Read Episode 2 of "The Exquisite Corpse" on Read.Gov

Use the Reading, Writing, and Art Activities Created to Support The Exquisite Corpse Adventure to Inspire Young People at Home and in the Classroom

 

Are you reading the exciting online story game The Exquisite Corpse Adventure with the young people in your life?!  Episode 2 was written by National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Emeritus Katherine Paterson and illustrated by James Ransome. Click here to read Episode 2 on Read.gov.

 

Teachers, librarians, homeschoolers, and parents interested in FREE reading, writing, and art educational materials should check out the NCBLA's The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Education Resource Center. Designed to support The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, these extensive materials provide a gold mine of literacy articles, web resources, classroom activities, games, reading lists, art activities, discussion questions, many of which can be adopted for use with books, stories, and art beyond The Exquisite Corpse Adventure. You won't want to miss "A Guide to Progressive Stories" and "Creating Your Own Exquisite Corpse Story Adventure" for instructions on how you can create the magic of a progressive story game in your home, classroom, library, or next camping trip.

 

The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, Episode 2
(c) 2008 James Ransome

The Exquisite Corpse episodic materials include thematic reading lists, classroom activities,  and art appreciation articles and activities. For example, the art activity for Episode 2 is titled "Wet Washes and Rich Color - Creating an Illustration Layer by Layer" and invites students to take a closer look at James Ransome's watercolor illustration then try the technique for themselves. Click here to check out this art lesson! 

 

And to watch a video demonstration of James working with watercolor, click here. 

Katherine Paterson is the author of more than 30 books including 16 novels for children and young people. She has twice won the Newbery Medal, for Bridge to Terabithia in 1978 and Jacob Have I Loved in 1981. The Master Puppeteer won the National Book Award in 1977 and The Great Gilly Hopkins won the National Book Award in 1979 and was also a Newbery Honor Book. For the body of her work she received the Hans Christian Anderson Award in 1998, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award in 2006, and in 2000 was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress.  Katerine is a vice-president of the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance and is a member of the board of trustees for Vermont College of Fine Arts. She is the 2010-2011 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Katherine's most recent book is The Flint Heart (Candlewick Press), written with her husband John Paterson. 



The Children's Book Council named James E. Ransome as one of seventy-five authors and illustrators everyone should know. Currently a member of the Society of Illustrators, Ransome has received both the Coretta Scott King Award for Illustration and the IBBY Honor Award for his book, The Creation. He has also received a Coretta Scott King Honor Award for Illustration for Uncle Jed's Barbershop which was selected as an ALA Notable Book and is currently being shown as a feature on Reading Rainbow. How Many Stars in the Sky? and Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt were also Reading Rainbow selections. PBS's Storytime featured his book, The Old Dog. 

Ransome has exhibited works in group and solo shows throughout the country and received The Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance award for his book, The Wagon. James lives in Rhinebeck New York with his wife Lesa Cline Ransome, a writer of children's books. James' most recent books are My Teacher (Dial), which he wrote and illustrated, and Christmas Tugboat (Clarion), written by George Matteson and Adele Ursone.

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! The Corpse is now being published for a second time on Read.Gov.  Click here to read it on Read.gov.

 

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. 

To learn more about The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, click here.

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. 

Race to the Ballot: Presidential Campaigns

Engage Young People
in the Presidential Campaigns
with Suggestions for
Analyzing Stump Speeches
AND Writing Their Own

You can encourage young people to engage in this year's campaign and election process by taking them to hear a presidential stump speech or watching one on TV or Internet video! 

 

Both President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney have standard speeches they each know by heart that includes their key ideas and plans for the country. These standard speeches enable the candidates to speak to voters along the campaign trail without writing a new speech for every stop along the way. Although each candidate may tweak the speech to acknowledge and address the people and places where he or she is talking, the majority of the speech content typically remains the same whether the candidate is talking to voters in Anchorage, Alaska or Miami, Florida. This type of speech is referred to as a “stump speech” because political candidates in the nineteenth century often stood on tree stumps as they spoke to the crowds.

Depending upon where you live, you may be able to take your kids to hear a presidential stump speech.  

 

Candidates visit all sorts of public places where you can take your entire family or a group of young people. Even if the candidate visiting your area is someone you may not vote for, consider taking your kids to see him or her anyway. Hearing a presidential candidate give a speech in person is a wonderful opportunity to engage young people in the political process and excite them to become active, involved citizens! After the event, be sure to ask your kids what they thought about the speech and the experience. Did they find the candidate engaging? Was he or she a good public speaker? Did he or she attempt to connect with the local people? How so? Did the candidate use humor, and was it effective or not? What ideas in the speech did they find inspiring or not?

For even more ideas on how to engage kids in the campaign and election process, including suggestions on having young people analyze campaign speeches and write their own, visit the NCBLA article "Watch a Presidential Stump Speech...and Invite Kids to Write Their Own" in Race to the Ballot: The Our White House Presidential Campaign and Election Kit for Kids! on OurWhiteHouse.org.

 

In this election year, the NCBLA has created the Presidential Campaign and Election Kit to help all adults who live and work with young people engage with our kids in informed discussions about the presidential campaigns and election, teach them to think critically, and energize them to learn more about the political process in America. This Kit includes:

• Exclusive articles regarding such topics as presidential job requirements, the history of presidential campaigns, and the evolution of voting rights.
• Activities to use with young people in the classroom or at home.
• Discussion questions you can share during class, around the dinner table, and at a Scout or club meeting.

To check out the complete contents of Race to the Ballot: The Our White House Presidential Campaign and Election Kit for Kids, click here.

The anthology Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out and its coordinating educational website OurWhiteHouse.org provide the perfect springboard for engaging youngsters in the discussion of current events, history, and the importance of the democratic vote in America. Our White House was created by the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance as a collaborative effort by over one hundred award-winning authors and illustrators 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 hardcover and paperback.

Ask for it a library or bookstore near you!

Save the Date!

Candlewick Press to Hold
Picture Book Symposium

"from SCREEN to BOOK"

November 10
at Cambridge Public Library

Candlewick Press invites picture book lovers to celebrate its 20th anniversary at its first picture book symposium, featuring an incredible panel of illustrators and bookmakers exploring art and story in both print and multimedia. Special guests include:

 

TONY FUCILE

author-illustrator of Let’s Do Nothing!

SCOTT NASH

author-illustrator of Tuff Fluff and

The High-Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate

PETER H. REYNOLDS

author-illustrator of The Dot, Ish and Sky Color

and

HOLLY MCGHEE

founder of Pippin Properties and author of Mitchell’s License

Shelf Awareness Children's Editor, Jenny Brown,
will moderate the discussion.

This very special event will take place Saturday, November 20 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM in the main lecture hall at the Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Books will be available for purchase and autographing from Porter Square Books.

For more information, please visit cambridgema.gov.