BookExpo 2017 Panel to Explore Graphic Nonfiction for Young Readers

MARCH, by Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell

Award-Winning Author / Illustrator Roxie Munro

Rocco Staino, School Library Journal, Huffington Post

Christopher Lloyd, Publisher, What on Earth Publishing

Leigh Walton

New York, NY, Friday, June 2, 2017

At Bookexpo 2017, at a panel titled Truth Is More Painted Than Fiction: Graphic Nonfiction for Young Readers, panelists will explore the topic of graphic nonfiction for young readers. 

Picture books, comics, and other highly illustrated nonfiction books are a growing phenomenon in children's and YA (young adult) publishing. For example, the graphic memoir March, depicting the civil rights movement through the eyes of John Lewis, became a #1 New York Times bestseller and won the National Book Award.

Panelists will discuss questions such as: What makes these works more than simply "easier books"? What is uniquely valuable about learning with images? What is visual literacy? What are readers looking for? What works? What doesn’t? Will schools embrace these formats? How do we market and promote visual nonfiction?

Topics to be covered will include:

• Learning how using "gamification" in nonfiction increases learning, engagement, and collaboration
• Understanding the importance of great imagery for  visual learners
• Why nonfiction can be more fulfilling, exciting, and fun than fiction

Susannah Greenberg

The organizer and moderator of the panel, Susannah Greenberg, a book publicist whose firm Susannah Greenberg Public Relations works with books in the genre, said that she sees graphic nonfiction books as a burgeoning new source of best sellers because they have a unique power to connect, communicate, entertain, engage, and educate young readers.  She believes they speak the language of a new generation, one that has grown up with new media and visual learning, in a way that text alone does not.  

The panelists will be:

• Rocco Staino, a Contributing Editor for School Library Journal, who writes for the Huffington Post, and is the Director of the Empire State Center for the Book. In November 2014, he became the host of StoryMakers on KidLit.TV. He is also the retired director of the Keefe Library of the North Salem School District in New York. @RoccoA

• Roxie Munro, Author/illustrator, Roxie Munro Studio, the author/illustrator of more than 40 award-winning nonfiction and concept children's picture books, and three interactive apps, many using "gamification" to engage, teach, and entertain. Titles include the NY Times Best Illustrated The Inside-Outside Book of New York City; Mazeways: A to Z; Doors; EcoMazes: 12 Earth Adventures; Inside-Outside Dinosaurs; Hatch!; and the upcoming Masterpiece Mix (August 2017). Her books have been translated into French, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese.@roxiemunro

• Christopher Lloyd, Publisher, Founder of What on Earth Publishing; historian, educator and author. His book What on Earth Happened: The Complete Story of the Planet (Bloomsbury, 2008), sold over 500,000 copies. Lloyd is an advocate of connected learning. His publishing house What on Earth publishes in a unique innovative format for young people using illustrative timelines called Wallbooks, which present a broader view of world history and visualize connections between the past and the present day. This book is part of a series is being launched in the US this spring, beginning with The Shakespeare Timeline Wall Book. @WallbookUS

• Leigh Walton, Marketing Director for Top Shelf Productions, an imprint of IDW Publishing. First in Portland, then in Seattle, now in New York, he has been representing his favorite graphic novel publisher for ten years, with duties including marketing, publicity, copywriting, and editorial. Most recently, he edited and managed the promotional campaign for the record-breaking March trilogy by Congressman John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell.
  @topshelfcomix

The panel was organized by and will be moderated by Susannah Greenberg, President of Susannah Greenberg Public Relations, a book publicity firm for publishers, authors, and book industry organizations. Greenberg's clients include both children’s and adult trade books. In children’s publishing, she has represented author Pat Mora, the 2016 Arbuthnot Lecturer and founder of DIA; KidLit TV; KIWI Storybooks; and currently represents What on Earth? Books. Greenberg was launch publicist for Albert Whitman Teen and has served as a judge for the Bookexpo YA and Middle Grade Buzz Picks as well as the Audies. She is past president of the Women’s National Book Association in New York, and a member of the Women’s Media Group.  @suegreenbergpr

Bookexpo meets annually and is the leading book trade conference in North America. It will take place this year from May 31-June 2, 2017 at the Javits Center in New York City.

The panel will take place at Bookexpo 2017, at the Javits Center in New York, NY, on Friday, June 2 - 12:00 - 12:50. Room 1 E16.

For further information, contact:

Susannah Greenberg, Public Relations, (646) 801-7477, publicity@bookbuzz.com

OR visit the web site: Bookexpo 2017

VIEW: On SlideShare