Literacy Programs Thrive Across the Nation

Brooke Jackman Foundation Giving Books to Kids in Need

The Brooke Jackman Foundation, a non-profit children's literacy organization in New York, is working to provide 5,000 books in 50 days to needy kids for the summer so they can maintain their reading while they are away from school. To learn more about this ambitious and worthy fundraising campaign entitled “$10&Change,” please visit the Foundation's website. The Brooke Jackman Foundation was created in October 2001 in response to the September 11 World Trade Center attack that claimed the life of Brooke Jackman, age 23. The Foundation honors Brooke’s legacy: a deep love of reading and a profound interest in helping children by funding extensive literacy programs in the NY area.

Teenager Launches Nonprofit to Donate Books

Adele's Literacy Library seeks to empower people of all ages through the world of reading by donating millions of brand new books and bookmarks to various schools, libraries, and charitable organizations. Quite simply, founder Adele Taylor would like to "make a difference" in the lives of others through a book! Learn more on the ALL website.

RIF Reading Challenge Continues

Reading Is Fundamental's exciting 2009 Read with Kids Challenge continues, with almost three million minutes spent reading so far! You can join the challenge, which continues until June 30. Not only will you be entered for a chance to win a family vacation, but you will also help discover the joy of reading! Visit the RIF website to learn more and join the challenge! The website also provides helpful advice and booklists for educators, as well as tips and activity suggestions for parents and other adult caretakers.

Voices from Our White House: Gigi Amateau

Contributor answers questions about "Wanted: Magnanimous, Exquisite Woman!"

Welcome back to the NCBLA blog's weekly feature, Voices from Our White House, a series of interviews with some of the talented contributors to the art and literary anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, conducted by NCBLA high school intern Colleen Damerell.

Our White House was created by the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. A collaborative effort by over 100 authors and illustrators, the book is the product of a desire to encourage young people to learn and read about American heritage. For more information, please visit ourwhitehouse.org and thencbla.org.

This week we feature Gigi Amateau, author of Chancey of the Maury River and Claiming Georgia Tate. She shares authorship of her Our White House piece with her daughter Judith; it is a conversation between them about the need for a female president. Here's an excerpt:

Judith: A woman just needs to step up and do it, no matter what anyone else says. She needs to not let anyone talk her out of it and not listen to anyone who says "You can't" or "You shouldn't." She should just say, "I'm going to run for president," and be mag-mag-magnanimous! See? I remembered that word. Mom: Magnanimous, good word. What does it mean? Judith: To be bigger than the negativity.

We asked Ms. Amateau a few questions about her piece:

NCBLA: You wrote "Wanted" as a conversation with your daughter, Judith. Did you base the piece on a conversation that actually happened? Did Judith contribute personally to this piece and its concluding poem?
GA: "Wanted" came out of a big discussion about women in the White House at the dinner table between Judith, my mom, my husband, and me. We enjoy a lot of political, or issue-based, talks at our table, and we occasionally bend the rules of civility. No subject is off limits for us! I think I typed the first draft of our piece while Judith and I talked through how we wanted it to flow on paper. We played Exquisite Corpse at the dinning room table together, using words and images from the family discussion about women in the White House.

NCBLA: Judith states that "A woman just needs to step up and do it." Are there any women in particular that you and Judith would like to see run for president in the next election? Perhaps someone you see as being "magnanimous?"
GA: You know, before the next election, I look forward to a magnanimous, exquisite woman joining the Supreme Court! The Green Party 2008 Presidential Candidate, Cynthia McKinney, is someone who I think is brave, visionary, and often, right. She consistently raises important issues that we'd rather not think about--such as contemporary slavery and human trafficking in the world. Her voice is important for us.

NCBLA: Why do you think no woman has been elected president yet? Were you rooting for Hillary Clinton?
GA: A political analyst could offer a way better answer to be sure, but I would say one reason why no woman has been elected president yet is because it takes a big, old boat load of money to elect our presidents and most political donors are men. I think men still tend to give their money to men. Without a well-funded campaign, even the very best candidates will have to work that much harder for voters to even know them. I also believe that, in America, we still tend to judge the same action differently based on whether it's taken by a man or a woman. I have to correct myself, even, from falling into patterns such as thinking a woman is being overly aggressive, whereas I might just think of a man as acting strong or with conviction. I go through the campaign season rooting for everybody! I like it when any candidate has a breakthrough moment of vision, honesty, and humanity. And, yes, absolutely, I rooted for Hillary Clinton. During the primaries, we were a split household, then we unified behind Barack Obama.

NCBLA: Though no woman has ever been president, many first ladies such as Eleanor Roosevelt, who was mentioned in your piece, have been influential figures in Washington. How do you think Michelle Obama can contribute to that legacy?
GA: Michelle Obama is exquisite and magnanimous! I think she already influences millions of kids by making them want to be super-smart like she is. Her example helps me to be a better mother and to give priority to my family and our health. Maybe we'll all be healthier, smarter, and happier if we take the First Lady's lead!

NCBLA: Who is your favorite past president? Why?
GA: Well, I do love John Adams. BUT, I remember how when I was a girl, President Jimmy Carter taught us to conserve energy, turn off the lights we weren't using, and be gentle with the earth. He is my favorite because he made me care about my country and the world when I was young. One day, I'd like to visit Plains, Georgia and sit in on his Sunday School class. (Is that even still possible?) Or even better, maybe one day I'll get the chance to build a Habitat house with him and Rosalynn.

