The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Mystery Author Contest: Clues # 13 and 14

Can Your Class Guess the Identity of the Team Corpse MYSTERY AUTHOR?

Play Twenty Questions with other Exquisite Corpse Adventure readers around the country to help identify The Mystery Author!

Every class that solves the mystery and emails in the correct guess will be entered into a drawing to win a collection of books valued at over $600 for their classroom or library, plus a phone conversation with The Mystery Author! One classroom winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries received.

Here's Today's Clues:

Clue #13

The protagonists in The Exquisite Corpse Adventure have something in common with the protagonists in the Mystery Author's third book for young adults. What is the main thing these protagonists have in common?
A.) Both sets of protagonists are 11-years old.
B.) Both sets of protagonists are twins.
C.) Both sets of protagonists were provided with an animal protector.

Clue #14

With whom would the Mystery Author like to have tea?
A.) The Man in the Yellow Hat and the Girl in the Red Riding Hood.
B.) The Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins.
C.) Jon Scieszka and Katherine Paterson.

Find the answers and the NEXT TWO CLUES this Friday on AdLit.org!

Here's the Answers to Clues #11 and 12:

Answer to Clue #11: The Mystery Author likes to proudly display a fold-up pocket journal, "This one is really sneaky. I can take this out in restaurants, or on the airplane, and people assume it's my wallet. I hear some pretty interesting conversations."

Answer to Clue #12: The Mystery Author lives in the Bay State. 

You can send your guess to mysteryauthor@thencbla.org anytime, but you can only guess once! We will be posting 6 more clues until we post the final clue on April 21, 2010. Check here every Monday and Wednesday and check AdLit.org every Friday to find the remaining clues.

For more information and complete rules, please visit www.thencbla.org.

In the meantime, be sure to read The Exquisite Corpse Adventure on Read.Gov! The most recent episode--Episode 15--was penned by National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Katherine Paterson  and sumptuously illustrated by Calef Brown.

More Corpse Fun: Educational Materials and Writing Contest

Be sure to check out the following extensive educational materials for The Exquisite Corpse Adventure:
Online education resource center  created by the NCBLA and the Butler Center for Children's Literature at Dominican University.  Discover reading lists thematically linked to each episode, classroom activities, discussion questions, art appreciation essays and activities, and MORE! 

The Exquisite Prompt Challenge Writing Contest sponsored by ReadingRockets and AdLit.org! This month's prompts are inspired by author Megan McDonald and illustrator Timothy Basil Ering!

April is National Poetry Month! Share a Poem with a Child

Family Poems: 

Read Together!

Milk White Moon, 

Put the Cows to Sleep 

by Carl Sandburg (American, 1878-1967)

Milk-white moon, put the cows to sleep
Since five o'clock in the morning,
Since they stood up out of the grass,
Where they have slept on their knees and hocks,
They have eaten grass and given their milk
And eaten grass again and given milk, 
And kept their heads and teeth at the earth's face.
    Now they are looking at you, milk-white moon.
    Carelessly as they look at the level landscapes,
    Carelessly as they look at a pail of new white milk,
    They are looking at you, wondering not at all, at all.
    If the moon is the skim face top of a pail of milk
    Wondering not at all, carelessly looking.
    Put the cows to sleep, milk-white moon,
    Put the cows to sleep. 

You and your children can find the sketches above, preliminary drawings for a print series, Cow Triptych by Roy Lichtenstein (American,1923 – 1997) at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. 

For more information on artist Roy Lichtenstein, go to:

http://www.lichtensteinfoundation.org/

For more information about poet Carl Sandburg, to to:
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/28

National Library Week April 11 - 17

Celebrate National Library Week- Visit your Library!

Think library and think more than books. Today's library is not the library of old. It's the new community center. Of course, you can still grab a book, nestle down in a comfy chair, and travel to middle earth, be chased by villains, eaten by witches, or fall in love. But that's only part of what's available to you at your local library.

Libraries are a treasure chest of resources and activities for people of all ages. For adults, you might find lectures, community meetings, or classes. For kids, there might be book clubs, movies, or story time. Just go online to view what's up at your library or walk through the door. You'll be amazed at what's going on.

And don't forget the librarians! They are the masters of the library. Ask them to recommend a good mystery or funny tale and they'll know exactly where to send you. Ask about internet access or an upcoming event and they'll have the answers.

