By Sheri Miyamoto
No matter what your taste, get ready to “Sink Your Teeth Into a Good Book” for Read Across America 2012! This year we’ll be featuring two books to tantalize your reading interests.
Gabby and Gator, written and illustrated by James Burks, is a graphic novel about two friends, a shy outcast and a tambourine-playing alligator, who overcome fears and find acceptance.
Boris Ate a Thesaurus, written by Neil Klayman and illustrated by Barry Chung, is a picture book about a boy who eats a thesaurus and starts speaking in synonyms. When he finally runs out of words to say, he discovers the true value of books.
Read Across America was established by NEA in 1997 to celebrate reading, to mark how important it is to motivate children to become readers in order to master basic skills, and to encourage students to have a lifelong love for books. It’s celebrated each year on or near March 2, the birthday of children’s author Dr. Seuss.
This year’s honorary California chairs will be the authors and illustrators of our featured books, James Burks, Neil Klayman and Barry Chung, and Lou Paulson, president of California Professional Firefighters. The illustrators have collaborated on artwork to create a great new look for the event, and have made activity sheets for each of their books.
CTA welcomes Chivas USA, the Major League Soccer team from Southern California, to our family of partners, along with our returning partners, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), Barnes & Noble, the California Library Association, California Professional Firefighters, the California School Library Association, the Dodgers Dream Foundation, First Financial Credit Union, the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Scholastic, and See’s Candies.
Activity sheets for each of the books, along with the RAA 2012 art and materials are coming soon. In addition to the books, stickers, pencils and T-shirts will be available for purchase at upcoming CTA conferences.
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