Children's Author Fleming to Speak on P.T. Barnum Feb. 23

Children's book author Candace Fleming will present "The Stupendous, Tremendous P.T. Barnum." at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, as the second speaker in the Milner Library Lecture Series for the spring semester at Illinois State University.  Her lecture, on the main floor in Milner, is free and open to the public.

Fleming is the critically acclaimed author of fiction for younger children, titles like "Muncha!, Muncha!, Muncha!" and "The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary," as well as non-fiction titles like "Our Eleanor" and "The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary."  Her most recent book is "The Great and Only Barnum: The Tremendous, Stupendous Life of Showman P.T.  Barnum." 

Fleming also is the author of "Ben Franklin's Almanac," an ALA Notable Book and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. "Muncha!  Muncha!  Muncha!" was an ALA Notable Book, as were "Gabriella's Song" and "When Agnes Caws."

In her latest book, Fleming captures the spirit of an era, the spirit of the circus and the spirit of P. T. Barnum himself. Drawing on old circus posters, photographs, etchings, ticket stubs, playbills-and with type and decorative elements throughout inspired by 19th-century designs-the book presents history as a stupendous, tremendous show-stopping event!

Upcoming speakers in the Milner Library Lecture Series will be Michael Cart at 7 p.m. March 22 to present the 17th annual Lois Lenski Children's Literature Lecture in Schroeder Hall room 130; LaVerne Council at 2 p.m. on March 31 in Braden Auditorium; Frank Warren at 7 p.m. April 7 in Braden Auditorium; Janice Harrington at 7 p.m. April 13 in the Old Main Room of Bone Student Center; Ed Begley Jr., at 7 p.m. April 14 in Braden Auditorium; and Scott Carlson at 3 p.m. May 4 in the Old Main Room of  Bone Student Center.