Congratulations to Walter Dean Myers!
Award-winning author Walter Dean Myers has been named our nation's third National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by Librarian of Congress Dr. James H. Billington! Myers is the recipient of two Newbery Honors, three National Book Award finalists, the Margaret A. Edwards Award, the Michael L. Printz Award, and five Coretta Scott King Awards. His titles include We Are America, Carmen, Looking for the Easy Life, Kick, and Cruisers.
Regarding the importance of reading and his plans for his term as ambassador, Myers said in a New York Times interview that he hopes to speak directly to low income minority parents, “I think that what we need to do is say reading is going to really affect your life. ... You take a black man who doesn’t have a job, but you say to him, ‘Look, you can make a difference in your child’s life, just by reading to him for 30 minutes a day.’ That’s what I would like to do.” Click here to read the entire interview.
Learn more about Walter Dean Myers and his prolific body of work at his website. And read more about the naming of Myers as ambassador in Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.
The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature raises national awareness of the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education and the development and betterment of the lives of young people. Visit Read.gov to learn more.