Amateau's most recent book, A Certain Strain of Peculiar, is now available in bookstores and libraries. For more information about Gigi Amateau and her work, please read her OWH bio, her website, and blog.

In the Backyard of Massachusetts

A New Library Will Rise!
Public Invited to Bring Their Shovels to Groundbreaking Ceremony

The Town of Westhampton, MA is inviting everyone who supports public libraries and loves reading to join their groundbreaking ceremony in Westhampton's town center on Saturday, June 6 at 1:00 PM--rain or shine!

Library building committee chair, Phil Dowling, noted about this novel event, "Libraries bring communities together and build community. We couldn't think of a better way to hold a groundbreaking event than to have everyone get involved and help dig the first ceremonial shovelfuls.” Free, colorful sand shovels will be given to the first 50 children.

The ceremony is being organized by the Friends of the Westhampton Memorial Library. For more information, please contact Laurie Sanders (413-527-5903), Phil Dowling (413-527-8574), Bill Tracy (413-527-1731), or Euthecia Hancewicz (527-6498).

Book lovers everywhere should check out the newly updated and expanded ilovelibraries.org website, a project of the American Library Association, which features news about libraries from around the country, with a focus on particular services and collections from all types of libraries. Read a book review or learn how you can advocate for your public library on ilovelibraries.org!

In case you missed it-

WHY READ ALOUD?

Reading a book or story aloud to family members, friends, students, colleagues, or fellow writers is a very different experience, for the reader and the listener, than the experience of listening to an audio book. An op/ed in today's New Y0rk Times by Verylyn Klinkenbord, a member of the editorial board of The New York Times and the author of The Rural Life, Making Hay, The Last Fine Time and Timothy, states:

". . . listening aloud, valuable as it is, isn’t the same as reading aloud. Both require a great deal of attention. Both are good ways to learn something important about the rhythms of language. But one of the most basic tests of comprehension is to ask someone to read aloud from a book. It reveals far more than whether the reader understands the words. It reveals how far into the words — and the pattern of the words — the reader really sees.

Reading aloud recaptures the physicality of words. To read with your lungs and diaphragm, with your tongue and lips, is very different than reading with your eyes alone. The language becomes a part of the body, which is why there is always a curious tenderness, almost an erotic quality, in those 18th- and 19th-century literary scenes where a book is being read aloud in mixed company. The words are not mere words. They are the breath and mind, perhaps even the soul, of the person who is reading.

No one understood this better than Jane Austen. One of the late turning points in “Mansfield Park” comes when Henry Crawford picks up a volume of Shakespeare, “which had the air of being very recently closed,” and begins to read aloud to the young Bertrams and their cousin, Fanny Price. Fanny discovers in Crawford’s reading “a variety of excellence beyond what she had ever met with.” And yet his ability to do every part “with equal beauty” is a clear sign to us, if not entirely to Fanny, of his superficiality."

Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/opinion/16sat4.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Voices from Our White House: PJ Lynch

Contributor answers questions about "Hands" illustration

Welcome back to the NCBLA blog's weekly feature, Voices from Our White House, a series of interviews with some of the talented contributors to the art and literary anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, conducted by NCBLA high school intern Colleen Damerell.

Our White House was created by the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. A collaborative effort by over 100 authors and illustrators, the book is the product of a desire to encourage young people to learn and read about American heritage. For more information, please visit ourwhitehouse.org and thencbla.org.

This week we feature PJ Lynch, a resident of Dublin, Ireland, who has illustrated Susan Wojciechowski's "The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey" and O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi." He has also created posters for Opera Ireland and the Abbey Theatre, as well as stamps for the Irish postal service. His illustration in Our White House accompanies a story by Patricia MacLachlan about a young girl meeting Eleanor Roosevelt during the depression.

We asked Mr. Lynch a few questions about his piece:

NCBLA: You created your Our White House image to accompany Patricia MacLachlan's story "Hands." When you illustrate another person's written work, how much do you draw from the text? Are there occasions when your artistic interpretation can be more or less restricted?
PJL: For me the process begins with the text. If the story doesn't hold my interest, or make me laugh, or move me in some way then I just don't do the project. "Hands," by Patricia MacLaclan, did all three. I know and love Patricia's work, and I was lucky enough to spend a little time with her in New Hampshire once, so I was thrilled to be asked to illustrate her story. Once I have decided to illustrate a story, I proceed with full respect for the text, but that is not to say that I simply put the words into pictures. It's much more interesting to try to contribute something more to the storytelling process. A good author will leave plenty of space in a story for the illustrator to move around in.

NCBLA: The story does not tell us anything about the ethnicity of Ellie and her family, yet your painting portrays the young girl as dark skinned--she could be Native American, Hispanic, African American, or of Middle Eastern descent. What made you decide to paint Ellie this way? Did you use a model?
PJL: I always do a lot of research for any project I'm working on. And so for this illustration, I read up all about the life of Eleanor Roosevelt. My reading and photo research kept bringing me back to the image of Eleanor Roosevelt reaching out to the African American community in a way that no one in her position had done before. I felt a really strong need to try to reflect that in my painting. I knew that I was taking a considerable liberty with the story, but the longer I lived with it, the more I felt that Eleanor's stronger, older, bigger, pale hands, should be touching Ellie's soft little dark hands.

The publishers and Patricia had a good think about it, but in the end they agreed it was a good idea. I did use a model. A little friend called Chitra. And I like the fact that her ethnicity is not immediately obvious.

