Author Spotlight with Mac Barnett
On-Demand
Webinar
A PLA 2026 Virtual Conference On-Demand Webinar available free to PLA individual members
A book for adults about books for children, a rallying cry for art and imagination, and a celebration of the power of storytelling in all our lives. Make Believe is bestselling children’s author Mac Barnett’s incisive, intimate, and timely invitation to approach children’s literature not only as an art form worthy of deep study and criticism, but as a portal into the lives of the children. And at a time when we are faced with a national literacy crisis, he champions the profound joys of literature and the importance of reading for pleasure.
Originally presented during the PLA 2026 Virtual Conference, April 1–3, 2026.
Mac Barnett is the ninth U.S. National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, appointed by the Library of Congress and Every Child a Reader. He’s a New York Times-bestselling author of stories for children and the writer, with Jon Klassen, of Looking at Picture Books, a newsletter for adults about how picture books work. Barnett’s work has been translated into more than thirty languages and sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. His books have won many prizes, including two Caldecott Honors, three New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Awards, three E.B. White Read Aloud Awards, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Germany’s Jugendliteraturpreis, China’s Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Award, The Netherlands’ Silver Griffel, and Italy’s Premio Orbil.
Mac Barnett appears courtesy Hachette/Little, Brown.
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