6 Children’s Literature Creators Who Should Make the Next ALA READ Poster
Every fall I love cracking open my ALA Store catalog and seeing the latest READ posters. Here are a few recent favorites:




We have a bunch of them in the library and it’s cool to see all the different children’s book artists who have made posters over the years.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
But there are a few people who haven’t made posters that I think would make some excellent ones. I shall now lobby the bigwigs at ALA to give the following people a shot.
(Note! It could be that some of the following people have been asked to make a READ poster and declined – I don’t know if they did, but I’d love to see a poster from any of them.)

Laurie Keller
I ask you – why is there no Arnie the Doughnut READ poster? How can this be?

Kadir Nelson
I had to double and triple check that Kadir Nelson hasn’t made a READ poster (and still, I’m only 75% sure. He REALLY hasn’t made a READ poster???). Typically, recent Caldecott winners have made one, so I’m guessing that the offer has been extended.

Aaron Blabey
ALA will occasionally have a non-US citizen make a poster (there are more than a couple Canadians) and so I vote that they reach out to the Pig the Pug (and Bad Guys) creator to try his hand at one.

Julie Flett
She’s winning illustration awards left and right. I think it’s time for her to try her hand at a READ poster.

Sydney Smith
Speaking of Canadians, Sydney Smith is one of the most revered illustrators going right now. I would love to see a Small in the City READ poster.

Melissa Sweet
She won a Caldecott Honor for a book called A River of Words and yet no READ poster? Let’s fix this!
Any you’d like to add to this list? Let me know in the comments.
Filed under: Articles
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
2023 Caldecott Jump
Fuse 8 n’ Kate: A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
Ben Mortara and the Thieves of the Golden Table | This Week’s Comics
New Reports Show a Decline in YA Book Sales and I Have Some Thoughts as to Why That Might be Happening
The Classroom Bookshelf is Moving
ADVERTISEMENT
Has Bob Shea been featured? His stuff would be amazing. Also, what about YOU Travis? 🙂
Well, I’m partial, of course! . . . but I couldn’t agree more that Melissa Sweet should create an ALA READ poster. Remember, she also got a second Caldecott Honor in 2015 for The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus, which has, perhaps, the most delightful end papers EVER!