Activist Alert!

AMERICAN JOBS ACT Provides Funding
for Education and School Libraries

YOUR Support Is Needed

Please call both of your U.S. senators and your congressional representative at the capitol switchboard, 202.224.3121, and urge them to support the American Jobs Act. 

Less than a week after President Obama called on Congress to pass a new jobs creation bill, Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced the American Jobs Act (AJA) of 2011 (S. 1549).

This Senate version of the jobs bill includes $30 billion for K-12 education to retain or rehire educators including school librarians to prevent the layoffs of up to 280,000 educators including many school librarians.  Since school librarians across the country are losing their jobs due to budget cuts, it is critically important that as much of this money as possible be used to save their jobs.

The AJA also includes an additional $25 billion to maintain and upgrade K-12 schools including school libraries to meet their 21st century demands and $5 billion for community colleges including their libraries.  

Please contact your elected officials TODAY and let them know what school libraries do in your community and how obtaining funds for construction through the AJA could improve the education of our students.

To see a chart outlining the estimated jobs impact by state, click here.

For more information about how you can support literacy and libraries, please visit the NCBLA's "Become an Activist" page. 

Meet EXQUISITE CORPSE ADVENTURE Contributors at the National Book Festival Next Weekend!

Don't Miss the Dramatic Reading of
The Exquisite Corpse Adventure
Saturday, September 24 at 10:00 AM
on the National Mall!

Starring

Mary Brigid Barrett, Calef Brown, Susan Cooper,
Jack Gantos, Gregory Maguire, Patricia McKissack,
Fredrick McKissack, Chris Van Dusen, AND
National Ambassador for Young People's Literature
Katherine Paterson!

We invite you to join us for a celebration of books and the joy of reading at this year's National Book Festival, to be held Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25 on the National Mall in Washington, DC. 

Once again the NCBLA opens the Children's Pavilion events with our dramatic reading of The Exquisite Corpse Adventure! 

The National Book Festival is free and open to the public and takes place on the National Mall between between 14^th and 7^th NW Streets (on the west and east) and between Madison Dr. and Jefferson Dr. (on the north and south). The Children's Pavilion will be located east of 12th Street, just north of the Smithsonian Castle. Over 600 people attended last year's Exquisite Corpse presentation, so be sure to arrive early to get a seat!

Meet Exquisite Corpse Presentation Authors and Illustrators
Following the Exquisite Corpse presentation, be sure to catch up with your favorite authors and illustrators and learn more about their other amazing books at their solo presentations and autographing sessions throughout Saturday and Sunday!

Mary Brigid Barrett is the president of the NCBLA, as well as a children’s book author and illustrator. She is the creative editor of the NCBLA publication Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out, named a best book of the year by the American Library Association, The Horn Book Magazine, School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly, and she edits www.ourwhitehouse.org, recognized as one of the ALA’s Great Websites for Kids. Her most recent book is Shoebox Sam, illustrated by Frank Morrison.

Calef Brown is the author-illustrator of Tippintown: A Guided Tour and the New York Times Children’s Picture Books bestseller and Myra Cohn Livingston Award for Poetry winner Flamingos on the Roof: Poems and Paintings. He most recent wrote and illustrated Boy Wonders. 

Susan Cooper is the author of the award-winning Dark Is Rising series, including The Dark Is Rising, a Newbery Honor Book, and The Grey King, a Newbery Medal winner. Her most recent book is The Magic Maker: A Portrait of John Langstaff. She is a member of the board of directors of the NCBLA.

Jack Gantos is the author of the Rotten Ralph series and the Joey Pigza series, which includes the Newbery Honor Book Joey Pigza Loses Control. Gantos is the 2010 winner of the ALAN Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Adolescent Literature. His most recent book is Dead End in Norvelt.

Gregory Maguire is the author of novels for both adults and children, including Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, which has been made into a hit Broadway musical, and What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy, a New York Times bestseller. Maguire's most recent book is Out of Oz: The Final Volume in the Wicked Years. He is an honorary member of the board of the NCBLA.

