, the rich conference experience enjoyed by the attendees, or the beautiful settings of the events themselves. "
—Jen Bryant 2017

"Thank you for inviting me to take part in this year’s symposium and treating me like royalty from start to finish. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the attendees who were all enthusiastic about children’s books as I am. Thank you for what you do for authors as well as all you do for teachers and librarians who make sure that young people have access to the books they want and need. "
—David LaRochelle 2024

"I wanted to thank you and all your associates for making my stay at the BYU Book Symposium so stress free and rewarding. Everyone really gave an extra extra effort to tend to the smallest details in every aspect of my stay. Max, Felipe, Erin, Emilee, and all the BYU Library folk all made me feel at home and special. You did a superb job, and I would be glad to recommend the event to any other author. I hope you guys enjoy Laura Vaccaro Seeger next year. She is a bubbly and bright member of our Long Island author’s group here and quite talented in all her books. Best wishes to you and your family. "
—Douglas Florian 2016

"OMG. The Books for Young Readers Symposium has gone above and beyond in terms of presentation for the conference. "
—Dan Santat 2018

"Belated thanks for inviting me to the conference. I had a great time, and it was really nice to see old friends—like Jim and Mike and Rick Walton—and meet new ones. It is a real pleasure to attend an event that is so well planned and run. It makes my duties so much easier and worry free. Guy was a fantastic host (and one of those new friends!). "
—David Wiesner 2011

"Thank you again for inviting me to participate in the BYU Symposium. I had a fabulous time! It is the gold standard of conferences! "
—Marilyn Singer 2015

"I’d like to thank you for the wonderful time we had in Provo. The conference was extremely well planned and managed, the other authors were inspiring (we made some new friends), and the energy and enthusiasm of the teachers, librarians, and parents that attended was amazing. Thanks again for inviting us, and for putting on such a brilliant event. "
—Steve Jenkins 2013

"The BYU event was wonderful. You all are so well organized, and the attendees were enthusiastic and fun to be with. It was a memorable conference, replete with Tony Sarg’s balloons! He was in the air, no pun intended. Again, thank you for having me at BYU. I only [hope] that next time I can explore the majestic mountains. "
—Melissa Sweet 2017

"As I told everybody who would listen—including Marilyn Singer, your poet for next year—the BYU experience was a class act, from A to Z, and much of that is because of the good energy and hard work you put into making sure that everything was wonderful. As one who does a fair amount of conferences, I appreciate what you did for the conference . . . and for me. "
—Paul B. Janeczko 2014

"I’m writing once again to thank you for everything you did to make my visit to Utah so absolutely spectacular! Thanks again for such a warm welcome and a fabulous conference. "
—Sy Montgomery 2014