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Mac Barnett in conversation with Carson Ellis

Fri, Feb 6, 2026 from 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm PST
716 SE Grand Ave Portland, OR 97214

Join National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett and Caldecott Honor artist Carson Ellis for a craft conversation on new tellings of old tales.

This is a ticketed event. Tickets will go on sale soon.


About the book:

Once upon a time, there was a clever girl with a not-so-clever father. When her father claims she can spin straw into gold, the king forces the girl to perform this impossible task. She has no other choice but to accept a strange deal from a mysterious little man. But when he arrives and attempts to collect the debt, the fiendish trickster Rumpelstiltskin discovers that he is the one who has been tricked! This is the second in the groundbreaking new collection of masterfully retold fairy tales crafted by one of today’s most celebrated and esteemed authors, Mac Barnett, paired with the stunning illustrations of the acclaimed and award-winning creator, Carson Ellis.

Mac Barnett

Mac Barnett

Mac Barnett is a New York Times best-selling author of several books for children, including Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, the Shapes Trilogy, and many others illustrated by Jon Klassen. He is also the author of Just Because, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault; A Polar Bear in the Snow, illustrated by Shawn Harris; John’s Turn, illustrated by Kate Berube; and Twenty Questions, illustrated by Christian Robinson. Winner of three New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Book Awards and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, Mac Barnett lives in Oakland, California.

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Carson Ellis

Carson Ellis

Carson Ellis is the author-illustrator of the best-selling picture books Home and Du Iz Tak?, a Caldecott Honor Book and E. B. White Read Aloud Award winner. She has illustrated a number of books, including The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper and The Wildwood Chronicles by her husband, Colin Meloy. She is the longtime illustrator-in-residence for the band The Decemberists, for which she has received Grammy nominations for album art design. She also exhibits paintings and is represented by Nationale in Portland. Carson Ellis lives on a farm in Oregon.

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