NCBLA: I read on your website that you live in Dublin. How did you become interested in a book about American history?
PJL: Some years ago when I was researching for a book called "The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey" by Susan Wojchiechowski, I travelled to the Shelbourne Museum in Vermont to view the old American buildings and workshops that are preserved there. That book became a major success for me, and next I was asked to illustrate "When Jessie Came Across the Sea" by Amy Hest, which dealt with one young girl's experience of emigrating from Europe to New York in the early 1900's. Lots more research.

I spent a lot of time in the US promoting those books right across the country. It was a very great pleasure to me to meet so many wonderful people and to find out more and more about your history.

I still keep getting offered great stories with themes that lead me to continue doing more and more historical research in the US. My most recent book was a prime example. "Lincoln and his Boys" by Rosemary Wells. This book called for me to visit Abraham Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois with the author, just to be sure I got all the details right.

I suspect a lot of people think I'm an American illustrator, but I'm not, I'm an Irish impostor.

NCBLA: How much did you know about Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt before illustrating this story?
PJL: Not a lot really. One of the good things for me is that I learned very little American history at school so that now it's all nice and fresh when I read about it.

NCBLA: All the trouble in "Hands" is caused by a little orange cat. Do you have any pets? What are their names?
PJL: We have been holding off getting a pet until our kids are a little bit older. Our little girl is just coming out of nappies (diapers) so the time might be right to think about getting a puppy.

NCBLA: Who or what are your greatest artistic influences?
PJL: As a student I was very fond of the work of British illustrators like Arthur Rackham, but then I discovered the work of the American illustrators of the Golden Age of Illustration: people like NC Wyeth, Maxfield Parrish, and of course Norman Rockwell. I think their influence still shows strongly in my work.

For more information about this author, please read his OWH bio or visit his website or blog.

Poetry in OUR WHITE HOUSE

Our White House Hosts First Ever Poetry Slam!

President and Mrs. Obama are hosting an evening of poetry and jazz music at the White House! Hurrah! You can share the wonderful original poetry and art in the NCBLA's award-winning publication Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out with the young people in your life and host your own poetry reading at home, in school, and in your neighborhood library!

In Our White House you will find poems by Jack Prelutsky, Lee Bennet Hopkins, Jane Yolen, Paul B. Janeczko, Kate Di Camillo, Nancy Willard, and more! Find Our White House at you local library or bookstore and enjoy!

Sidebar! -- James Earl Jones will be participating in the White House Poetry Slam. Mary Brigid Barrett, NCBLA president and executive director, often joined James Earl Jones on the road giving presentations at educational outreach literacy rallies hosted by Verizon offices across the country, raising awareness of literacy challenges and recruiting literacy volunteers. The rallies were a great success. Mr. Jones is a passionate champion of universal literacy. He shared that as a boy he had a pronounced stutter, and it was his mother- reading poetry aloud, and encouraging him to read and recite poetry-- who helped him to overcome his stutter. He was not only a huge draw at the rallies, but an inspiration.

To read more about the White House poetry slam go to:
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/entertainment/Obamas-to-Host-First-White-House-Poetry-Slam.html

Official White House Photostream Available to All

White House Photographer Posts Pictures Daily on Flickr

Would you like a more intimate glimpse of what happens in the White House?

Official White House photographer Pete Souza is now posting many of his presidential photos on the photography website Flickr. Here you can see a bit beyond what is published in the mainstream and witness President Obama's meetings with Afghan President Karzai and Pakistan President Zardari in the Oval Office, discussions with Homeland Security about swine flu in the Cabinet Room, and even the First Family watching Super Bowl 43 in the family theater of the White House with friends and colleagues!

View the White House Photostream here.

For more information about the presidency and the White House, please check out the art and literature anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, as well as its supplemental website, ourwhitehouse.org.

On ourwhitehouse.org, you can learn what it takes to write a political speech in the exclusive interview with Thomas LaFauci, former speech writer to Senator and Vice President Joseph Biden. You can also discover what recreational opportunities are available to First Families in the White House, beyond the theater, as well as the history of the Oval Office. (Did you know that for 100 years presidents did not have official office space in the White House? Our first presidents worked in the Lincoln bedroom!)

Our White House and ourwhitehouse.org were both created by the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. Please visit the NCBLA's website to learn more.

Voices from Our White House: Leonard S. Marcus

Marcus Answers Questions About "Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children"

Welcome back to the NCBLA blog's weekly feature, Voices from Our White House, a series of interviews with some of the talented contributors to the art and literature anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, conducted by NCBLA high school intern Colleen Damerell. Our White House was created by the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. A collaborative effort by over 100 authors and illustrators, the book is the product of a desire to encourage young people to learn and read about American heritage. For more information, please visit ourwhitehouse.org and thencbla.org.

This week we feature children's book historian, author, and critic Leonard S. Marcus. Marcus is the author of Golden Legacy: How Golden Books Won Children's Hearts, Changed Publishing Forever, and Became an American Icon Along the Way and A Caldecott Celebration: Seven Artists and Their Paths to the Caldecott Medal. His piece in Our White House, entitled "Theodore Roosevelt's Letters to His Children," is about our 26th president and what the contents of his personal letters reveal about his presidency and life in the White House. Here's an excerpt:

Roosevelt approached reading and writing as forms of action. He had
devoured books as a housebound child. As president he still often read a book a
day. The more than thirty-five books that he himself wrote--the most by far of
any American president--span a breathtaking range from biography, natural
history, and memoir to politics, literary criticism, and philosophy. Somehow, he
also found the time to write more than 150,000 letters, including scores of
letters to his six children. Some of these last he enlivened with his own
comical drawings.

