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

Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Finalists Announced

ALAN Announces Finalists for
Young Adult Fiction Award

The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN) of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) recently announced the finalists for the inaugural Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult Fiction. The honored titles for 2009 (in alphabetical order by title) are:

After Tupac and D Foster, by Jacqueline Woodson (Putnam)

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore (Harcourt)

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (HarperCollins)

Me, The Missing, and the Dead, by Jenny Valentine (HarperCollins)

My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park, by Steve Kluger (Dial)

This year’s winning title will be announced at an open reception and reading at the 2009 ALAN Workshop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Established in 2008 to honor the wishes of young adult author, Amelia Elizabeth Walden, the award allows for the sum of $5,000 to be presented annually to the author of a young adult title selected by the ALAN Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award Committee as demonstrating a positive approach to life, widespread teen appeal, and literary merit.

Learn more on the ALAN website.

First Book Rallies Nation to Celebrate United We Serve's Education Week

Celebrate Education Week July 27-31

The nonprofit organization First Book invites Americans across the nation to celebrate United We Serve's Education Week next week by advocating for literacy activities. How can you participate? Read with a child, volunteer at a library, or organize a book drive. Even small gestures can make a difference in the reading life of a child.

United We Serve is is President Obama’s call to nationwide community service. This is a challenge to all Americans to engage in sustained, meaningful service because ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things.

“Economic recovery is as much about what you’re doing in your communities as what we’re doing in Washington -- and it’s going to take all of us, working together.”
- President Barack Obama

The mission of First Book is to put new books in the hands of children in need. As one of fourteen national nonprofits on the United We Serve Education Team advancing book distributions, summer learning opportunities, and library card registrations, First Book is leading efforts to dramatically increase access to books for our nation’s disadvantaged children. The United We Serve initiative culminates in a day of service and remembrance on September 11, but is intended to remain a sustained, collaborative, and focused effort to promote service as a way of life for all Americans.

On Politics and Baseball and Summer Reading

President Obama Throws--and Talks--Baseball!

Even the United States president needs a day of fun and games. Yesterday President Obama donned casual clothes and enjoyed a day away from the tough topics of universal health care and nuclear proliferation to join throngs of other baseball lovers at the 80th Annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game in St. Louis. Before throwing the first pitch to open the game, the president met with journalist Bob Costas to discuss all things baseball. You can watch the interview on the White House website here.

Use Your Kids' Passions to Target Summer Reading

If you are are a parent or guardian who is finding your best attempts to get your kids reading this summer thwarted, think about your kids' other passions--such as baseball and other summer sports--and the opportunities they might provide to focus the kids' reading choices. Children's book author and illustrator Mary Brigid Barret writes in "Home Run Reading: Baseball and Books for Kids," "The best way to connect kids to reading is to build on their passions and interests. If you have kids who love baseball--or as I do, have kids who like to go to the ballpark to eat hot dogs, ogle the players, eat fried dough, start the wave, eat hot pretzels, cheer, and eat some more--use that interest to get them reading." Read more of Barrett's suggestions, as well as a great reading list geared toward baseball lovers of all ages, here. Why not start by watching the president's interview with your kids? What do your kids think of his favorite team and players? How do they compare to your family's favorites? Have they heard of Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson? Use this as an opportunity to learn more about our country's great athletes--past and present--by visiting your local library!

Connect American History and Baseball

Baseball lovers will also enjoy reading about the long association between baseball and the presidency in Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out in the essay "The First Pitch" by Stephanie True Peters. Our White House is a literature and art anthology created by the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance to encourage young people to read more about America’s rich history and culture; to think more about America’s future; to talk more about our nation’s leadership; and to act on their own beliefs and convictions, ensuring this great democratic experiment will survive and thrive. Our White House is available in libraries and bookstores everywhere.

To learn more about what presidents and their families do to relax and have fun together while living in the White House, check out "Stress Relief: Exercise and Relaxation at the White House" on http://www.ourwhitehouse.org/toc.html.

Libraries Endangered by Funding Cuts

Ohio Governor Threatens Drastic 50% Cut
to its Libraries

Last week Ohio Governor Ted Strickland made headlines when he announced his intentions to reduce state funding to its public libraries by fifty percent as a means to balance the state budget. The public outrage was immediate as Ohioans rallied for its libraries in public demonstrations, as well as an onslaught of phone calls and emails to the governor's office. According to the Ohio Library Council, such a dramatic reduction in funds would force the state to start closing libraries.

