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Today the new novel by Jack Gantos, Dead End in Norvelt, goes on sale! As such, my family has declared it
Jack Gantos Day here in the entwood.  I have been unabashed in my fandom for this man's writing. The humor in his books got my family through a tough time.

I still hear from students (many now in college) who say, "I remember when Jack Gantos came to our school."  His visit was memorable in so many ways, not the least because it was the first and only time I ever saw a teacher almost fall off of her rolling chair because she was laughing so hard during his presentation.

One of the many joys of belonging to the Kidlitosphere community is getting to know folks who share your reading (and felt boarding) enthusiasms. During an email discussion of all-things-Jack with Jules at 7-Impossible things Before Breakfast and Adrienne at What Adrienne Thinks About That, we all agreed that Gantos would be the PERFECT choice for the role of Ambassador. So today, along with them,  I enthusiastically wish to nominate Jack Gantos to be the next National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature.

His knowledge of children's literature is "deep and wide" as the old song goes. Listening to one of his presentations is a mini course on the subject. From Rotten Ralph to Hole in My Life, his books span early childhood to young adult.

Gantos's stories takes his characters into the strange, the odd, and the macabre but he always knows exactly how far to go and respects the youngster holding the book.  He overlays his stories with tenderness and affection.

Still, there are moments when the reader cannot believe what just happened.

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Jon Scieska was the absolute best, perfect, appropriate, inspired pick for the role as our first Ambassador of Children's Literature.

His visit to Houston in 2008 at Blue Willow Bookshop was an event officiated by a Cub Scout color guard, a brass fanfare and a red carpet.

I had never met an ambassador before. I attempted to get into a session with him at TLA once but the crowd was so large that the fire marshall closed the room before I got there.

I told him how much I had enjoyed his reports from the embassy, especially when his diplomatic intervention had been required to help Mo Willems with Knuffle Bunny 3.















Earlier, in 2008, Houston was graced with a visit by Katherine Paterson who came to speak at the Cool Brains InPrint series.

I know during her time as Ambassador she will be doing a lot of talking, like above, but, I will remember the joy on her face as she met with the children there that day. Her face was shining!

We are so happy about your appointment, Madame Ambassador.

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Bird #1: I am sure that those of you who are interested in this kind of thing already know that, on Tuesday, January 5, 2010, two time winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award Katherine Paterson was named the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Paterson takes the helm from the first ever ambassador, Jon Scieszka. And I had finally mastered the spelling of his

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Prevent Fines, Record Reading with This Handy Calendar
Happy New Year! If you’re looking to start the new year with fresh resolve to read, you won’t want to be without the Overdue Book Calendar.

New Envoy’s Old Advice for Children: Read More
Katherine Paterson was named the next National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature this week – and you won’t want to miss Motoko Rich’s article about the new Madam Ambassador.

Autographed Shirt Benefits First Book
Check out the cool t-shirt that Amy Krouse Rosenthal and other New York Times bestselling authors created to benefit First Book at our second annual Book Bash celebration.

Six-Word Memoir Book Trailer
Stop over to the Olive Reader blog to watch and enjoy the latest “book trailer” (like a movie trailer, but for books!) for It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure, edited by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser.

10 Best Books That Are Years
To kick off a new year, check out this list of the best books whose titles are years.

Bookstore Night in Buenos Aires Encourages Reading
Check out NPR’s story about Buenos Aires’ annual Noche de las Librerias — Bookstore Night. The city closes a main avenue, and replaces cars and trucks with sofas and chairs for people to lounge in with books from nearby bookstores.

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I wrote this post back in early December and had planned to run it this week after my posts on 826 National and Mac Barnett. However, I caught on to a tribute organized by the folks over at A Year in Reading for toady and decided to jump on board. If you are a Scieszka fan, hope you'll check out all the other posts by kidlit bloggers!If you are a parent or plan to be one some day, then Jon

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In the seventeen years since The Time Warp Trio series was started and the nine years since my daughter first read it, it seems that is has become an animated television show! If you seek these books out, please be sure you find the originals as it is my understanding that there are some that are based on the television show, which is slightly different and not illustrated byLane Smith, Jon

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Jon Scieszka is wrapping up a busy two year stint as National Ambassador for Young People's Literature with a list of all the great books that were published during his tenure. No doubt you know Jon from his gut busting, timeless picture books created with artist extraordinaire, Lane Smith. But you may not be aware of the tireless work he has done to encourage reluctant readers, boys especially

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Make sure you've seen this article (by Jon Scieszka) about our hard working National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature's efforts on behalf of this nation during his visit to Washington D.C.

...Scieszka received his official Ambassador medal, and answered some hard-hitting questions from a class of local fifth-graders from Brent Elementary School.

“Where do you get your ideas?”

“Is it fun being an author?"

“Do you see Scholastic book orders as more of a bailout program or a rescue strategy to prop up sub-prime post-Harry Potter investments?”

More reading in case you missed his diplomatic efforts on behalf of Mo Willems earlier this year.
Scieszka is coming to town in the very near future. Must go.

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Next week is Anti-Bullying Week in the UK, when school-children throughout the country will take part in activities to help them:

“grow up with their respect of self and others intact, be fine participant citizens and, perhaps most importantly, become peacemakers in their hearts.”

This quotation comes from Peter Yarrow’s afterword of a remarkable picture book of Steve Seskin and Allen Shamblin’s deeply incisive but simple song Don’t Laugh at Me. The words of the song have become increasingly familiar since first being written just over ten years ago: but set here with Glin Dibley’s hauntingly expressive illustrations, and with certain words in the text highlighted in red, even young children will be able to respond to it, using their innate sense of justice to pull out the essence of the song’s message.

Be prepared for taking your time over it: each line triggers all sorts of questions and discussion. Reading this book to your own children or to a class of young children is a beautiful way to introduce them to the notion that “difference” should make no difference. They will appreciate the juxtapositions in the illustrations, like the one of the boy in a helmet in a wheelchair – in that order: the wheelchair is actually the last thing you notice.

There’s also a cd at the back and kids of all ages will enjoy listening to the song, performed so gently and meditatively by the song-writers themselves.

Peter Yarrow, quoted above, founded Operation Respect and a percentage of the sales of the book goes to their “Don’t Laugh at Me” project… And there’s also a Spanish edition. Reading Zone has just placed it in in its Top Ten Picture Books. So what are you waiting for?

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