National Library Week honors libraries, librarians, and library workers across the country. Check your local library for activities that celebrate this wonder institution and its dedicated employees. Next time you want fun, entertainment, and information-think LIBRARY!

A Library is a National Treasure!

April is National Poetry Month! Share a Poem With Your Child!

Family Poems: 

Read Together!

The Weary Blues

by Langston Hughes (American, 1902-1967)

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,

Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,

      I heard a Negro play.

Down on Lenox Avenue the other night

By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light

      He did a lazy sway. . . .

      He did a lazy sway. . . .

To the tune o’ those Weary Blues.

With his ebony hands on each ivory key

He made that poor piano moan with melody.

      O Blues!

Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool

He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.

      Sweet Blues!

Coming from a black man’s soul.

      O Blues!

In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone

I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan—

      “Ain’t got nobody in all this world,

      Ain’t got nobody but ma self.

      I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’

      And put ma troubles on the shelf.”

Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.

He played a few chords then he sang some more—

      “I got the Weary Blues

      And I can’t be satisfied.

      Got the Weary Blues

      And can’t be satisfied—

      I ain’t happy no mo’

      And I wish that I had died.”

And far into the night he crooned that tune.

The stars went out and so did the moon.

The singer stopped playing and went to bed

While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.

He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.

The art above right is by Romare Bearden (American, 1911-1988). You can take your children to see his work at the Metropolitan Museum or Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC and at many other major art museums across the country.

For information on the art of Romare Bearden go to:  
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/most/hd_most.htm

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId={EC1FCC42-2857-44E8-A2CD-44C67B8599FD}

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1428038

http://www.nga.gov/feature/bearden/index.shtm

For information about poet Langston Hughes go to: 

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/83

http://www.kansasheritage.org/crossingboundaries/page6e1.html

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=3340

MORE Books in NCBLA's Exquisite Corpse Adventure Mystery Author Contest Prize Pack!!

Here are Some of the Amazing Books Your Kids Can Win for Their School or Classroom Library in The NCBLA  Exquisite Corpse Adventure  

Mystery Writer Contest!!

The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance includes the following titles in the grand prize of over $600 of amazing books that will be given to The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Mystery Writer contest winner for his or her school or classroom library! 

 


When Your Reach Me by Rebecca Stead  (hardcover) 









Ashley Bryan: Words to My Life's Song written and illustrated by Ashley Bryant with Bill McGuinness  (hardcover)

 Hook written and illustrated by Ed Young (hardcover)





 
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Line (hardcover) 

Book Fiesta!: Celebrate Children's Day/Book Day;Celebremos El dia de los ninos/El dia  de los libros by Pat Mora, illustrated by Rafael Lopez (hardcover) 









Cycle of Rice, Cycle of Life: A Story of Sustainable Farming by Jan Reynolds  (hardcover)

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip M. Hoose (hardcover) 






 




Return to Sender by Julia Alverez  (hardcover)

The Lion and the Mouse written and illustrated by Jerry Pickney 
(hardcover) 




 





My Abuelita by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Yuyi Morales (hardcover)





 



When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson by Pat Munoz Ryan, illustrated by Brian Selznick (hardcover) 

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone (hardcover)

Esperanza renace;Esperanza Rising by Pat Munoz Ryan ( Spanish paperback edition)

Marching for Freedom: Walk Together and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge (hardcover)












The Young Writer's Companion by Sarah Ellis, illustrated by Juan Fitzherbert (paperback-the NCBLA will give the Mystery Writer Winners enough copies of this inspiring creative writing journal for the students in one classroom) 












From Reader to Writer:  Teaching Writing Through Classic Children's Books by Sarah Ellis (paperback- the NCBLA will supply one copy each for the Mystery Writer Contest winner's teacher and school librarian)

And last but not least the winner will receive a copy of the NCBLA's awarding-winning book Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out! One hundred and eight nationally renowned authors and illustrators tell the story of America using the White House and the Presidency as it unifying theme. Read more about Our White House at www.ourwhitehouse.org!




Read The Exquisite Corpse Adventure free online at:  http://www.read.gov/

Find the The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Educational Resource Center at: http://www.thencbla.org/Exquisite_Corpse/exquisite_home.html

Find out all the The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Mystery Writer Rules at: http://www.thencbla.org/Exquisite_Corpse/MAC_home.html

. . . and keep reading the NCBLA blog to find all the clues your kids need to find out the Mystery Writer's identity!

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Mystery Author Contest: Clues #11 and 12

Can Your Class Guess the Identity of the Team Corpse MYSTERY AUTHOR?