As states struggle to balance their budgets with decreased federal funding and tax income, many are looking to reduce funding to their libraries. But president of the American Library Association Jim Rettig recently stated about the situation in Ohio, "A projected 50 percent reduction in funding for Ohio’s libraries would result in unprecedented national disaster. We understand that in a recession difficult choices must be made, but libraries are part of the solution when a community is struggling economically, and are a necessity in efforts to get Americans back on their feet. From coast to coast, libraries have been first responders to the national economic crisis. They have been inundated by job seekers and users looking to better their lives through education. This also is the case in Ohio, as Ohioans are depending on their local libraries for free Internet access, employment services, personal finance resources, small business development and education and cultural programs." Read more at "Ted Strickland Vilified for Proposed Cuts to Ohio Public Libraries."

In the meantime, the Ohio Senate is considering less drastic cuts to library funding. As of this morning, the Associate Press reports that "the $227 million in library cuts proposed by Gov. Ted Strickland would be reduced by two-thirds." The Ohio Library Council noted that a lesser reduction in funds might prevent them from having to close libraries. In fact, Lynda Murray of the Ohio Library Council said about the latest budget plan, "That's something we can live (with), but people will still see a drop in services." Read more at "Less cuts proposed in new budget."

Stay Informed!
The ALA is constantly tracking issues related to library funding. For the latest updates on school, public, and federal library funding, refer to "Funding News @ Your Library" on the ALA website.

THE NCBLA'S NEW READING OUTREACH PROJECT

The Library of Congress and the
National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance Invite You to the Library Of Congress' Booth
at the American Library Association
National Conference in Chicago, July 11-14th
to find out more about the
EXQUISITE CORPSE ADVENTURE!

Check this NCBLA blog throughout
the summer for updates!!

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure begins
September 26, 2009!!!

The Best Kids' Books Ever??

New York Times Columnist Declares Favorite Books--
and His Readers Sound Off

The school buses are off the roads, the textbooks are stacked in storage, and educators and parents across the nation worry about how to keep our kids' minds engaged. Rightly so. As New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristoff writes in "The Best Kids' Books Ever," "American children drop in I.Q. each summer vacation — because they aren’t in school or exercising their brains. This is less true of middle-class students whose parents drag them off to summer classes or make them read books. But poor kids fall two months behind in reading level each summer break, and that accounts for much of the difference in learning trajectory between rich and poor students."

The fact that kids fall behind in the summer is not new news. Teachers have been trying to counteract this for years by requiring students to read over the summer. But what to read?

Kristof's list of thirteen recommended books hit a nerve with many of his readers because their personal favorites did not make the cut. What about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Phantom Tollbooth, and The Bridge to Terabithia?! In a follow-up column, ("In Which I Apologize to Roald Dahl….") Kristof apologizes and reports how he "was taken aback by the reaction" to his list. In fact, he further notes that never before had readers posted even 1,000 comments to one of his columns, but the reaction was so overwhelming to this column that he received over 2,350 comments.

Educator Monica Edinger reacted to Kristof's piece in her blog educating alice, "Like so many similar well-intentioned pieces, this column bugged me. Not only are the books Kristof recommends unlikely to end up in the hands of one of those “poor kids” this summer, even if they were in their hands, they might not speak to them at all. The suggestions pouring in from his readers seem equally myopic— I see next to none considering what the actual reality is for those at-risk children."

We noted the erupting controversy about WHAT kids should be reading versus educators' expectations in last week's blog ("Summer Reading Lists Promote Reading for the Fun of It"). Many teachers do recognize the diverse needs of kids and have sought to transform the standard summer reading list to extend beyond the classic cannon of white men to include more multicultural works and popular favorites. Read more in the Boston Globe article, "Sands Shift in Summer Reading."

What should kids be reading? Should kids read what they want? What do you think?

The Adventure Begins This September!

American Library Association Members:
The Exquisite Corpse Adventure begins!

Going to ALA's National Convention in Chicago? Make sure you stop by the Library of Congress booth to find out more about the LOC's and the NCBLA's new riveting reading outreach project----

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure!

"This story starts
with a train
rushing through the night . . ."

RIF and Macy's Team Up to Promote Literacy

Go Shopping and Make a Difference:

Book A Brighter Future Campaign Launched

For a second year, Macy's is helping to raise funds for RIF by offering all its customers an opportunity to give $3 to RIF and get a $10 off coupon for their next in-store purchase of $50 or more. Shoppers can take advantage of this opportunity through August 31. Macy’s will donate 100% of every $3 to RIF.

