New York, NY/ May 6, 2013 –Every Child a Reader and the Children’s Book Council are honored to present the 2013 Impact Award to Michele Norris for creatively and significantly advancing our collective mission of instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. Ms. Norris is the visionary behind NPR’s Backseat Book Club, a book club “for all those kids in the back seat who are fed a steady diet of NPR news”, and an outspoken champion of books and book culture as the co-host of NPR’s All Things Considered for 10 years. Ms. Norris will accept the award in person at the 6th annual Children’s Choice Book Awards gala, a charity event to benefit Every Child a Reader, at the Liberty Theater in New York City on Monday, May 13, 2013. Gala tickets are available for purchase at bookweekonline.com/gala. Previous Impact Award winners include NY Giant Justin Tuck, co-founder of Tuck’s R.U.S.H for Literacy with his wife, Lauran; First Book founder Kyle Zimmer; Whoopi Goldberg; and Al Roker.
An award-winning journalist, Ms. Norris conceived of NPR’s Backseat Book Club, a book club for children ages 9-14 that encourages them to read along with the monthly selection and to send their questions in to NPR. At month's end, some of those questions are put to the book's author during a segment on All Things Considered. Programs like this promote the joy of reading, a necessary element in instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. As the program’s visionary, Ms. Norris introduced it to her listeners and has spearheaded its success.
“Ms. Norris is widely recognized as an outspoken and enthusiastic advocate of reading. We applaud her efforts to promote books and reading to her listeners and to engage young people in critical reading and thinking. Her impact is substantial both in terms of the new programs she’s introduced and her consistent attention to keeping the importance of reading and the enjoyment of reading at the forefront of the discussion,” says Robin Adelson, Executive Director of the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader.
About Michele Norris
An award-winning journalist, Norris has interviewed world leaders, Nobel laureates, Oscar winners, American presidents, military leaders, influential newsmakers and even astronauts traveling in outer space. Ms. Norris’ honors include "Journalist of the Year" by the National Association of Black Journalists and a DuPont Award for The York Project, an NPR series looking at race and the 2008 Elections. In addition to the Backseat Book Club, Ms. Norris also leads the "The Race Card Project," an initiative to foster a wider conversation about race in America that she created after the publication of her 2010 family memoir, ‘The Grace of Silence.’ Learn more at npr.org/people/2100974/
About the Children’s Choice Book Awards Gala
The Gala is the annual kick-off event to Children’s Book Week (May 13-19, 2013), the nation’s longest-running literacy initiative, now in its 94th year. Winners of the Children’s and Teen Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by children and teens of all ages, are announced live during the event. All proceeds from the gala benefit Every Child a Reader, a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. Tickets are available for purchase at bookweekonline.com/gala.
About Every Child a Reader (ECAR)
Every Child a Reader is a 501(c)(3) literacy organization dedicated to instilling a lifelong love of reading in children. Every Child a Reader creates and supports programs that: strive to make the reading and enjoyment of children’s books an essential part of America’s educational and social aims; enhance public perception of the importance of reading. ECAR’s programs include Children’s Book Week, a nationwide celebration of books and reading, and the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country; The Children’s Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens of all ages; and The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Program, the country’s “Children’s Literature Laureate”. Please visit www.ecarfoundation.org for more information.
About the Children’s Book Council (CBC)
The Children’s Book Council is the national nonprofit trade association for children’s book publishers. The CBC offers children’s publishers the opportunity to work together on issues of importance to the industry at large, including educational programming, literacy advocacy, and collaborations with other national organizations. Our members span the spectrum from large international houses to smaller independent presses. Membership in the CBC is open to U.S. publishers of children’s trade books, as well as in some cases to industry-affiliated companies. The CBC is proud to partner with other national organizations on co-sponsored reading lists, educational programming, and literacy initiatives. Please visit www.cbcbooks.org for more information.