Play Twenty Questions with other Exquisite Corpse Adventure readers around the country to help identify The Mystery Author!

Every class that solves the mystery and emails in the correct guess will be entered into a drawing to win a collection of books valued at over $500 for their classroom or library, plus a phone conversation with The Mystery Author! One classroom winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries received.

Teachers and Librarians, consider making this contest a game with the young people you work with. Play Twenty Questions in class, discuss the possibilities as a group, or have each student write his or her guess on a piece of paper and put it in jar. You can pull out the guesses at random and discuss how each author's name fits the clues so far.

Here's Today's Clues:

Clue #11

What item does the Mystery Author often carry?
A.) A pocket-size journal that folds up.
B.) An accordion, so he or she can play polka music whenever it strikes his or her fancy.
C.) A pen, disguised as a lipstick, that writes with invisible ink that can only be seen while wearing x-ray Mickey Mouse sunglasses.

Clue #12

In which state does the Mystery Author currently live?
A.) Bay State.
B.) Golden State.
C.) Lone Star State.

Find the answers and the NEXT TWO CLUES this Wednesday HERE on the NCBLA's blog!

Here's the Answers to Clues #9 and 10:

Answer to Clue #9: The Mystery Author prefers to write at the library.

Answer to Clue #10: The Mystery Author became an avid reader while hanging out and devouring favorite books at his or her father's neighborhood Elk Club.

You can send your guess to mysteryauthor@thencbla.org anytime, but you can only guess once! We will be posting 8 more clues until we post the final clue on April 21, 2010. Check here every Monday and Wednesday and check AdLit.org every Friday to find the remaining clues.


For more information and complete rules, please visit www.thencbla.org.

In the meantime, be sure to read The Exquisite Corpse Adventure on Read.Gov! The most recent episode--Episode 15--was penned by National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Katherine Paterson  and sumptuously illustrated by Calef Brown.

Be sure to check out these supporting materials for The Exquisite Corpse Adventure:

Coordinating educational materials created by the NCBLA and the Butler Center for Children's Literature at Dominican University!

And The Exquisite Prompt Challenge Writing Contest sponsored by ReadingRockets and AdLit.org!

Here are just some of the books your school can win in the NCBLA's Mystery Writer Contest!

Guess The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Mystery Writer Contest and Your Kids can Win Over $500 of Great Books for Their School or Classroom Library!!  

In The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Mystery Author Prize Pack of Books the winner will find these terrific books by poet, novelist, and Coretta Scott Award winner Nikki Grimes!--and many more great books, too!

The autographed books are: 

 
  
Rich: A Dyamonde Daniel Book (hardback)  

  
What is Goodbye? (hardback) 

Jazmin's Notebook (hardback)

Dark Sons (hardback)  

Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman (picture book, hardback) 

Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope (picture book, hardback) 








Nikki Grimes is a board member of the NCBLA and has personally donated and autographed this collection of books for the Mystery Writer Contest-- Nikki, thank you ! You can find out more about Nikki Grimes and her wonder-filled books for young people at: http://www.nikkigrimes.com/



Read The Exquisite Corpse Adventure fr
ee online at:  http://www.read.gov/

Find the The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Educational Resource Center at: http://www.thencbla.org/Exquisite_Corpse/exquisite_home.html

Find out all the The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Mystery Writer Rules at: http://www.thencbla.org/Exquisite_Corpse/MAC_home.html

And keep reading the NCBLA BLOG to find out important MYSTERY AUTHOR CLUES and PRIZE BOOK PACK information!

Children's Literacy Activist Alert!!!

Reading is Fundamental Needs Our Help NOW!

Action Alert: Reinstate RIF's Funding Effort Moves to Senate!President Obama's proposed FY11 budget eliminates funding for RIF and RIF's nationwide services. Support is building in the House, but the Senate process is just beginning.

From an excellent article in The New York Times, "U.S. Plan Threatens Free-Book Group," by Stephanie Strom-

"Changes in the way the federal government plans to allocate money to increase and improve literacy pose a severe threat to one of the country’s best-known nonprofit groups, Reading Is Fundamental. 

Known commonly as RIF, the organization, which provides free books to needy children and has been promoted in memorable public service announcements by celebrities like Carol Burnett and Shaquille O'Neal, stands to lose all of its federal financing, which accounts for roughly 75 percent of its annual revenues.

