Award-Winning Children’s Author Jon Scieszka Visits Encino Elementary

New York Times best-selling children's book author Jon Scieszka captivated the students of at a school assembly Wednesday. Hundreds of second- through fifth-graders laughed at his stories and threw their arms into the air with questions.

It wasn’t an ordinary school assembly, it was Read Across America Day, a national reading celebration that takes place each year on March 2, the birthday of Dr. Seuss. Across the country, thousands of schools, libraries and community centers participate by bringing together kids and books.

Scieszka has written more than 50 children's books, including The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Stinky Cheese Man, Math Curse and the Time Warp Trio series, among other popular titles.

He is now reinventing the art of storytelling through his new science-fiction book and multimedia project called Spaceheadz, which includes interactive Web sites, Facebook profiles, YouTube channels, Twitter accounts and more. The mission is to get 3.14 million kids to say they are Spaceheadz—or else the world will turn off.

As he leads the way with new storytelling techniques, Scieszka is motivating kids to read while taking advantage of their inherent interest in technology. Judging by the students’ enthusiasm at Encino Elementary, his latest endeavor could be another big hit.