Last year, Macy’s customers raised more than $3.1 million for RIF and set a new record for the largest customer-supported campaign in RIF’s 42-year history. This year, RIF needs your help to beat this record!
You can help by taking advantage of this shopping opportunity and by spreading the word!

Learn more about Book a Brighter Future.
Learn more about RIF and its programs on the RIF website.

Pop Lit or Classic? Meyer or Melville?

Summer Reading Lists Promote Reading
for the Fun of It

Although educators may disagree about what kids should be reading this summer, all assert the profound need for kids to read something!

In the June 25 Boston Globe, staff reporter Lisa Kocian writes in "Sands Shift in Summer Reading" about the dramatic changes being made to assigned reading lists and educators' reasoning behind the revisions. At many high schools, educators are promoting reading lists with a more diverse selection that limits the classics and includes more popular books, such as Stephanie Meyer's best-seller Twilight and Dan Brown's sensation, Angels and Demons.

Donna Johns, a library teacher at Newton North High School explains, “I’m concerned about turning reading into work. Sometimes you do read for work, for information, for class, but sometimes you really should just be reading for pleasure.’’

On the other side of the table are those who believe the summer reading list is an ideal way to introduce students to the beauty of classic literature. Heather Mac Donald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, states that the removal of classic books from summer reading lists is "heartbreaking." She further notes that such an elimination avoids the "cultural responsibility to keep this literature alive.’’

What do you think? Read more...

The National Ambassador for Young People's Literature
Provides Tips to Motivate Kids to Read
Regarding his goals as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, Jon Scieszka states, "My mission as Ambassador is to get kids excited about reading. Recent surveys and statistics show kids reading less, and getting worse at it. My experiences as an elementary school teacher, a children’s book writer, and the founder of a literacy initiative for boys called GUYS READ, have all taught me that kids will read if they are motivated to want to read."

Jon further states, "There is no one book that is right for all kids. But there are all kinds of crazy, interesting, and amazing books out there. It’s our job to help kids find that book that will inspire them to want to become readers. " Read more...

Additional Resources for Summer Reading Ideas Are Widely Available!
If you would like to pursue books beyond your child's or student's assigned list, visit your local library and check out these fun lists:

Association for Library Service to Children 2009 Notable Children's Books

The Horn Book's Summer Reading List for Kids and Teens

The National Endowment for the Humanities Summertime Favorites

Helpful advice for parents who struggle with getting their kids to read can be found in "Getting Your Tweens and Teens Reading This Summer!" on the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance website, which features a variety of articles geared at parents, teachers, and librarians who are invested in reading and literacy for kids.

“Libraries raised me."

Famed Author Ray Bradbury Fights for His Neighborhood Library!

“Libraries raised me,” Mr. Bradbury said. “I don’t believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don’t have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn’t go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.”

Public and school libraries across the country are suffering hugely in these dire economic times. The irony is that in tough economic times free public libraries and library services are needed more than ever providing essential tools and information, as well as computer and Internet access, for the unemployed and struggling families. Libraries also provide a vast array of books and media that offer constructive escapes from what can seem like overwhelming pressures.

I can readily identify with Mr. Bradbury's strong allegiance to public libraries for in my young life my school and neighborhood library were my safe havens, not my home. It was at the public library that I found books that taught me how to cook, how to sew, how to take care of a house, and how to take care of children, adult tasks that I had to take on at a much too early age. Now, more than ever, we adults need to make sure that all of our children, especially young people challenged by poverty, challenged by family circumstances or health issues-- all children in need ---have a safe haven in their communities and schools were they can find stories and heroes that encourage them to hope and dream and give them the information and tools they need to achieve their dreams. Those safe havens are their school and public libraries.