We asked Mr. Marcus a few questions about his piece:

NCBLA: Theodore Roosevelt stands out for many Americans as one of the most fascinating presidents we have ever had. He lived life to the fullest and also accomplished a great deal
as president, both of which you touch upon in your story. Is Roosevelt your favorite president? If so, is that why you chose to write about him?
LSM: Not my absolute favorite: who could stand before Lincoln as a wise and courageous leader and deeply human soul? What I like about TR is that he was a government leader who cared about books, and who was himself a writer. And I was drawn to him by the sheer verve of his personality, and by the fact that he was never too busy to spend time with his children.

NCBLA: Your piece is about Roosevelt's letters to his children. I read on your website that you have a son. Do you write letters to him? If so, do you save the letters?
LSM: My son, Jacob, and I have never been apart long enough for us to need communication by letter. But I do keep in touch by e-mail with friends all around the world. And I once edited a book of letters--Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom. Nordstrom was the visionary editor who published Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are, Charlotte's Web, and many more of the classic children's books of the last half century.

NCBLA: Many believe that letter-writing has become a lost art. Do you prefer to use email or another form of electronic communication rather than hand write a letter?
LSM: It depends. I put a lot of care into some of the e-mail I write, and I print out and save the e-mail messages I receive that are special to me. So, to that extent, I regard e-mail as no different from standard mail, only faster. All in all, I'm very grateful for it. For certain occasions, however--a birthday wish for a dear friend, a message of condolence--there is still no substitute for a hand-written message. And I still check my own mail box every day with great anticipation, just as I did when I was very young.

NCBLA: You end the story with a quote from Roosevelt that indicates the importance of his letters to him and his legacy. Do you believe we will learn as much about our presidents' thoughts and personal lives from their electronic communication as we have from the personal letters of Roosevelt, John Adams, and other political figures?
LSM: Not having studied recent presidents' e-mail records, I don't have a direct basis for comparison, but I would guess that a president who happens to be highly literate would write e-mail worth reading by historians of the future. It's important to remember that when John Adams was president the means of long-distance communication available to him was limited almost entirely to letter-writing. So, we can't expect contemporary presidents to devote quite as much time and attention to their e-mail as Adams did to his correspondence.

NCBLA: What are your hopes for President Barack Obama? For his children?
LSM: I hope that President Obama continues to do what he has already begun:
to lead the country in a thoughtful, principled, and responsible way, and to continue to challenge everyone--children and adults--to do their best. I hope his children get to live normal lives and that they have the chance to realize their potential, whatever it may be.

Marcus' most recent book, Minders of Make-Believe: Idealists, Entrepreneurs, and the Shaping of American Children's Literature, is available in bookstores and libraries. For more information on Leonard Marcus and his work, please read his OWH bio and visit his website.

Letters from the White House Winners Announced

Over 1,500 American Students Participated!

On Inauguration Day of this year, Adlit, Reading Rockets, and the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance launched a creative writing contest open to students across America in celebration of the publication of Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out. We asked students to imagine what it would be like to live and work in the Executive Mansion and to write about that experience in the form of letters and journal entries.

Students were truly inspired and wrote about Séances in the Red Room, a ladybug in the punch, and a ticklish rug in the Oval Office, as well as a Rough Rider's description of a trip out West.

Click here to view a complete list of all the winners.

The NCBLA congratulates all our young writers and winners!

Visit the Our White House book's supplemental website (www.ourwhitehouse.org) to learn more about this compelling art and literature anthology and discover a treasure trove of additional articles, primary source materials, poetry, and research resources.

ALAN Workshop Scheduled for November

''Scattering Light'' on our Freedom to Think, See, Imagine

The Assembly of Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) has announced that its 2009 annual workshop will focus on freedom of expression in young adult literature in the 21st century. The workshop will be held November 23-24 in Philadelphia.

Presenters will include a full panel of YA authors and top educators who use YA literature in their classrooms. Keynote speakers will include Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked and the more recent A Lion Among Men, and Louanne Johnson, author of Dangerous Minds and The Queen of Education.

ALAN is an independent assembly of the National Council of Teachers of English. Founded in November 1973, ALAN is made up of teachers, authors, librarians, publishers, teacher-educators and their students, and others who are particularly interested in the area of young adult literature. Learn more on their website.

River of Words Announces Contest Winners

Students Awarded in Four Categories of Poetry Competition

The California-based nonprofit literacy organization River of Words recently announced the winners of its 14th annual environmental poetry and art contest. The contest is the largest youth poetry competition in the world and is conducted in part with The Library of Congress Center for the Book.

River of Words seeks to improve children's literacy and cognitive skills through innovative projects that incorporate observation-based nature exploration, art, and poetry.

You can read the complete list of winners on the River of Words Press Release.

Samples of this year's winners' work is not yet available online. However, you can view artwork from previous years' contest winners on the online Art Gallery, and read poetry from previous years' contest winners on the online Poetry Gallery.

In Case You Missed It!

Will E-Books and a Growing E-Book Culture Change How We Read and Write? How We Think?

"As a result, I fear that one of the great joys of book reading -- the total immersion in another world, or in the world of the author's ideas -- will be compromised. We all may read books the way we increasingly read magazines and newspapers: a little bit here, a little bit there."