Patricia C. and Fredrick L. McKissack have co-authored more than one hundred books together. They are two-time winners of the Coretta Scott King Author Award. Their titles include A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter and Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States. Patricia is also the author of The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural, a Newbery Honor Book. They both serve on the board of directors of the NCBLA. The McKissacks recently collaborated with their son John McKissack to write Cyborg: The Second Book of The Clone Codes. 

Katherine Paterson is the author of Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved, both winners of the Newbery Medal. She has won the National Book Award twice. Paterson is the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and has received both the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award and Hans Christian Andersen Medal. She is also a vice president of the board of directors of the NCBLA. Her most recent book is The Flint Heart, co-authored with her husband John Paterson.

Chris Van Dusen is the author-illustrator of The Circus Ship and the Mr. Magee series. He is also the illustrator of the New York Times best-selling Mercy Watson series, which includes Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride, a Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor Book. His most recent book is King Hugo’s Huge Ego.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the National Book Festival!

CLICK HERE to learn more about The Exquisite Corpse Adventure!

Save the Date! "Sing to Me, O Muse" Symposium Scheduled for October 29

Symposium to Feature Readings, Talks, and Performances from the Greek Classics

SING TO ME, O MUSE takes its title from the opening lines
of The Odyssey, and will feature readings, talks, and
performances highlighting the impact of the epic poems,
myths, and legends of the ancient Greeks on childhood,
literature, and society.

October 29 from 10 am to 4 pm
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02138
Lecture Hall (Floor L2)

A remarkable chorus of artists, writers, storytellers,
musicians, dancers, educators and students includes Gregory
Maguire, Susan Cooper, Ashley Bryan, Sebastian Lockwood,
Evi Gerokosta (on film), Tracy Barrett, Gareth Hinds, Jill
Paton Walsh, John Rowe Townsend, Dr. John Pappas and his
Metropolis of Boston Dance Group, Katherine Kleitz,
Barbara Scotto, Martha Walke, Daryl Mark, Nora Tisel
Farley, Connie Carven, Susan Flannery, and Barbara
Harrison.

Registration
The program is free and open to the public. Reservations are
required, and seating is limited. Please register for the event,
by emailing Martha Walke at walkem@sover.net or by calling
her at (802) 765-4935. In your message, include your name,
email address, home phone and cell phone numbers.

Parking
As a courtesy to library patrons, we request that you do not
park in the Cambridge Public Library underground garage.
Please enjoy free parking in the parking lot of Harvard
Vanguard Medical Associates, 1611 Cambridge Street (7:00
am-5:30 pm). This location is about 1 ½ blocks from the
library (walk across Cambridge Street and follow Ellery
Street to Broadway. Turn right on Broadway and you will see
the Main Library). For directions to Harvard Vanguard please
check their website: http://www.harvardvanguard.org/
locs/directions.asp?ofc=Cambridge

Book Sales and Signing
Books by speakers will be available for sale from 9:00 – 9:45
am, and again during lunch, thanks to Porter Square Books.
No book sales after the program.

Lunch
We encourage people to bring a bag lunch or to plan on a
picking up a quick lunch at the nearby Broadway Market on
Broadway or Darwin’s Ltd on Cambridge Street.

This event is hosted by Children’s Literature New England, The Examined Life: Greek Studies in the Schools, and the Cambridge Public Library, SING TO ME, O MUSE derives from a colloquy and study tour in April 2011 in which American, British, and Canadian writers, illustrators, and educators visited Greece.

Learn more about CLNE and its programs at www.CLNE.org.

What Is It Like to Write an Episode for "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure?"

National Book Award Winner M. T. Anderson Discusses His Writing Experience for The Exquisite Corpse Adventure in Video Interview

In a video interview for Reading Rockets, M. T. Anderson discusses the history of the exquisite corpse art form and how he and a motley crew of 19 other celebrated authors and illustrators pooled their limitless imaginations to create The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, a 27-episode story game!

"Writing an Exquisite Corpse Adventure episode is like playing a game of hot potato, tossing the spud from person to person, passing it down a line of friends. Sure, everyone wants the potato to stay in the air. But it's also really fun if you can put some spin on it when you throw it so the next person has to really reach to grab it. The fumble and save is part of the thrill of the game."