The NCBLA urges all caring adults to find out the status and health of your community's school and public libraries. Fight for these remarkable community assets to be level-funded on a town, county, state, and federal level. Write an old fashioned letter, call, fax, and email your local, state, and national officials and let them know your feelings. Fight to keep trained library professionals in your school and neighborhood libraries. Work with Friends of Library Associations to ensure that this generation of young Americans has access to one of America's greatest gifts to world culture, something we adults have come to take for granted--- a free neighborhood public library!----Mary Brigid Barrett, President, The National Children's Book and Literacy Aliance

To read more about Ray Bradbury's committment to libraries, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/us/20ventura.html?em

To find out more about what you can do to support literacy and your neighborhood library, go to:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/index.cfm
http://www.thencbla.org/BPOSpages/activistshandbook.html

Father's Day Is Sunday, June 21

Celebrate with Stories for and about Fathers

Author Jon Scieszka Shares Stories of His Dad

National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Jon Scieszka (which rhymes with Fresca) is the playful and cheeky author behind The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. You can read Scieszka's tribute to his dad in his essay "Playing with Dad" written for Reading Rockets in celebration of Father's Day 2009. Also, be sure to check out his video interview with Reading Rockets, in which Jon talks about his "weird" style and his concern about boys and reading.

Suggested Book Lists About Fabulous Fathers and Grandfathers

If you are looking for heartwarming stories to share with fathers, grandfathers, and the other loving men in your life, be sure to check out the annotated lists of book recommendations compiled by Reading Rockets. Find the books you would like to share this Father's Day weekend on the Fabulous Fathers list and Reading with Dads list. Both lists include beloved books that celebrate fathers and grandfathers--books that are perfect for sharing with kids through age 12.

AND...Why Not Send an E-Card?!

Download your own Father's Day e-card, which features the delightfully bold artwork of Javaka Steptoe. Steptoe is a young artist, designer, and illustrator. His debut work, In Daddy's Arms I Am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers, earned him the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award.

2009 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence Announced

Two NCBLA Board Members Honored!

The Boston Globe and Horn Book announced their 2009 Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature today. Presented annually since 1967, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards reward excellence in children’s and young adult literature and are given in three categories: Fiction and Poetry, Nonfiction, and Picture Book. The 2009 winners are:

Fiction and Poetry
Nation by Terry Pratchett (HarperCollins)

Nonfiction
The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary by Candace Fleming (Schwartz & Wade/Random House)

Picture Book
Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy, illustrated by Polly Dunbar (Clarion)

Two honor books were also named in each category, and the NCBLA is thrilled that the work of two of our distinguished board members--M. T. Anderson and David Macaulay--was selected for this honor! Anderson's novel The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves was selected along with Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book for Fiction and Poetry honors. Macaulay's The Way We Work (written with Richard Walker and illustrated by David Macaulay) was selected for Nonfiction honors, along with Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone.

Congratulations to all the winners for this exceptional honor!

To learn more about this year's winners and their books, please visit the Horn Book website.

To learn more about the NCBLA, please visit thencbla.org.

You may also want to check out our educational website ourwhitehouse.org.

The website ourwhitehouse.org provides a treasure trove of supplemental primary and secondary source material for our printed art and literature anthology for readers of all ages titled Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out. Be sure to read "The Back Story – Creating the Cover: David Macaulay’s Preliminary Sketches" on ourwhitehouse.org. And pick up a copy of the book, available in libraries and bookstores everywhere, so you can read M. T. Anderson's story of ghosts haunting the White House in his informative and humorous piece, "The House Haunts."

Summer Opportunity for K-12 Teachers

American Antiquarian Society Sponsors Defining Freedom:

A Professional Development Project

The Defining Freedom summer professional project will examine how Americans conceived and promoted both individual and communal liberties and responsibilities from 1763 through 1863. The project seeks to create a series of professional development experiences in which participating teachers will examine the imperial crisis, the American Revolution, the Early Republic, the antebellum period, and the Civil War.

Defining Freedom is a collaborative professional development project presented by the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS), and the Worcester Public Schools (WPS). PDPs and graduate credit available.

An important component of Defining Freedom will be to familiarize teachers with the online resources available and to encourage the development of media literacy among their students. Teachers will not only explore the materials available on the AAS sponsored website Teach U.S. History (http://www.teachushistory.org/) and those developed by the MHS, including The Coming of the American Revolution (www.masshist.org/revolution); they will also play a role in making suggestions for adding materials to both websites. Teacher’s curriculum units and assessment strategies may also be added and/or linked to these sites so that additional teachers in other districts can access them as well.

Dates: July 22, 23 & 28, 29, 30, 2009

Place: The American Antiquarian Society (Worcester) &
The Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston)

To register, please contact:

Amy Sopcak-Joseph
Education Coordinator, American Antiquarian Society
email: asopcak@mwa.org
Phone: 508-471-2129

Visit the Defining Freedom website to learn more.

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