Nikki Grimes Drafts and related production material for various works by Grimes, including “Garvey in the Dark” and “Glory in the Margins,” as well as…
![Students sit around a table and color with markers.](https://kerlan.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Bell-Museum-1024x768.jpg)
The Kerlan staff and volunteers had an exciting Fall semester. We continued to participate in community events like the Minnesota Children’s Book Festival at the…
![Headshot of children's author Robie Harris with short cropped hair and glasses wearing a necklace with square beads](https://kerlan.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/RobieHarris-e1706888670177.jpg)
Last fall I was invited to join Rochester Public Librarian Kimberly Edson to give a talk titled, “An alarming movement in the U.S. to ban…
![Lisa Von Drasek](https://kerlan.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Lisa-Von-Drasek.-This-one-819x1024.jpg)
Kerlan Curator Lisa Von Drasek appeared on Minnesota Public Radio today to pitch the best children’s books to give as gifts for the holidays. Lisa was joined by Holly Weinkauf, owner of the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, on MPR News with Angela Davis at 9 a.m.
![Lisa Von Drasek](https://kerlan.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Lisa-Von-Drasek.-This-one-819x1024.jpg)
Summer reading loss is a concern for many parents and educators as students finish up the school year and spend time away from the classroom during vacation.
![Pencil sketch for an illustration by Brian Selznick for the book “The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins,” a children's picture book biography of Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins.](https://kerlan.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sketch-1024x708.jpg)
Thanks to a generous donation by Carol Erdahl — one of the former and founding owners of the Red Balloon Bookshop — the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Kerlan Collection of Children’s Literature contains one of Brian Selznick’s original pencil sketch illustrations for the book, “The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins.”
![Lisa Von Drasek, Andrea Davis Pinkney, and Dean of UMN Libraries Lisa German.](https://kerlan.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/award-group-2-1024x719.jpg)
An evening with 2022 Kerlan Award honoree Andrea Davis Pinkney By Allison Campbell-Jensen Was it the more than 50 books that Andrea Davis Pinkney has…
![This scorched book, from the collection of gay physician and sexologist Magnus Hirschfield, was burned by Nazis. Photo credit: Laura Migliorino.](https://kerlan.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/BurnedBook-1024x460.jpg)
Renowned for its breadth and depth of works by children’s book authors and illustrators, The Kerlan Collection of Children’s Literature mirrors the issues of its times. So when Kerlan curator Lisa Von Drasek was asked, “Does the Kerlan have any banned books?” she responded: “Of course we do!”
Von Drasek adds: “The number one category of banned books is LGBTQ and sex education books.”
![Collage of book covers from Andrea Davis Pinkney](https://kerlan.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Kerlan-1024x487.jpeg)
Reservations now open for this virtual event Please join us online to celebrate the winner of the 2022 Kerlan Award, Andrea Davis Pinkney. The Kerlan…
![A variety of children's books](https://kerlan.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/unnamed.jpg)
Fall schedules are filling up fast for families as students head back to school. With busy days and nights ahead, independent reading can often fall by the wayside as families adjust to their new back-to-school routines. Lisa Von Drasek, curator of the Kerlan Collection of Children’s Literature at the University of Minnesota, answers questions about the importance of independent reading for children’s literacy development and how to make independent reading a priority this fall.