BEST-SELLING AUTHOR JON SCIESZKA TO LAUNCH A NEW MEDIA LITERACY-BASED MIDDLE GRADE SERIES AT THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY ON TUESDAY, JUNE 22nd

NEW YORK, (June 17, 2010) – Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers and the New York Public Library announced today that author Jon Scieszka will launch his brand new series, SPACHEADZ on Tuesday morning, June 22nd at 10:00AM in the Children’s Center at 42nd Street, located in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

Children are bombarded with an estimated 500 separate commercial impressions per day. Media Literacy education provides tools to help people critically analyze messages, offers opportunities for learners to broaden their experience of media, and helps them develop creative skills in making their own media messages. Guys’ Read founder and the first National Ambassador for Children’s Literature, Jon Scieszka has decided to make media literacy fun and interactive with his new series SPACEHEADZ.

Michael K. doesn’t want to be a SPHDZ or save the world. Michael K. just wants to fit in at his 5th grade class in his new school. Unfortunately for him, three aliens have decided he is the key to Earth’s salvation! Disguised as two nerdy faced fifth graders and a hamster named Fluffy, these aliens tactlessly go about including Michael K. into their plans. The main plan: they need 3.14 million and 1 kids to say they are SPHDZ. Now, maybe if they acted like normal fifth graders, Michael K. would just laugh the idea off and call it a day, but the only knowledge of normal society the aliens have is from TV. So, instead of talking like regular humans, they pitch their voice and use ad slogans that range from skittles to WWE, and their actions are even more embarrassing. Michael K. knows that no normal fifth grader would act this way (and report directly to a hamster), but try as Michael might to get away from these crazy aliens he is foiled at every turn. What is he to do?

The team behind the Spaceheadz series is not only dedicated to creative and imaginative storytelling to kids, but also teaching children about media literacy. Websites designed to further tell the story and educate kids about media literacy are listed below: http://sphdz.com/, http://antialienagency.com, http://mrshalleyscomets.com and http://www.imsuregladthatdidnthappen.com/.

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Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, one of the leading children’s book publishers in the world, is comprised of the following imprints: Aladdin Paperbacks, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Libros para niños, Little Simon®, Little Simon Inspirations™, Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, Simon Pulse, Simon Scribbles, and Simon Spotlight®. While maintaining an extensive award-winning backlist, the division continues to publish acclaimed and bestselling books for children of all ages. In addition to numerous Caldecott, Newbery, and National Book Award winners, Simon & Schuster publishes such high-profile properties and series as Eloise, Olivia, Raggedy Ann & Andy™, Henry & Mudge®, The Hardy Boys®, Nancy Drew®, The Spiderwick Chronicles, Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts®, Nickelodeon’s® Dora the Explorer®, Blue’s Clues® and SpongeBob SquarePants®, and Mirage studios’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™. For more information about Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, visit our website at http://kids.simonandschuster.com/.

Simon & Schuster, a part of the CBS Corporation, is a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic, and audio formats. Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital, and international companies in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit our website at http://www.simonandschuster.com/.

About The New York Public Library
The New York Public Library was created in 1895 with the consolidation of the private libraries of John Jacob Astor and James Lenox with the Samuel Jones Tilden Trust. The Library provides free and open access to its physical and electronic collections and information, as well as to its services. Its renowned research collections are located in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street; The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem; and the Science, Industry and Business Library at 34th Street and Madison Avenue. Eighty-eight branch libraries provide access to circulating collections and a wide range of other services in neighborhoods throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. Research and circulating collections combined total more than 50 million items. In addition, each year the Library presents thousands of exhibitions and public programs, which include classes in technology, literacy, and English for speakers of other languages. All in all The New York Public Library serves more than 17 million patrons who come through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org.

Contact:
Anna McKean
Senior Publicist, Simon & Schuster
212/698-1135
anna.mckean@simonandschuster.com

Jonathan Pace
Press Representative, The New York Public Library
212/592-7710
jonathan_pace@nypl.org