The Adventure Begins This September!

Join the Library of Congress and the
National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance on the Hilarious Exquisite Corpse Adventure!

Come along with National Children s' Book Ambassador Jon Scieszka and his award-winning motley crew of authors and illustrators--M.T .Anderson, Natalie Babbitt, Calef Brown, Susan Cooper, Kate Di Camillo, Timothy Basil Ering, Nikki Grimes, Shannon Hale, Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snickett, Steven Kellogg, Gregory Maguire, Megan McDonald, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, Linda Sue Park, Katherine Paterson, James Ransome, and Chris Van Dusen-- as they embark on a rollicking story adventure game to discover The Exquisite Corpse!!!!

Jon Scieszka will reveal the first Exquisite Corpse episode at the National Book Festival on Saturday, September 26, 2009. Joining Mr. Scieszka on stage in the Children's Pavilion will be fellow Exquisite Corpse contributors Kate Di Camillo, Nikki Grimes, Shannon Hale, Steven Kellogg, and Megan McDonald all participating in a special launch event moderated by NCBLA president and founder, Mary Brigid Barrett.

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure will continue over the course of one year with each new episode and illustration appearing on the Library of Congress's new READ.gov website every two weeks!

With the assistance of the Butler Children's Literature Center at Dominican University, the NCBLA is developing educational support materials for the The Exquisite Corpse Adventure which will be posted on special pages on the NCBLA's home website, www.thencbla.org beginning September 26th. The NCBLA hopes that every episode of the Exquisite Corpse will inspire young people to find more great books to read and is thrilled that Thomas Barthelmass, Curator of the Butler Center and new Association for Library Service to Children (ALA) President, is creating an annotated bibliography for each Exquisite Corpse episode. In addition, Assistant Dean of Dominican University's Graduate School of Education Marilyn Ludolph will be working with faculty and students to develop educational activities and discussion questions for the use of parents, teachers, and librarians.

The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance and the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress hope the Exquisite Corpse Adventure will introduce young people to the new Read.gov website, and we also hope it will encourage young people to read books just for the fun of it . . . and read more!!!!

For more information about the Library of Congress National Book Festival, go to:
http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/

For more information about the NCBLA, go to: www.thencbla.org

For more information about the Butler Children's Literature Center at Dominican University,
go to:
http://www.dom.edu/events-news/newsroom/press_Releases/2008-12/article_0003.html