Suggestions from the Library   

The Library of Congress has announced the launch of a new multimedia website that offers resources designed to encourage the reading of books and to interest users in learning about the authors and illustrators who create them. http://www.read.gov/ 

One of the highlights of the site is "The Exquisite Corpse Adventure." Its first episode will debut and be read by its author, Jon Scieszka, during the National Book Festival.

"The Exquisite Corpse Adventure is a buoyant, spontaneous experiment; a story game just like the one many families play on road trips, at camps, at parties and at home when there is a power outage. And just like in those games, characters spontaneously erupt out of one's imagination; plots lines tumble forth, some realized, some lost; and we are often poised at the edge of a cliff with no logical solution in sight! Join us as the Exquisite Corpse Adventure game is played out by some of the most remarkable storytellers in our nation. We invite you all to play the game yourself---at home, at camp, at school, in the library, in the car and instead of watching TV. Tell, read, write and share stories everywhere!"

About the Exquisite Corpse Adventure

Ever heard of an Exquisite Corpse? It's not what you might think. An Exquisite Corpse is an old game in which people write a phrase on a sheet of paper, fold it over to conceal part of it and pass it on to the next player to do the same. The game ends when someone finishes the story, which is then read aloud.

Our "Exquisite Corpse Adventure" works this way: Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, has written the first episode, which is "pieced together out of so many parts that it is not possible to describe them all here, so go ahead and just start reading!" He has passed it on to a cast of celebrated writers and illustrators, who must eventually bring the story to an end.

Every two weeks, there will be a new episode and a new illustration. The story will conclude a year from now.

Episode 1
Contributed by Jon Scieszka
Illustration by: Chris Van Dusen

coming October 9,2009

Episode 2
Contributed by Katherine Paterson