"As you read, you will know that at any given moment, a conversation is available about the paragraph or even sentence you are reading. Nobody will read alone anymore. Reading books will go from being a fundamentally private activity -- a direct exchange between author and reader -- to a community event, with every isolated paragraph the launching pad for a conversation with strangers around the world."

"In other words, an infinite bookstore at your fingertips is great news for book sales, and may be great news for the dissemination of knowledge, but not necessarily so great for that most finite of 21st-century resources: attention.

Because they have been largely walled off from the world of hypertext, print books have remained a kind of game preserve for the endangered species of linear, deep-focus reading. Online, you can click happily from blog post to email thread to online New Yorker article -- sampling, commenting and forwarding as you go. But when you sit down with an old-fashioned book in your hand, the medium works naturally against such distractions; it compels you to follow the thread, to stay engaged with a single narrative or argument."

From: "How E-Books Will Change the Way We Read and Write" by Steven Johnson, The Wall Street Journal

Read more at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123980920727621353.html

Chicago: Children's Literature Event featuring James Ransome and NCBLA President Mary Brigid Barrett

The Butler Children's Center at Dominican University's Graduate School of Library and Information Science
Invites You to Join
James Ransome and
Mary Brigid Barrett Celebrating the Lincoln Bicentennial!

Thursday, April 30, 2009, from 7-9 pm Dominican University's new Butler Children's Literature Center invites you to join them as they use children's and young adult literature to honor the 200th anniversary of one of our most well-known presidents and favorite son of Illinois! Featured presenters include James E. Ransome, the multiple award-winning author and illustrator and one of the Children's Book Council's "seventy-five authors and illustrators everyone should know," and Mary Brigid Barrett, President and Executive Director of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance and lead creator of Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out.

The Butler Children's Literature Center is located on the main campus of
Dominican University at the
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE (GSLIS)
Crown Library 300
7900 West Division Street
River Forest, IL 60305

For more information go to: http://www.dom.edu/academics/gslis/news-events.html

Voices from Our White House: Mark London Williams

Williams Answers Questions About "Escape Map"

Welcome back to the NCBLA blog's new weekly feature, Voices from Our White House, a series of interviews with some of the talented contributors to the art and literary anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, conducted by NCBLA high school intern Colleen Damerell.

Our White House was created by the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. A collaborative effort by over 100 authors and illustrators, the book is the product of a desire to encourage young people to learn and read about American heritage. For more information, please visit ourwhitehouse.org and thencbla.org.

This week we feature Mark London Williams, a journalist and author of the Danger Boy series. His piece in Our White House, entitled "Escape Map," is about growing up during the Cold War. Here's an excerpt:

Back in the '60s, we were so afraid of this "blowing up" that I drew an escape map on my bedroom wall. The map included our house, our neighbors' house, and my grandma's house, too, which seemed the best place to escape to. In those days, her home was on the edge of town, and I guess I thought I'd be safe there.
This all happened in a time—maybe like now—when no one felt very safe. At least the grown-ups didn't, and we kids could tell. It was a time called the Cold War.

We asked Mr. Williams a few questions about his piece:

NCBLA: It must have been scary to grow up during the Cold War. I was born in 1991, the year generally marking the end of the period, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, so I don't have any memory of the Cold War era. Was it difficult writing honestly to children about war and nuclear weapons?
MLW: It's always difficult to write with absolute honesty about potential annihilation -- heck, it's sometimes hard in my "Danger Boy" time travel stories to always write an unflinching account of history, since I don't want to provoke despair. On the other hand, there are many analogous tensions now, with the "portability" of weapons of mass destruction and the ongoing uncertainties about where global violence might erupt next -- and to what degree.

NCBLA: You're probably not drawing escape maps on your walls any more, but are you still afraid that everything could blow up around you? Do you feel safer now that you're older, or does the knowledge that comes with adulthood worry you more?
MLW: One would've thought that "grown ups" might have a better handle on solving some of the world's problems. At least, that's what I hoped when I was growing up in the 60's. Of course in that era, people who proposed visionary solutions to these problems usually wound up dead, at the all-too-convenient hands of some "lone nut" or other.

America's in another thankless war, as it was then, and top of that, environmental problems have gotten worse through decades of neglect.

So despite clear progress on other fronts, there still seems to be enough to, as you starkly note, "worry" about after all!

NCBLA: What are your hopes for President Barack Obama? What does he have to watch out for to keep the country safe?
MLW: To keep the country truly safe, President Obama will have to watch out for the special interests that see their own good as more important than the country's or the world's interests. Since a lot of these interests control cash flows to political campaigns, that will require a lot of intestinal fortitude.

The president will also have to watch out for fundamentalists of every stripe who seek to impose their agendas and beliefs on people here and in places like the Middle East. When you see your reward as coming entirely in the hereafter, and the world you have now as completely expendable in getting there, you tend to make some pretty bad -- if not horrific -- decisions.

Obama will also have to act on a wide array of environmental issues, such as climate change and species extinction , as well as the alternative fuel supply and food supply questions they raise. That will mean standing up to a *lot* of special interests.

And my hope for President Obama is that he's willing to be not-well-liked in the same way another White House occupant, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was when he joked to a visiting band leader of the opposite political party, "Millions of people hate my guts!"

"Change we can believe in" isn't going to be easy. But we'd best get on with it.

NCBLA: If you could have any job in the White House, what would it be?
MLW: Well, being a journalist, I would probably prefer to be communications director or press secretary! Or Secretary of the Interior, so I could propose radical and sweeping wilderness protection. I probably wouldn't last long in that job, though...

