NIA’s 2nd annual Read Out Loud Campaign has been a huge success! Not only did we distribute over 12,000 free books – we also brought ten amazing authors and illustrators to visit our after-school programs and read with approximately 2,000 NIA students. We were thrilled to offer this series of special events for students and families once again, sparking joy and excitement around reading. See below for more information about our authors as well as a look at some highlights from their visits.

Adam Auerbach

Author Adam Auerbach helped NIA kick off our Read Out Loud campaign on February 1st with visits to PS 104 and PS 212, where he read portions of his book, Legendary Creatures: Mythical Beasts and Spirits from Around the World. After his reading, Adam invited students to give him ideas for new creatures and gave them the opportunity to draw mythical beasts of their own.

Adam is an award-winning author, illustrator, and designer. Learn more about Adam at adamauerbach.com

Caron Levis

Caron Levis is the author of award-winning children’s picture book, Ida Always. We were lucky enough to have her come and read from Stop That Yawn and her latest book, Feathers Together. Caron was kind enough to visit both PS 186 and PS 939, and the students were thrilled to bring a copy of her book home with them!

Learn more about author Caron Levis at http://www.caronlevis.com/

Michael Hearst

Michael Hearst is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and writer, which made his visit with NIA students all the more fun and interactive! He visited PS 204 and PS/IS 30, where he and guest musicians performed music from the companion albums he created to accompany each of his children’s books. Students also took home free books, generously donated by Scholastic!

For more information about Michael Hearst please visit http://www.michaelhearst.com/

Mika Song

Children’s author/illustrator Mika Song was able to visit with our students at PS 121, PS 52, and PS 99. She had students draw some of her characters after reading from her Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel, Donut Feed the Squirrels!

It has been such a pleasure to work with Mika for the past 3 years, which has brought her to a total of seven different NIA locations.

Visit her website http://mikasongdraws.com/ for more information about her and her books.

Deardra Zahara Duncan

Deardra Zahara Duncan is a veteran educator, school counselor, and certified life coach, who took all of her life experience and turned it into her book, Life is Fine. She was able to visit with students and share and sign her book with them!

Learn more about Deardra at https://authordeardrazaharaduncan.com/

Doug Salati

Doug Salati is a recent Caldecott Award Winner for his book Hot Dog! Doug visited with NIA students at PS 176, PS 295 and PS 682/686, where he read from his book and then showed the students how to draw the main character of his book Hot Dog.

For more information about Doug, please visit http://dougsalati.com/

Dave Roman

Dave Roman, author/illustrator of the Astronaut Academy series, stopped by NIA after-school programs at PS 177 and IS 121 to share his stories with students! He helped them draw fun characters after reading out loud from the newest edition in his series, Astronaut Academy Zero Gravity, which won Maryland’s Black-Eyed Susan Book Award in 2015!

Learn more about his series at his website http://yaytime.com/

Jason Patterson

Jason Patterson is an award-winning graphic novelist and animator who’s been drawing and telling stories with his best friend, Dan Abdo, ever since high school. Their graphic novel series, Barb the Last Berzerker, was a hit with NIA students at PS 244. During his visit, the students also had a great time drawing characters from the books!

Learn more about his work at https://www.danandjason.net/

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Torrey Maldonado

Having been a teacher for nearly 25 years, Torrey Maldonado was right at home visiting and reading with the students at PS 190. He read from his newest novel, Hands, and all 4th and 5th grade students received a copy to take home.

Connect on Instagram and Twitter with author Torrey Maldonado @torreymaldonado

Raynelda Calderon

Raynelda Calderon grew up in the Dominican Republic and now works as a librarian and author, producing works that celebrate her culture and people, and amplify underrepresented stories. With her books available in English and Spanish, she came to visit PS 939 as the guest for their Family Literacy Author Visit!

To learn more about Raynelda, visit https://rayneldacalderon.com

Special Guests

We would also like to thank our special guests Senator Andrew Gounardes and Senator Iwen Chu for visiting PS 30 and PS 247 and reading to our NIA after-school program students!