An award-winning, nonprofit organization that celebrates the powerful impact books have on young people
Featuring Ekua Holmes, Yuyi Morales, LeUyen Pham, and Sonja Wimmer
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New York, NY – March 7, 2017 – Every Child a Reader, a nonprofit literacy organization dedicated to inspiring a love of reading in children and teens across America, is proud to announce that the official 2017 Children’s Book Week bookmarks have been designed by four award-winning and bestselling children’s book illustrators.
The bookmarks are among the first of the new 2017 resource materials being posted online, as over 600 schools, libraries, and independent bookstores prepare for the 98th annual Children’s Book Week. From May 1- 7, 2017, these locations will host Book Week events using a wide array of downloadable materials, including these original bookmarks to be distributed to children and teens nationwide.
The original bookmark art and design were posted today on librarian Betsy Bird’s SLJ blog, A Fuse #8 Production, and feature the following four children’s book illustrators:
Ekua Holmes (Candlewick Press) is a fine artist whose work
explores themes of family, relationships, hope, and faith. The first children’s book she illustrated is Carole Boston Weatherford’s Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement, which was a Caldecott Honor Book and a Robert F. Sibert Honor Book and for which she also won the John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award. Ekua Holmes lives in Boston.
Yuyi Morales (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group) is an author, artist, and puppet maker and was the host of her own Spanish-language radio program for children. She has won numerous awards, including the Jane Addams Award, five Pura Belpré Medals and three Pura Belpré Honors, and a Caldecott Honor for Viva Frida. She divides her time between the San Francisco area and Veracruz, Mexico, where she was born.
LeUyen Pham (Scholastic Inc.) is a New York Times bestselling illustrator and has published over 80 books for children, including the Princess in Black series, by Shannon and Dean Hale, Grace for President, by Kelly DiPucchio, Freckleface Strawberry by Julianne Moore, and Hats Off To You! by Karen Beaumont. Her own books include The Bear Who Wasn’t There and A Piece of Cake. She lives in sunny California with her husband (who is also an artist) and two young sons.
Sonja Wimmer (NubeOcho) loves 
painting pictures and telling stories. After studying and working some years as a graphic designer in her hometown Munich and Brussels, she decided to pack her suitcase and move to Barcelona to study Illustration at the “Llotja” Arts and Crafts School. Since then she lives between brushes and all kinds of wonderful tales, working as a freelance illustrator for publishing houses and other clients around the world. Over the past years, several of her books have received awards in the United States.
Shaina Birkhead, Programming and Strategic Partnerships Director for Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader, said: “The Children’s Book Week bookmark is an annual tradition, and this year, in keeping with our theme of One World, Many Stories, we asked four different artists to contribute their beautiful and inspiring work.”
About Every Child a Reader
Every Child a Reader is a 501(c)(3) literacy charity dedicated to inspiring a lifelong love of reading in children and teens across America. Every Child a Reader’s popular national programs include Children’s Book Week (May 1-7, 2017), the longest-running literacy initiative in the country; the Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only book awards chosen by children and teens; and the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature program, in partnership with the Library of Congress. Individual and corporate donations, grants, and the Children’s Book Council support Every Child a Reader.
About Children’s Book Week
Launched in 1919, Children’s Book Week will celebrate its 98th anniversary in May 2017.
About the Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards
Launched in 2008, the Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards are the only national book awards voted on only by kids and teens. In 2017, the 10th annual awards voting is open from now to May 7.
About the Children’s Book Council (CBC)
Every Child a Reader works in partnership with the Children’s Book Council, the nonprofit trade association for children’s book publishers in North America. The CBC offers children’s publishers, from smaller independent presses to large international houses, the opportunity to work together on issues of importance to the industry at large, including educational programming, diversity in employment and books, literacy advocacy, and partnerships with other national organizations.
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Media Contact:
Shifa Kapadwala
The Children’s Book Council/Every Child a Reader
shifa.kapadwala@cbcbooks.org
212-966-1990
