Spotlight on Exquisite Corpse Adventure Contributor Gregory Maguire

Attention Gregory Maguire fans! Have you been reading The Exquisite Corpse Adventure?! If not, be sure  to check it out on Read.Gov where you can find Maguire's engaging contributions -- Episode 5 and Episode 18 -- to this fun and quirky tale. In Episode 18, "The Regional Conference," the young protagonists Nancy and Joe discover the true form of the villains who have captured and trapped their parents in another dimension. Armed with this revelation, Nancy and Joe continue their journey to find and free their parents. Will this family ever be reunited? Keep reading to find out! Episode 25 is the most recent episode to go live on Read.Gov. 

Gregory Maguire is the author of six novels for adults (including “Wicked,”  the inspiration for the Broadway musical of the same name) and several dozen children’s books, most recently “What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy.”

Maguire is a co-founder and co-director of Children’s Literature New England Inc., an educational charity whose mission is to raise public awareness of the significance of literature in the lives of children. In addition to teaching at and helping to direct the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at Simmons College, he was a founding board member of The Foundation for Children’s Books and is an honorary board member of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance. Additionally, he has served on Caldecott and National Book Award juries and has been a regular contributor to the “New York Times Book Review.”

Maguire’s recent works include “Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation” and “Matchless: A Christmas Story,” a work written originally for performance on "All Things Considered," Dec. 25, 2008, and in the Morrow edition illustrated by the author.

When not involved in advocacy for children and the arts or in writing, Maguire remembers he has three small children at home in Massachusetts, and regularly visits the public library in an obsessive and even devotional way. Some of Maguire's favorite books when he was in elementary school include The Diamond in the Window by Jane Langton, Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, and The Narnia Chronicles by C. S. Lewis.

Maguire's current work includes an original paperback novel for adults coming out this fall called The Next Queen of Heaven. Regarding other current work, Maguire has said, "I hope to supply my publisher the fourth and I think final volume of my series called THE WICKED YEARS, the working title of which is OUT OF OZ."

Look for Maguire's unique books at your favorite library or bookstore:

For more information about Gregory and his books, visit his website.

What is The Exquisite Corpse Adventure?

For those not in the know, The Exquisite Corpse Adventure is a series of episodes written and illustrated by famous children's authors and illustrators. Each author and illustrator inherits the story from the previous folks. It's like taking over a recipe in the middle, you need to understand what's gone into the stew so far and then add your own ingredients to make it hot and spicy! To catch up on all the exciting episodes, go to Read.gov.

And parents, teachers, and librarians be sure to check out the NCBLA's Exquisite Corpse Adventure Educational Resource Center for great ideas on how to turn The Exquisite Corpse Adventure into a great educational adventure!

The Final Episode Will Be Revealed at The National Book Festival on September 25
Join emcee Mary Brigid Barrett and Team Corpse authors and illustrators M.T. Anderson, Timothy Basil Ering, Linda Sue Park, Katherine Paterson,  and James Ransome for an hour of fun and surprises as they bring you the conclusion to the rollicking, episodic story The Exquisite Corpse Adventure. Katherine Paterson, National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, will lead her colleagues in a reader's theatre presentation of Episode 27, the FINAL episode, to conclude this yearlong adventure that began at last year’s National Book Festival. Be sure to join us in the Children's Pavilion on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. at 10:00 AM sharp to be among the first to learn the fate of Nancy and Joe and their friends! 

Read more about this year's book festival on the LOC's 2010 Book Festival website.