Press Release

Walla Walla Kids Read 2012 Program

Press Release September 9th, 2011

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In its fifth year, Walla Walla Kids Read 2012 will host tony DiTerlizzi and Andrea Davis Pinkney, two of America's most beloved children's authors. Mr. Diterlizzi and Ms. Davis Pinkney will entertain and educate over five thousand local students. Dates for the even are Monday, April 16th and Tuesday, April 17th, 2012.

About Walla Walla Kids Read

WWKR is dedicated to nurturing and encouraging young readers and supporting our local educators in creating lifelong readers. The primary goal is to provide a nationally known author presentation to every K-5th grade student in the Walla Walla valley every year. Walla Walla Kids Read will include large scale events at Cordiner Hall on the Whitman College Campus, along with a community event on the evening of April 17th.

Our author selections are designed to inspire, educate, and encourage students to pursue reading and writing. Our events are developed for local elementary schools and open to the public. Every elementary school child in walla Walla, regardless of income, benefits from Walla Walla Kids Read. All costs associated with our events are funded by WWKR, including author fees, facility use, and transportation for Walla Walla Public Schools. School kits with information, activities, and books, (of course), are also supported by Walla Walla Kids Read.

"I'm so excited to host Andrea Davis Pinkney and Tony Diterlizzi. They know how to get kids excited about books! The 2012 events will continue to build on Walla Walla's national reputation as model for community literacy." said Founder and Chair, Patrick Carman.

Information on scheduling and classroom activities will be available on the website:
www.wallawallakidsread.com on January 15, 2012.

About this year's authors:

Tony Diterlizzi 3rd-5th grade

New York Times bestselling author and illustrator, Tony DiTerlizzi, is the creator of the wildly popular middle-grade series, The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Holly Black), which has sold millions of copies, been adapted into a feature film, and has been translated in over thirty countries. Mr. DiTerlizzi also writes fanciful picture books like Jimmy Zangwow's Out-of-this-World Moon Pie Adventure, Adventure of Meno (with his wife, Angela) and The Spider & The Fly(a Caldecott Honor book), and chapter books like Kenny and the Dragon and The Search for WandLa.

Andrea Davis Pinkney K-2nd grade

Andrea's picture books include Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down, a Parenting Publication Gold Medal winner, winner of the Jane Addams Book award, the Carter G. Woodson award for historical works for young people, the Anne Izard Storyteller's Award, and the Flora G. Stieglitz Strauss Award for Nonfiction; Sojourner Truth's Step-Stomp Stride, a Jane Addams Honor Book and School Library Journal "Best Book of the Year," the Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book, Let it Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters, which also won the Carter G. Woodson Award for historical works for young people: and Duke Ellington, a Caldecott Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor Book.

Contact The Walla Walla Kids Read Team

Chair

Patrick Carman- Author and founder of Walla Walla Kids Read

Program Manager

Diana Farnsworth - Manager and Coordinator of Cordiner programming and Community event.
dianafarnsworth@gmail.com
503-580-4265

Community Liaisons

Elizabeth George - Young People's Librarian, Walla Walla Public Library
egoerge@ci.walla-walla.wa.us

Michelle Shaul - Green Park Elementary Librarian
mshaul@wwps.org