NCBLA: If you met John F. Kennedy at the "big cocktail party in the sky," as my English teacher calls it, what would you ask him?
MLW: Hmmm... Is it a 60's era cocktail party? Are members of the Rat Pack there? Is Marilyn? Are we wearing skinny ties and drinking martinis? If Sinatra's there, I might ask him if he thought supporting Nixon because he was personally mad at the Kennedys was, in retrospect, such a good idea.

As for JFK, well, the awful --yet inescapable --question would be whether he had any speculation about who authored his particular demise. I might also ask him what he thought a second term would've been like for him and whether he really was planning to disband the CIA and end the Vietnam War.
All those "what ifs" and "might have beens." In the 60's, we lived through too many of them. Which is undoubtedly part of the reason I grew up to write time travel stories -- kind of a "second chance" at history.

For more information on Mark London Williams, please read his OWH bio and visit his website.

Urgent Support Needed for Library Services and Technology Act

Ask Your Senators to Support Library and Literacy Funding

The ALA urges you to contact your senators and ask them to sign the "Dear Colleague" letter being circulated by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) in support of funding for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program.

The deadline to sign the letter is Tuesday, May 5.

LSTA and Improving Literacy Through School Libraries are two of the most important federal programs for libraries today. Without substantial support for these programs, funds for them will most likely be cut. The letter is addressed to the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriation Subcommittees and requests that the Senate include $300 million for the LSTA and $100 million for the Improving Literary Through School Libraries program for FY 2010. Please contact your Senators and ask them to call Andrew Odgren with Senator Reed at 202-224-4642 or Mathew Hussey with Senator Snowe at 202-224-5344.

Learn more on the ALA website.

America SCORES National Poetry Slam to be Held at NY Stock Exchange

Boston Students to Compete in National Poetry Slam

Two America SCORES New England students will take the New York Stock Exchange stage to perform their original poetry at the 3rd annual America SCORES National Poetry Slam tonight! America SCORES New England is Boston’s leading after-school soccer, literacy, and service learning program, and the two chosen students will present along with students from twelve other cities across the nation.

Congratulations to rising poets, Linda Qin and Antonio Weathers! Linda, who is 11 and a student at Jackson Mann Elementary in Allston, will perform a personal poem entitled “The Second Depression,” which details her family’s struggle to survive during tough economic times. Antonio, who is 10 and a student at Lee Elementary School in Dorchester, will recite “The Way I Am,” which discusses his desire to never give up and to achieve the most he can.

America SCORES New England is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping at-risk urban youth develop life skills, literacy and health through soccer. America SCORES New England utilizes Boston Public School teachers to empower youth through the unique combination of athletics, creative writing and service learning. Please visit the America SCORES website to learn more.

Notable Blogs for Lovers of Children's Literature

Treat Yourself to Treasures of the Blogosphere

Do you ever feel as if there is more information in cyberspace than grains of sand on all the beaches of the world?! How does one sift through it all to find the worthy nuggets?

If children's literature is your passion, then relax and take a moment to review these sparkling gems of the blogosphere that we have uncovered! Overflowing with reviews, commentary, interviews, and links to many other fabulous literary resources, each blog is a must-read for teachers, librarians, and parents--anyone with a vested interest in children's literature!

The Notes from the Horn Book online newsletter bills itself as "News About Good Books for Children and Teens." April's issue focuses on books about space travel and exploration in commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the first moonwalk. Featured is an interview with astronaut Buzz Aldrin.

Jen Robinson's Book Page "promotes the love of books by children, and the continued reading of children's books by adults." Today's edition celebrates Patriots Day...providing the opportunity for everyone who lives outside of Massachusetts to learn about this revolutionary holiday!

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast calls itself "A Blog About Books. " Today the blog features a sneak-preview of Steve Jenkins' visual feast, Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea, which will be published in May...and you can read about many other books in the archives.

Teacher and librarian Richie Partington reviews at least one book a week on his blog, Richie's Picks. He mostly recently reviewed Waiting to Score by J.E. MacLeod, Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia, and The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King. You might also enjoy his review of Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out!

Also be sure to check out Planet Esme, which reviews a book a day in a feature titled "The Best New Children's Books from Esme's Shelf ." Today's blog entry reviews the nonfiction You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax by Jonah Winter and Andre Carrilho.

We hope you enjoy reading these fun and informative blogs!

New Visitor Center Open at Monticello

Step into the Past at the New Monticello Visitor and Education Centers

Monticello, the house that Thomas Jefferson designed and built for himself and his family, stands on a hill on the luscious grounds of the Monticello Plantation in Charlottesville, Virginia (about 125 miles southwest of Washington, D.C.). Yesterday the newly expanded Thomas Jefferson Visitor Center and Smith Education Center were celebrated with a grand opening ceremony. The new center boasts four new exhibitions, a hands-on learning room for kids, and classroom space.

Learn more about Thomas Jefferson and his home on the Monticello website. Be sure to review the section of the website titled Jefferson Today, which links what's happening today--such as piracy off the coast of Africa--to issues dealt with by Jefferson! This is an excellent resource for teachers looking to help make sense of history and modern events in the classroom.

Visiting presidential historic sites is also an excellent way to actively engage young people in American history! For an extensive field trip guide, be sure to check out Presidential Birthplaces, Houses, and Libraries on the NCBLA's website http://www.ourwhitehouse.org/intro.html.

RIF Reading Challenge Continues

Read with a Child and Help RIF Reach its Goal!

