Beverly Cleary Professor for Children and Youth Services Eliza Dresang likes to use her connections to the world of literature for children and youth to support learning experiences students will carry with them throughout their careers. So Dr. Dresang was especially pleased when Jeanne Birdsall, winner of the 2005 National Book Award for Young People's Literature, asked her publisher to arrange some time with graduate students to discuss her writing. It is much more common for authors on tour to tell others about their work rather than seeking their opinions about it.

Birdsall is one of a small number of celebrated authors (15 total) who have ever received the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. This selection was unusual in that she won the award for her first book, The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy.

"[The National Book Award] Committee for Youth consists of three of four accomplished authors, who have themselves won various awards, and they are quite knowledgeable about what is excellence in children's and young adult literature," explained Dresang. The award typically goes to books for upper elementary age children and teens. Publishers nominate books they perceive as particularly worthy of recognition.

"In the lore of award winner, you rarely win on your first book. The fact that a group of her peers, who are award winners themselves, saw the merit in her writing is particularly amazing. Her status as one of this very small and select group made it very special for her to come by and talk with a group of our students."

"She told her publisher [Knopf, a division of Random House] that during the book to promote the release of her third book on May 10, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, she wanted to talk to knowledgeable adults who had read her book and could discuss it with her," said Dresang. "Her publisher contacted me and asked if we'd be willing to have her come and of course we were thrilled. It was a great opportunity for students to have an informal conversation about her work."

In her presentation, Birdsall explained the philosophy behind her work, which is to provide a relevant and safe haven for her readers, and asked the students, all of whom had read her National Book Award title, about their perspective. "This was an opportunity for Jeanne Birdsall to share a lot about what influenced the way she writes, books such as Little Women, The Secret Garden, and books by Edward Eager that provided a 'family' for her as a child. As a writer she has a very keen insight into how children in this 9 - 12 year old age range think and what their concerns and emotional needs are, and she's able to convey that so that so young readers can see themselves. And in a way her books are like those of Mrs. Cleary in that they show such keen and timeless insight into the everyday issues children face."

"I was extremely moved by both Jeanne Birdsall's willingness to share her own story of how she came to writing in her forties as well as the role she believes the writer for middle readers plays," said Alpha DeLap, one of the students who participated in the visit. "As someone who wants to be a youth librarian with a specialization in programming for ages 8-13, Jeanne Birdsall's understanding of exactly what middle readers need from books -- [specifically] imaginary experiences that provide them with enough emotional exploration and sustenance that they are able to face the challenges of being an adolescent with confidence -- was very useful. I will be able use her ideas to inform my future programming."

"The students saw how much she understands, how she takes characters and makes them, how she decides what to write," said Dresang. Students were able to see how some of the differences they had noted in Birdsall's books -- the strong focus on character rather than plot (the latter being a prominent feature of so much contemporary children's literature), the insight, the vividness and conciseness of the description -- were reflected in the purpose with which Birdsall set pen to paper.

"One of the students mentioned that when she thought about the idea that she was not the intended reader, she loved it, because she understood that [Birdsall] was writing for a child," Dresang said, adding that this might help the student understand how she might use that information to connect another child with that experience.

"For the students to be able to gain that understanding from the person who is writing the book, and see how she listens for the voice of the children in the book … is not something that I could convey myself.

"And after she left, Jeanne wrote back and said that she enjoyed it, which is also a compliment for the students, how seriously they took it and their ability to give her the feedback she wanted to get."

Dresang is able to support these types of learning experiences because of the high level of regard for her work within the Children and Youth Services community. In 2007, Dresang received the American Library Association/Scholastic Award given for "unusual contribution to the stimulation and guidance of children's and young adult reading, exemplifying outstanding achievement in the profession." She has served on the Caldecott Award committee and her Radical Change Theory has had a dramatic impact on how people think about books for children and youth. "In my opinion," said Dresang, "it also says something about the quality of our school that the publisher was willing to send her out here, and I was happy that they were willing to take that chance," to provide students in the UW iSchool's MLIS program the type of experiences that grow out of that.

Birdsall's visit provided numerous insights to the UW students about the extraordinary time and talent it takes to write a high quality book for youth. As for Jeanne Birdsall, she wrote afterward that "my time with you was the most rewarding event of my professional life so far." To all involved, her note was nice compliment from one of the best.