Contact:

Sara Sinek, ssinek@scholastic.com, (212) 343-6899
Michael Barrett, mbarrett@scholastic.com, (212) 343-6570

Illustrations Include Work by Award-Winning Artists Dav Pilkey (Captain Underpants), Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Kazu Kibuishi (Harry Potter), Judy Schachner (Skippyjon Jones) and More

Free Common Core–Ready Discussion Guides, Activities and Read Aloud Videos with the Illustrators Available for Schools and Libraries

New York, NY – October 1, 2013 – To increase awareness of the importance of children’s daily independent reading in order to succeed in school and in life, Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, today launched a stunning new artwork collection by 13 acclaimed children’s book illustrators who created their personal interpretation of the Scholastic global reading message, “Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life.” The artwork features some of today’s most beloved literary characters in situations that express a wide range of emotions about the joy of reading, from Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid diving into a pool of good books to Kadir Nelson’s inspiring image of a solo reader within a sunlit halo. The virtual art gallery and items for purchase are available at scholastic.com/readeveryday.

To bring the breathtaking artwork and the message about the importance of reading every day to classrooms and libraries nationwide, Scholastic is making available free Common Core–ready discussion guides and activities (grades K–2 and 3–5) for each illustration, and recorded video interviews and read-alouds with the illustrators, also at scholastic.com/readeveryday. Poster-sized versions of each artwork, a deluxe set of all 13 posters and a 2014 calendar featuring the artwork are all available for purchase exclusively through The Scholastic Store Online and in the New York City (SoHo) Scholastic Store, with net proceeds benefiting Reach Out and Read, the non-profit organization that helps implement early-childhood literacy awareness during a child’s regular medical office visits.

“This year’s Read Every Day artwork exemplifies the joys and dreams that are created through children’s books,” said David Saylor, Vice President and Creative Director of Scholastic Trade Publishing and the curator of the collection. “We extend our deepest gratitude to the diverse group of artists who have come together for this amazing opportunity to promote the importance of reading every day through art.”

“I am big fan of Scholastic’s ‘Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life’ campaign,” said Dav Pilkey. “Kids and their parents need to know the importance of reading every day and how it creates endless possibilities not only in school, but also for a kid’s overall future successes. I am honored to be part of this project with these amazing authors and illustrators.”

Artists participating in project include: Harry Bliss, creator of Bailey and its sequels; Nancy Carpenter, illustrator of Big Bear’s Big Boat; Henry Cole, author/illustrator of Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad; Kazu Kibuishi, author/illustrator of the Amulet series and cover illustrator of the recently released 15th anniversary editions of the Harry Potter series; Jeff Kinney, creator of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and its sequels; Yuyi Morales, author/illustrator of Niño Wrestles the World; Kadir Nelson, author/illustrator of Nelson Mandela; LeUyen Pham, illustrator of Freckleface Strawberry; Dav Pilkey, creator of the Captain Underpants series; Jerry Pinkney, illustrator of the latest paperback edition of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi; Judy Schachner, creator of the Skippyjon Jones series and Bits & Pieces; Axel Scheffler, illustrator of the Stickman series; and Erin E. Stead, illustrator of If You Want to See a Whale.

To learn more about the global literacy campaign “Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life.” or to sign on to the campaign as a literacy champion, visit scholastic.com/readeveryday. For more information about Scholastic, please visit our media room and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

###

Suggested Tweets:

Art by @wimpykid @boltcity @kadirnelson & more feat. in @Scholastic’s #ReadEveryDay campaign! (cc @ReachOutandRead) http://bit.ly/REDLABLart

.@Scholastic reveals beautiful new #art from acclaimed illustrators & #CCSS-ready resources: http://bit.ly/REDLABLart #ReadEveryDay

Big reveal! 13 illustrators create orig. artwork for @Scholastic #ReadEveryDay campaign benefiting @ReachOutandRead http://bit.ly/REDLABLart