Julie Bowe

I had a fun time Wednesday night at the Literacy Leaders and Reading Partners event I posted about here. The program portion of the event was held at the State Theater in Eau Claire, followed by a book signing at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Library which is just across the street from the theater. The program included a readers theater presentation by middle school and university students who are part of the Reading Partners program, storytelling by Rob Reid, a bit of juggling and a visit from the Cat in the Hat! Following the program there were cookies and punch aplenty, plus a chance to admire student artwork and view the beautiful quilt panels made from more than 100 autographed and illustrated fabric squares provided by the students' favorite children's authors and illustrators:


The quilt was displayed in three panels which will eventually be sewn together. See that little square in the upper left corner on the big panel? That's mine! :)

 Here's a close-up of a small section of one panel:

Luv that pigeon! :)

So, the program and the cookies and the mingling were great, but soon it was time to head over to the library for the book signing with John Coy, Marsha Qualey, Rob Reid and me. Reading Partners had purchased copies of our books so that every child attending the event could exchange a gold coin they had received during the program for an autographed book. It was really fun to get "paid" in gold coins! :) Maybe I'm a pirate at heart.


John Coy, Marsha Qualey, me, and the invisible Rob Reid

The librarians had rounded up books from all the authors who had contributed autographs for the quilt! Yowza! Quite an impressive display!

Makes you want to read a book, doesn't it? :)
 

The Reading Partner Program of Eau Claire, WI works hard to develop creative ways to enhance reading experiences between university volunteers and children who participate in the program. This year alone more than 200 volunteers have been reading with more than 250 Eau Claire area students, most of whom are English Language Learning (ELL) students or face other learning challenges.

Last semester one of the program leaders, Lucianne Boardman, began a project with a small group of 6th grade ELL students called Literacy Leaders. The group talked about friendships in reading and decided to create a friendship quilt with squares autographed by some of their favorite children's book authors and illustrators. I was contacted by the group and invited to provide a square for their quilt:


The group sent letters of invitation and fabric squares to 120 authors and illustrators. The response has been amazing, with 101 autographed and/or illustrated squares returned to date. I had a chance to meet with Lucianne last week and got a sneak peek of the quilt. It is absolutely beautiful and will measure 6' X 16' when completed later this week. I was completely taken aback by the autographs and illustrations already sewn into it -- so many incredibly gifted authors and illustrators took time to participate, including such familiar names as Jane Yolen, Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, Jerry Spinelli, Mo Willems, Kevin Henkes and many, many more (hey, cynthialord, I saw your square! :))  I am so amazed and flattered to have my little square stitched among all these names:
 


The Literacy Leaders and Reading Partners will host a Friends in Reading Opening & Art Show from 6:00-7:30 p.m. on April 2 at the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center. The event will include a reader's theater performance by the Literacy Leaders, student art show, a book signing by local children's authors (including me! yippee!), and the friendship quilt on display. I can't wait for this event and will try to get some pictures of the quilt to share with all of you.