. . .Under the federal budget proposed for the 2011 fiscal year, the Department of Education has proposed pooling the money it allocates to RIF, another nonprofit organization, the National Writing Project, and five of its own grant programs, and instead distributing it to state and local governments. Under that plan, RIF and the writing project would have to compete state by state for federal funds"

“This really means that we would have to hire people to write grant applications tailored to the specific requirements of each state,” Ms. Rasco [Carol Rasco, chief executive of RIF] said. “That’s money we otherwise would be using to buy books for kids.”  

Read more of the article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/education/09grants.html?hpw

    Susan Poag/The Times-Picayune, via Associated Press


Educators and librarians know that literacy is the foundation for all learning, and that to create lifelong readers kids need to know how to read and they need terrific informative, enlightening, and yes, even entertaining books to keep them reading.  

For generations, Reading is Fundamental has given great books to thousands and thousands of kids in need.  Help them now! 
Contact your representatives in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Find out what you need to do, and how you need to do it, here: http://www.capwiz.com/rif/issues/alert/?alertid=14766866&type=CO

Here are just some of the book titles your school can win in the NCBLA's Mystery Writer Contest!

The NCBLA's 

Exquisite Corpse Adventure 

Mystery Author Contest Winner Will Win Over $500 of Books for His or Her School or Classroom Library!

Included in the Mystery Author Prize Pack of Books will be these titles from Newbery Award winning author Susan Cooper. The autographed titles are: 

  






The Dark is Rising Sequence-A special hardback one volume collection of Over Sea, Under Stone; The Dark is Rising; Greenwitch; The Grey King; and Silver on the Tree. 








King of Shadows- Hardback edition











Victory--Paperback edition









 


When I Was Your Age: Original Stories About Growing Up edited by Amy Ehrlich--hardback edition that includes stories by esteemed authors Susan Cooper, Katherine Paterson, Laurence Yep, Mary Pope Osborne, James Howe, Walter Dean Myers, Nicholasa Mohr, Reeve Lindbergh, Avi, and 
Francesca Lia Block!


Susan Cooper is a board member of the NCBLA and has personally donated and autographed this collection of books for the Mystery Writer Contest-- Thank you Susan! You can find out more about Susan Cooper's riveting books for young people at: http://www.thelostland.com/

Read The Exquisite Corpse Adventure free online at:  http://www.read.gov/

Find the The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Educational Resource Center at: http://www.thencbla.org/Exquisite_Corpse/exquisite_home.html

Find out all the The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Mystery Writer Rules at: http://www.thencbla.org/Exquisite_Corpse/MAC_home.html

And keep reading the NCBLA BLOG to find out important MYSTERY AUTHOR CLUES and PRIZE BOOK PACK information!

Sneak Peek: Episode 15 Goes Live Friday, April 9th

Latest Exquisite Corpse Adventure Episode Written by Katherine Paterson

In our last episode of The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Episode 14, by Linda Sue Park, our ingenious heroes, Nancy and Joe, outwitted the hungry wolf by employing a standard circus act-juggling. Grabbing food from the refrigerator, Nancy and Joe distracted the wolf so they, and the robot, Roberta, could make their escape to the cradle of time. The trick worked and they raced outside to the cradle, but dang, it hovered over the yard. "Human chain!" Joe shouted. The wolf, having gulped the last of the food, rushed after them. As Joe dangled from the floating cradle with the wolf nipping at his feet, Roberta used her strong arms to fling Joe and Nancy into the cradle. They returned safely to the beach where they had found the cradle in Episode 12.

In our next exciting Episode 15 by Katherine Paterson, Joe is awakened by a noise, "a rising and falling hump of something snorting like a steam engine with each breath." What is it? Friend or fiend? Why is Roberta so excited by a gingerbread house?

Read the Episode and see Calef Brown's colorful and quirky illustrations at Read.gov !

For over 30 years, author Katherine Paterson has been gathering awards for her touching and heartfelt stories. She says of her writing, "Eventually a character or characters will walk into my imagination and begin to take over my life. I'll spend the next couple of years getting to know them and telling their story. Then the joy of writing far outweighs the struggle, and I know beyond any doubt that I am the most fortunate person in the world to have been given such work to do."

Check for Katherine's many books at your favorite libraries and bookstores.




To learn more about Katherine Paterson, visit her website.

