Poetry Foundation Presents Jack Prelutsky
Chicago poetry reading with nation’s first Children’s Poet Laureate
CHICAGO—The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine, announces “The Chicago Reading” by the nation’s first Children’s Poet Laureate, Jack Prelutsky.
What: Children’s Poet Laureate Jack Prelutsky
When: Tuesday, April 10, 6:30 p.m.
Where: The Latin School of Chicago
59 West North Street, at Clark Street and North Avenue
Admission is free and open to the public, but seating is limited and reservations are advised. Children, their families and friends, teachers, librarians, and the interested public are welcome to attend. Free valet parking is available, and a reception and book signing will take place immediately following the reading. For reservations call 312.787.7070.
Jack Prelutsky was named the nation’s first Children’s Poet Laureate in September 2006 at the Poetry Foundation’s third annual Pegasus Awards Ceremony in Chicago. The award was given to Prelutsky in recognition of an exceptional career devoted to writing poetry for the young child.
Jack Prelutsky has been captivating young children for more than 40 years, giving school readings in every state and in many countries outside the United States. His books have sold more than a million copies. “The Chicago Reading” is the first of two official readings that Prelutsky will give during his two-year tenure as Children’s Poet Laureate. The second will be given in another major American city in 2008.
In the first event of its kind, the newly appointed laureate will read from his classic repertoire of beloved children’s poetry as well as selections from his most recent books, Good Sports: Rhymes about Running, Jumping, Throwing, and More and Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant. In addition, children from several Chicago-area schools will recite Prelutsky’s poems at the event.
Writing recently in the New York Times Book Review, children’s author J. Patrick Lewis said, “Like Lewis Carroll’s Humpty Dumpty, Jack Prelutsky pays his words extra because he makes them do more work. What Carroll did in marrying verbs like, say, ‘chuckle’ to ‘snort’ to arrive at ‘chortle,’ Prelutsky does for nouns, in a way that leaves his fellow poets scratching their heads and wondering, Why didn’t we think of that?”
Copies of Jack Prelutsky’s latest book, Good Sports: Rhymes about Running, Jumping, Throwing, and More, illustrated by Chris Raschka (Random House), as well as Prelutsky’s critically acclaimed recent collection Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant (Greenwillow Press), will be available for purchase at the event.
For further details, and to sign up for e-mail notices of Poetry Foundation events, please visit www.poetryfoundation.org.
About the Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine and one of the largest literary organizations in the world, exists to discover and celebrate the best poetry and to place it before the largest possible audience. The Poetry Foundation seeks to be a leader in shaping a receptive climate for poetry by developing new audiences, creating new avenues for delivery, and encouraging new kinds of poetry through innovative literary prizes and programs. For more information, please visit www.poetryfoundation.org.
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