Author Showcase Features Authors for Kids of All Ages

The Reading Tub's® Spring Author Showcase celebrates three people who are passionate about reading. Leona Bodie de Rosa has been passionate about teaching reading when she had two sons with very different learning styles. Peter DeWitt barely made it through high school, but is today a school principal and published author. Marianne Richmond has created award-winning books meant to be shared by parents and children.

July 10, 2008 (FPRC) -- The Reading Tub, Inc. is pleased to announce its Author Showcase for the Spring Quarter, 2008. The current slate of featured guests – Leona Bodie de Rosa, Peter DeWitt and Marianne Richmond – are reaching kids from one to teens.

"The Author Showcase is always fun, but chatting with authors motivated to help kids read, it feeds my passion for literacy," says Terry Doherty, Executive Director of The Reading Tub, Inc. "Each of the authors is passionate about reading and encouraging kids to be successful readers, but the journey of how they grew their passions are still unique.

The Reading Tub, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity promoting literacy for children. The organization's goal is to help every child be a successful reader by showing families how important – and easy – it is to read with kids at home.

The Spring Featured Author slate is the second for 2008. The Author Showcase is an interview program to introduce parents, teachers, librarians, and the public to authors and new books that they probably don't know about. "There are more than 20,000 books for kids produced each year. Very few of these authors are invited to the talk shows, but they have great books that deserve a voice, too," says Doherty.

Leona Bodie De Rosa published her first book, One is Fun in June 2007, and within the first six months, it was winning awards. One is Fun is a family project, featuring her grandson as the star and her mother as the illustrator. In her interview, Leona talked about how watching the learning differences in her own sons taught her about how important it is to personalize the process of learning to read. [To see the Reading Tub® Feature with Leona Bodie, go to http://www.thereadingtub.com/displayAuthor.asp?id=53]

Peter DeWitt is living proof that you don't have to have straight A's to be successful or famous. He is a self-described struggling student who became a teacher. His students love his two middle-grade fantasy novels: Toaster Pond and Isabella…and the Room of Lost Brooms; and he is invited all over the country to give his Struggling Student presentation. [To see the Reading Tub® Feature with Peter DeWitt and read the interview, go to http://www.thereadingtub.com/displayAuthor.asp?id=50]

Marianne Richmond finds stories in everyday life. Nearly twenty years ago she opened Marianne Richmond Studios as a greeting card company. Today, she is also a book publisher. Her children's picture books celebrate family relationships, giving kids and their favorite adults a great opportunity to connect through the shared experience of a story. [To see the Reading Tub Feature with Marianne Richmond and read our interview, go to http://www.thereadingtub.com/displayAuthor.asp?id=51]

The Author Showcase continues to be a very popular venue for the Reading Tub, Inc. and a very worthwhile outlet for the authors who participate. To learn more about the Author Showcase, visit the Reading Tub® Web site. Once there you can learn more about all of the authors and literacy advocates, read reviews of their books, and read our interviews. Just go to http://www.thereadingtub.com/author_showcase.asp

To become a Featured Author or learn more about the Author Showcase, go to http://www.thereadingtub.com/becomeFeatured.asp


For more information contact Terry Doherty of The reading Tub, Inc. (http://www.thereadingtub.com/)
703-402-5809

Keywords: children literacy, learning to read, author interviews

You can read this press release online at: http://www.free-press-release-center.info/pr00000000000000017654.html