M.T. Anderson is the author of The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party, a National Book Award Winner and Michael L. Printz Honor Book. His novel Feed was a National Book Award Finalist and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist. Anderson’s most recent books include Agent Q, or the Smell of Danger! and The Suburb Beyond the Stars. He is a member of the board of directors of the NCBLA. Learn more about Anderson and his books on his website.

Watch the video now!

What Is The Exquisite Corpse Adventure?

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure is a progressive story just like the one many families play on road trips, at camps, at parties, at home when there is a power outage. It is a game where one person begins a story, stops at a cliffhanging moment, and the next person picks it up, continuing on until everyone in the group has the opportunity to contribute. And just like in those games, in The Exquisite Corpse, characters spontaneously erupt out of our authors’ imaginations; plot lines tumble forth, some realized, some lost; and we are often poised at the edge of a cliff with no logical solution in sight! 

 

Originally published on Read.gov as the foundation of a national reading and writing initiative created by The National Children’s Bookand Literacy Alliance and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, The Exquisite Corpse Adventure is now available from Candlewick Press in paperback and hardcover. It is also available on audio. 

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure authors and illustrators are: M.T. Anderson, Natalie Babbitt, Calef Brown, Susan Cooper, Kate DiCamillo, Timothy Basil Ering, Jack Gantos, Nikki Grimes, Shannon Hale, Lemony Snicket, Steven Kellogg, Gregory Maguire, Megan McDonald, Patricia and Fredrick McKissack, Linda Sue Park, Katherine Paterson, James Ransome, Jon Scieszka, and Chris Van Dusen.

Ask for The Exquisite Corpse Adventure
at a library or bookstore near you!

To buy The Exquisite Corpse Adventure from the bookseller of your choice, click here.

In Case You Missed It!

Caroline Kennedy Talks About How Her Parents Shared Their Love of Reading

In an interview with Dotson Rader for Parade titled "Courage, Strength, and Dignity: A Conversation with Caroline Kennedy," Kennedy shares memories of her parents and discusses her new book Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy, to be published September 14. The book presents never-before-heard interviews with Jacqueline Kennedy following the death of President John F. Kennedy.

When asked if Jacqueline had encouraged Caroline and John to read, Caroline answers, "Yes. She made it fun, and she was always quoting things. When we’d play charades, everybody wanted Mummy on their team because she knew these quotes no one else knew. She would throw in Walter Raleigh, Yeats, and Bible verses, and she’d win every time! She mostly didn’t play, but when she did she was really a star." 

Did your parents read to you as a child? "My mom did when I was younger. I don’t remember my father reading to me, but I remember him telling me bedtime stories. I got to pick what was in them, and then he’d make them up. ... They were adventure stories. I had two ponies in them—one was black with a white star and one was white with a black star, and they were called White Star and Black Star. I could pick who rode the other one. Mostly I picked my cousin Stevie. [Now a business executive, Stephen Kennedy Smith Jr. is the son of Jean Kennedy Smith, the sister of John F. Kennedy, and the late Stephen Smith.] "

To read the entire interview, click here.

Learn MORE About America's First Families

To learn more about presidents and their families, check out the NCBLA's award-winning anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out!

Share the stories of the first presidential children to live in the White House in "High Spirits in the Lincoln White House" by Russell Freedman and learn more about White House life for the young Kennedy family in "The Kennedy White House" by Barbara Harrison. Read about the letters Theodore Roosevelt sent to his children in "Theodore Roosevelt’s Letters to His Children" by Leonard S. Marcus.

On the companion educational site OurWhiteHouse.org, you can read about each and every one of our nation's presidents and first ladies in the "Presidential Facts" and "First Lady Facts" pages. 

While visiting OurWhiteHouse.org, be sure to check out the vast array of other articles, resources, and activities that help young people connect with American history.

Our White House is a project of the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance created 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 both paperback and hardcover from Candlewick Press.

Ask for Our White House at a library and bookstore near you!