Calef Brown is an author and award-winning illustrator. Some of his own books include fun titles like, Polkabats and Octopus Slacks and Dutch Sneakers and Fleakeepers. His works have also appeared in numerous magazines including Time, Newsweek, and The New Yorker. You can see more of Calef's illustrations for The Exquisite Corpse Adventure in Episode 3 and Episode 7.



Be sure to visit Calef's website for more information on his books and illustrations.


ENJOY THE EPISODE!

Exquisite Corpse Adventure Mystery Author Contest: Clues #7 and 8

Can Your Class Guess the Identity of the Team Corpse MYSTERY AUTHOR?

Play Twenty Questions with other Exquisite Corpse Adventure readers around the country to help identify The Mystery Author!

Every class that solves the mystery and emails in the correct guess will be entered into a drawing to win a collection of books valued at over $500 for their classroom or library, plus a phone conversation with The Mystery Author! One classroom winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries received.

Teachers and Librarians, consider making this contest a game with the young people you work with. Play Twenty Questions in class, discuss the possibilities as a group, or have each student write his or her guess on a piece of paper and put it in jar. You can pull out the guesses at random and discuss how each author's name fits the clues so far.

Here's Today's Clues:

Clue #7

What is the Mystery Author's sibling status within his or her family?
A.) The Mystery Author is a twin like the protagonists in The Exquisite Corpse Adventure.
B.) The Mystery Author is an only child.
C.) The Mystery Author is one of several kids in the family.

Clue #8

Where did the Mystery Author live when he or she was a poor young aspiring writer?
A.) Sewer.
B.) Stock room at the local Wal-Mart.
C.) Boarding house.

Find the answers and the next two clues this Friday on AdLit.org!

Here's the Answers to Clues #5 and 6:

Answer to Clue #5: Two of the Mystery Author’s most favorite writers are James Marshall and William Steig.

Answer to Clue #6: The Mystery Author prefers cats over dogs…and iguanas.

You can send your guess to mysteryauthor@thencbla.org anytime, but you can only guess once! And we will be posting 12 more clues until we post the final clue on April 21, 2010. Check here every Monday and Wednesday and check AdLit.org every Friday to find the remaining clues.


For more information and complete rules, please visit www.thencbla.org.

In the meantime, be sure to read The Exquisite Corpse Adventure on Read.Gov! The most recent episode--Episode 14--was penned by Newbery medalist Linda Sue Park and illustrated by James Ransome.

Be sure to check out these supporting materials for The Exquisite Corpse Adventure:

Coordinating educational materials created by the NCBLA and the Butler Center for Children's Literature at Dominican University!

And The Exquisite Prompt Challenge Writing Contest sponsored by ReadingRockets and AdLit.org!

In case you missed it!

School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids Books Waged. . . . and the Winner is . . .

 

Marching for Freedom 

by Elizabeth Partridge

The Library of Congress' Young People's Book Ambassador and National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance Vice-President Katherine Paterson, was the "Big Kahuna" Final Judge. Other judges in the succeeding rounds included: M. T. Anderson, Christopher Paul Curtis, Nancy Farmer, Candace Fleming, , Helen Frost, Shannon Hale, Angela Johnson, Cynthia Kadohata, Julius Lester, Jim Murphy, Walter Dean Myers, Gary Schmidt, Anita Silvey, and Megan Whalen Turner. (http://sljbattleofthebooks.com/judges/)


Find all the great "Battle of the Kids Books" and share them with your kids, all available at your local neighborhood library or bookstore: 

CHARLES AND EMMA
CLAUDETTE COLVIN
THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE
FIRE
THE FROG SCIENTIST
THE LAST OLYMPIAN
LIPS TOUCH
THE LOST CONSPIRACY
MARCELO IN THE REAL WORLD
MARCHING FOR FREEDOM
PEACE, LOCOMOTION
A SEASON OF GIFTS
THE STORM IN THE BARN
SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM
TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA
WHEN YOU REACH ME

The NCBLA knows that a great children's book Internet event like this could not take place without many talented people working hard behind the scenes. So, we would like to thank Battle Commanders Monica Edinger and Roxanne Feldman (http://sljbattleofthebooks.com/commander/); Commentator Jonathan Hunt (http://sljbattleofthebooks.com/commentator/); and Rick Margolis, editor, and Mark Tuchman, creative director, both at School Library Journal--- for creating and organizing this provocative Battle of the Kids Books!!


For more information on the books listed above, reviews of the books, and to rehash the unfolding battle go to: http://sljbattleofthebooks.com/