First Lady Patricia Blagojevich announces November selection for Children's Reading Club as The Mouse and the Motorcycle

CHICAGO - First Lady Patricia Blagojevich today announced November's selection for her Children's Reading Club - The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary. Ralph the mouse ventures out from behind the piney knothole in the wall of his hotel-room home and climbs aboard the toy motorcycle left there by a young guest. His thrill ride does not last long as he has a terrible fall - right to the bottom of a metal wastebasket. Luckily, Keith, the owner of the motorcycle, returns to find his toy. Keith rescues Ralph and teaches him how to ride the bike. Thus begins a great friendship and many awesome adventures. Once a mouse can ride a motorcycle ... almost anything can happen!

 

"Reading with your children is one of the best ways to spend quality time with them while helping them develop critical skills like building a good vocabulary and active listening," said the First Lady. "Reading with my daughters is one of my favorite things to do, and I hope that more parents can take part in reading to and with their own children."

 

Beverly Cleary was born in McMinnville, Oregon. Her school librarian was suggesting that she should write for boys and girls when she grew up. The idea appealed to her, and she decided that someday she would write the books she longed to read but was unable to find on the library shelves, funny stories about her neighborhood and the sort of children she knew. And so Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, and her other beloved characters were born.

Mrs. Cleary's books have earned her many prestigious awards, including the 2003 National Medal of Art from the National Endowment of the Arts and the 1984 John Newbery Medal for Dear Mr. Henshaw. Her Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8 were named 1978 and 1982 Newbery Honor Books, respectively.. In 2000, to honor her invaluable contributions to children's literature, Beverly Cleary was named a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress. This witty and warm author is truly an international favorite. Mrs. Cleary's books appear in over twenty countries in fourteen languages

 

The First Lady launched the Children's Reading Club literacy initiative in March of 2005, to encourage parents to read with their children.  The club is a recommended reading list made up of books the First Lady and her daughters enjoy at home. The Children's Reading Club applies to all children, but specifically targets children between the ages of seven and twelve. Each month's book selection is featured on the First Lady's website, http://www.illinois.gov/firstlady.