“Dear Rudyard Kipling,

‘My dad is a six-foot tall, deep-voiced, husky eastern European rock of a man. In fact, all the men on my dad's side of the family are a bunch of Romanian macho hunks with bulging biceps and visages as stony and solemn as a statue. Genetically, I have these same features yet, because of my mother's influence, I am much softer on the inside. Instead of wrestling or boxing at family gatherings, like my cousins so often do, I would much rather ...”

Read this winning letter

Is there a favorite book or poem that changed your life? Why not write to that author and tell him or her just how important it was? Letters About Literature, sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Target, invites students in grades 4-12 to write to authors. Winners receive national recognition and prizes for their school library.

River of Words

River of Words

Look around you. See how your environment shapes the way you live and how you think about the world. Then write a poem or create a piece of art on what you discover. River of Words is an international poetry and art contest for youth on the theme of Watersheds. The contest is designed to help youth explore the natural and cultural history of the place they live and to express themselves through poetry and ar t.
The contest is open to any child in the world, 5-19 years of age.



"The Exquisite Corpse Adventure" is now a book from Candlewick Press. Get the book from your local library or bookstore and play the 2011 game.