And the Winners are...

Congratulations to the following schools, which will each receive a set of ten picture books!

AB Combs Elementary, Raleigh NC
Arcadia Local Schools, Arcadia OH
Aurora School, Oakland CA
Chamberlin School South, Burlington VT
Community Academy of Philadelphia, Philadelphia PA
Eagle Cliffs Elementary, Billings MT
East street Elementary School, Ludlow MA
Emiliano Zapata Academy, Chicago IL
Fred A. Toomer Elementary, Atlanta GA
George C. Weimer Elementary, Saint Bans, WV
Mackintosh Academy, Boulder, CO
Mt. Kisco Elementary School, Mt. Kisco, NY
Prince Edward County Elementary School, Farmville VA
P.S. 63, New York City NY
Scroggins Elementary School, Houston TX
Stephens Elementary, School, Rowlett TX
Walker Upper Elementary School, Charlottesville VA
West Birdville Elementary School, Fort Worth TX
West Mound Elementary School, Columbus OH
West Middle School, Grand Blanc, MI 

Thank you to all who bid, all who entered, all who tweeted and reposted and lent their support to this endeavor. In particular, Susannah Richards, John Schu, Donalyn Miller, Schwartz & Wade, Greenlight Bookstore, Emily Jenkins, my studio mates, John Bemelmans Marciano, Brian Floca, Edward Hemingway and Sergio Ruzzier, and Galatea, who made an excellent hatstand.

Winning librarians, we will work to gather your books and ship them out in the next two weeks.

Reading in Rwanda

I am proud to share some of the work we did in Rwanda in the beginning of the year. These illustrations form a guide for teachers who are introducing picture books to their students for the very first time. The guide explains things those of us who grew up with books take for granted, like how to engage children by asking them questions about the story, how to look at illustrations alongside text, and literally how to turn the pages and hold the books facing the class, so kids can see the pictures.
The Rwandan Children's Book Initiative, a project of Save the Children, provides locally made wooden cupboards stocked with books and colorful mats for children to sit on. The initiative supports local writers, illustrators and publishers to produce quality books in English and Kinyarwanda, the native language. It's a wonderful thing.
Here are some of the illustrations. The whole guide can be downloaded as a PDF here.