All across America adults and children are reading together...and Reading Is Fundamental is keeping track! Since April 1 of this year, RIF reading challenge participants have logged over half a million minutes in its annual reading challenge. Join the challenge to help RIF meet its goal of 5 million minutes read with kids before June 30. Participants will have the chance to win a family vacation to the Walt Disney World Resort® and more great prizes.

Learn more about the Read with Kids Challenge on the RIF website.

A Champion of the First Amendment

Judith Krug, 1940-2009

In a 2002 talk, Ms. Krug explained that the role of librarians is to bring people and information together. “We do this by making sure libraries have information and ideas across the spectrum of social and political thought, so people can choose what they want to read or view or listen to. Some users find materials in their local library collection to be untrue, offensive, harmful or even dangerous. But libraries serve the information needs of all of the people in the community — not just the loudest, not just the most powerful, not even just the majority. Libraries serve everyone.”-The New York Times

Judith Krug, a founder of Banned Book Week, was a librarian from Evanston, Illinois, who had the courage not just to talk, but to act, insuring that all of our citizens, young and old, have equal and ready access to information and story. “My personal proclivities have nothing to do with how I react as a librarian,” Ms. Krug said in an interview with The New York Times in 1972. “Library service in this country should be based on the concept of intellectual freedom, of providing all pertinent information so a reader can make decisions for himself.”

To find out more about the extraordinary life work of Judith Krug, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/us/15krug.html?ref=obituaries
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/opinion/15wed4.html?ref=opinion

To find out more about the American Library Association's Banned Book week and how you can help, go to:
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/bannedbooksweek.cfm

Voices from Our White House: Chris Van Dusen

Artist answers questions about "TR's Family and Friends"- an interview with Chris Van Dusen

Welcome back to the NCBLA blog's weekly feature, Voices from Our White House, a series of interviews with some of the talented contributors to the art and literary anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, conducted by NCBLA high school intern Colleen Damerell.

Our White House was created by the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. A collaborative effort by over 100 authors and illustrators, the book is the product of a desire to encourage young people to learn and read about American heritage. For more information, please visit ourwhitehouse.org and thencbla.org.

This week we feature Chris Van Dusen, who has both written and illustrated the Mr. Magee series of books and illustrated the Mercy Watson series written by Newbery Medal winner Kate DiCamillo. Van Dusen's newest book, The Circus Ship, will be published by Candlewick Press in September 2009.

Van Dusen's full-spread illustration in Our White House shows Theodore Roosevelt, his children, and their unusual collection of pets having a good time in the White House; it precedes "Storming Down the Stairs" by Albert Marrin, which is about the plethora of animals and children occupying the house during Roosevelt's administration.

We asked Mr. Van Dusen a few questions about his illustration:

NCBLA: Your picture depicts both the chaos and the fun of living in the White
House with so many animals and children. Did you have a lot of pets growing
up? What were their names?
CVD: I have four brothers (no sisters!) and it seems that we all had pets at
some time, but not the traditional pets you think of. My grandmother was
allergic to fur and pet dander, so we never had cats or dogs growing up.
Instead we had fish tanks and those little green turtles you used to be able
to buy at Woolworth's. At one point, my brother thought he wanted to be a
Herpetologist (that's someone who studies reptiles and amphibians) so we had
Soft-shelled Turtles, Diamond-backed Terrapins, Skinks, and a really nasty
Gecko that used to escape from his tank and hiss at us from the ceiling. It
was quite a scene! My brother didn't name any of those creatures. I guess it
just wasn't the scientific thing to do, but I do remember we had a tortoise
once named "Torty." How's that for originality!

NCBLA: Do you currently have any pets? If you could adopt any kind of animal,
what would you choose?
CVD: Currently we have one pet, a Yellow Lab named "Pearl" and that's
perfect. I wouldn't want any other pets.

NCBLA: The image is busy and brightly colored. I like that the people and
animals have light halos around their outlines which makes them "pop" off
the page-is there a word for that? Who or what influences your style?
CVD: Other people have commented on the "halos" on my work. I don't really
even think about it and as far as I know it doesn't have a name. I just do
it so certain characters or areas stand out from the background.

I've always enjoyed the illustrations of Robert McCloskey and I'm sure I've
been influenced by his work. I'm also a big fan of animation and cartoons,
especially Warner Brothers' Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner cartoons. I used to
watch those every Saturday morning as a kid. I bet that stuff rubbed off on
me too.

NCBLA: Do you use a computer to "paint" your pictures...or do you really paint
them? What type of paints do you use?
CVD: I don't use any computers to produce my illustrations. I paint all of
my pictures in gouache, which is a water-based paint. It's kind of like an
opaque watercolor. You can use it thick or thin, and the colors you get are
bright and clean.

NCBLA: What do you think would be the most fun about living in the White House?
Where would you spend most of your time there?
CVD: I think the history of the White House would be the most fascinating
part of living there. If I lived there, I'd constantly be thinking about
what President did what and where. To know Lincoln slept in the next room
would be so cool! But since I've never toured the White House, I don't know
where I'd spend most of my time. I'd probably just wander around and admire
the paintings!

For more information on this artist and author, please read his Our White House bio or visit his website.

The White House has a New Top Dog!

Read More About
White House Pets
in
Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out!!!

Sasha and Malia are welcoming a new pet, Bo Diddley, a Portuguese water dog, to the White House. In the NCBLA's award-winning publication
Our White House:
Looking In, Looking Out renowned author/illustrator Steven Kellogg traces the amazing line of White House pets, starting with George Washington's hounds, with wonderful prose and vibrant illustrations.





