COUNTDOWN to the National Book Festival!

Exquisite Corpse Adventure Authors and Illustrators to Open National Book Festival in the Children's Pavilion THIS Saturday, September 24, at 10:00 AM

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!

 

The National Book Festival is an annual event  organized and sponsored by the Library of Congress. This year's festival will be held TWO days:
Saturday, September 24
from 10 AM to 5:30 PM, and Sunday, September 25
from 1 to 5:30 PM. The festival is FREE and open to the public.

The NCBLA invites book lovers of all ages to join us for our dramatic reading of The Exquisite Corpse Adventure at 10:00 AM Saturday in the Children's Pavilion, located on the National Mall east of 12th Street, just north of the Smithsonian Castle.

 

Meet Exquisite Corpse Presentation Authors and Illustrators!

Following the Exquisite Corpse presentation, you can meet 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 signing her picture book Shoebox Sam Saturday at 11:30 AM. 

Calef Brown presents his book, Boy Wonders, Saturday at 12:05 PM in the Children’s Pavilion. His autographing session is Saturday at 1:30.

Susan Cooper presents her book series, The Dark Is Rising, Sunday at 1:00 PM in the Teens Pavilion. Her autographing session is Sunday at 3:30.

Jack Gantos presents his book, Dead End in Norvelt, Saturday at 12:45 PM in the Teens Pavilion. His autographing session is Saturday at 2:30.

Gregory Maguire presents his book, Out of Oz: The Final Volume in the Wicked Years, Saturday at 11:50 AM in the Fiction & Mystery Pavilion. His autographing session is Saturday at 1:00.

Patricia C. McKissack presents her book, co-authored with
Fredrick L. McKissack and John McKissack, Cyborg: The Second Book of The Clone Codes, Sunday at 3:45 PM in the Teens Pavilion. Pat and Fred are autographing Sunday at 2:00.

Katherine Paterson presents her book, The Flint Heart, Saturday at 11:50 AM in the Teens Pavilion. Her autographing session is Saturday at 1:00.

Chris Van Dusen presents his book, King Hugo’s Huge Ego, Saturday at 1:00 PM in the Children’s Pavilion. His autographing session is Saturday at 2:30.

Learn More!

To learn more about the national reading and writing outreach initiative The Exquisite Corpse Adventure and the NCBLA's companion educational resource site, click here!  

For complete information about the National Book Festival, including a schedule, site map, and a list of all participating authors, click here!

In Case You Missed It!

New York Times Essay Discusses the Impact of Children's Book Giants Sendak, Silverstein, and Geisel

In the essay titled "The Children's Authors Who Broke the Rules," Children's book editor Pamela Paul writes how Maurice Sendak, Shel Silverstein, and Theodor Geisel challenged the established ideas of what a children’s book should be. Here is an excerpt:

"Once upon a more staid time, the purpose of children’s books was to model good behavior. They were meant to edify and to encourage young readers to be what parents wanted them to be, and the children in their pages were well behaved, properly attired and devoid of tears. Children’s literature was not supposed to shine a light on the way children actually were, or delight in the slovenly, self-interested and disobedient side of their natures.

Seuss, Sendak and Silverstein ignored these rules. They brought a shock of subversion to the genre — defying the notion that children’s books shouldn’t be scary, silly or sophisticated. Rather than reprimand the wayward listener, their books encouraged bad (or perhaps just human) behavior." 

Click here to read the complete article.

ALSO in The New York Times!

Check out Jerry Griswold's review of The Flint Heart titled "What the Zabog Knew." The Flint Heart is a retelling of the British fantasy by Eden Phillpotts, abridged by Katherine and John Paterson, illustrated by John Rocco, and published by Candlewick Press. Katherine Paterson is the current National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and the author of Bridge to Terabithia and Jacob Have I Loved, both winners of the Newbery Medal. She is also a vice president of the board of directors of the NCBLA. 

And be sure to read the review of Brian Selznick's book for young adults--Wonderstruck: A Novel in Words and Pictures--in the review "A Deaf Boy's New York Quest." Brian Selznick is the creator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a Caldecott Medal winner, and The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins (both Scholastic), a Caldecott Honor Book. He is also a contributor to Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out.

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.