Happy Children's Book Week!

Today marks the beginning of Children's Book Week, "a national celebration of books and reading for youth." Children's books have come a long way, and there are more options now of books to read than ever before--for babies to teens and every child in between. Here are a few of our favorite children's authors:

• Madeleine L'Engle won a poetry contest in fifth grade, but a teacher claimed that she wasn't smart enough to have composed the poem on her own. L'Engle's mother was forced to come to the rescue, bringing a pile of her daughter's writing to the school.
  
  Favorite Madeline L'Engle books? A Wrinkle in Time, And Both Were Young, The Arm of the Starfish
• Lois Lowry learned how to read when she was three. She tells of an experience in first grade, where she refused to participate in a childish game of pretend, preferring instead to read. She was subsequently skipped to the third grade.
  
  Favorite Lois Lowry books? The Giver, Number the Stars, Anastasia Krupnik
• Theodor Seuss Geisel had a high school art teacher who told him, "You will never learn to draw, Theodor. Why don't you just skip this class for the rest of the term."
  
  Favorite Dr. Seuss books? Horton Hears a Who, The Butter Battle Book, Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?

Why not pick up one of your favorite books from childhood for a quick re-read? Better yet? Share it with your favorite child!

"Lois Lowry." Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Vol. 32. Detroit: Gale, 2000. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 7 May 2012.

"Madeleine L'Engle." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Vol. 18. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 7 May 2012.
"Theodor Seuss Geisel." Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults. Gale, 2002. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 7 May 2012.