Find a Our White House:
Looking In, Looking Out at your local library and book store and use a young person's interest in White House pets as a springboard to introducing them to more stories about our Presidents and their families and the rich heritage of our nation's history!

And be sure to check out the NCBLA's companion education website to Our White House--- http://www.ourwhitehouse.org-/- to find more stories, historical resources, and lots of ideas that will excite kids about American History!

White House News: Easter Egg Roll April 13

Egg Roll Is Largest Public Celebration at the White House

The White House Easter Egg Roll has been enjoyed by American children for over 130 years, since President Rutherford B. Hayes and First Lady Lucy Hayes first hosted the event in 1878. Now an annual tradition, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will host this year's Easter Egg Roll on Monday, April 13. The celebration will include storytelling, sports, cooking classes, musical performances, and of course, the traditional Easter egg roll! For more information, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/EasterEggRoll/.

The White House serves as an entertainment venue for many events and festivities each year. You can learn more about the Easter Egg Roll, as well as other traditions celebrated at the White House (such as the lighting of the Christmas tree), in the art and literature anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out. Be sure to check out artist Eric Carle's brightly-colored painting of the Easter Egg Roll!

Learn more about President Hayes and First Lady Hayes, as well as President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, in the Presidential Fact Files and First Lady Fact Files on ourwhitehouse.org.

Focused on Literacy: River of Words

River of Words Integrates Literacy with Art and Nature

The nonprofit literacy organization River of Words seeks to improve children's literacy and cognitive skills through innovative projects that incorporate observation-based nature exploration, art, and poetry. River of Words was established in 1995 in California and conducts training workshops for teachers, park naturalists, librarians, and other adults who work with young people.

Every year River of Words works with The Library of Congress Center for the Book to conduct a free international poetry and art contest for youth on the theme of WATERSHEDS. The contest is designed to help youth explore the natural and cultural history of the place they live, and to express, through poetry and art, what they discover. The winners of this year's contest will be announced April 25.

View artwork from previous years' contest winners on the online Art Gallery.

Read poetry from previous years' contest winners on the online Poetry Gallery.

Teachers: Be sure to check out the integrated "Watershed Explorer's" curriculum materials that incorporate natural sciences into an arts and letters format.

Learn more about the mission and projects of this amazing literacy organization at their website: River of Words.

To investigate other literacy organizations, visit the Library of Congress website and its list of partners.

Today, April 2nd, is Library Legislative Day in Boston

MA Residents Encouraged to Support Libraries

The American Library Association encourages ALL Massachusetts residents to send email messages to state leaders imploring them to support library funding. Library usage continues to rise, so funding is critical. Here's why:

* People are using computers and other resources at libraries to prepare resumes, search for work, and apply for jobs online.

* Libraries save money for residents of Massachusetts! In these times people are borrowing library materials-books, CD’s and DVD’s to make it through these tough times.

* Those who never could, or who now cannot afford a monthly Internet charge, are using the free terminals at the library to bridge their digital divide.

* School librarians are teaching essential 21st century learning and thinking skills including critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, collaboration skills, and information and media literacy skills. Kids need to learn these skills now! Without these skills Massachusetts will not be able to compete in the global marketplace.

* Libraries are helping thousands of residents everyday.

Click here to Take Action Now and learn more!

April Marks National Poetry Month

30 Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month

National Poetry Month is a month-long, national celebration of poetry established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996 with the ultimate goal of widening the attention of individuals and the media—to the art of poetry, to living poets, to our complex poetic heritage, and to poetry books and journals of wide aesthetic range and concern. This year the Academy offers a list of 30 ways (one activity for each day of the month!) you can celebrate National Poetry Month. Here's ten from their extensive list:

1. Read a book of poetry.
2. Memorize a poem.
3. Revisit a classic poem. Maybe a Shakespearean sonnet?
4. Put poetry in an unexpected place...perhaps the bathroom mirror?
5. Bring a poem to your place of worship.
6. Attend a poetry reading at your bookstore, library, or coffee shop.
7. Support a literary organization.
8. Take a poem out to lunch.
9. Recite a poem to family or friends.
10. Add your favorite verse to your email signature.

Visit poets.org to discover the remaining 20 ways you can celebrate National Poetry Month! Which is your favorite? What other ideas can you come up with?

TEACHERS! Be sure to check out the Academy's Tips for Teachers for great classroom poetry activities!

Poetry lovers who also enjoy American history may delight in reading Gregory Maguire's poetic metaphor about the White House titled "Looking In, Looking Out" and Nikki Grimes' poem about a blind student's visit to the White House titled "Staking Claim." Both are available exclusively on ourwhitehouse.org.

Also be sure to review the diverse poetry included in the printed anthology Our White: Looking In, Looking Out, which is available in libraries and bookstores. Included in the Our White House collection are Jane Yolen's imagined conversation between John and Abigail Adams titled "The White House First Residents," Jack Prelutsky's humorous poem about the Clinton's cat titled "I Live in the White House," Jon Scieszka's rhyme titled "The White House," Lee Bennett Hopkins' poem titled "Good Nights," Kate DiCamillo's touching piece about Lincoln's death titled "In Early April," and Paul B. Janeczko's haunting "Mary Todd Lincoln Speaks of Her Son's Death, 1862."

Learn more about Our White House at ourwhitehouse.org.