Calling All Young Authors: Tikatok and Children’s Book Council Announce New Children’s Book Week Writing Contest

In honor of Children’s Book Week, Tikatok™, the award-winning children’s book publishing website, and Every Child a Reader (the Children’s Book Council Foundation), a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering a love of books and reading among children, are teaming up to sponsor a book-writing contest for kids.

To enter the Children’s Book Week Writing Contest, children need to create stories using the writing and book creation tools available on www.tikatok.com and submit their stories to Tikatok by April 25, 2010. There is no cost to enter the contest.

"Celebrating the love of children’s books taps into what Tikatok is all about,” says Sharon Kan, co-founder of Tikatok. "We are thrilled to be able to partner with Children’s Book Week to bring this wonderful contest to children and inspire them to write stories for other children.”

Entries will be reviewed and judged by acclaimed children’s book authors Jon Scieszka, author of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales, and Katherine Paterson, author of Bridge to Terabithia. Paterson serves as the current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and Scieszka recently finished his term as the inaugural Ambassador. Scieszka and Paterson will select the winning book based on its creativity and originality, quality of illustrations, and compatibility of text and illustrations.

The winner of the contest will be announced May 5, 2010, and will receive a $100 Tikatok Gift Card; 25 free hardcover copies of the winning story for the author to share with classmates, friends and family; and a poster signed by Scieszka and Paterson. The winner will also be celebrated at a special Children’s Book Week "Writers on Writers” event, which will be held on May 10, 2010, at the Barnes & Noble store located on 86^th and Lexington in New York City. Both Scieszka and Paterson will be on hand to discuss children’s literature.

The Children’s Book Council (www.cbcbooks.org) is the primary sponsor of Children’s Book Week, which has been celebrated annually since 1919 to encourage the use and enjoyment of children’s books. This year, Children’s Book Week will be held May 10-16, 2010. Learn more at www.BookWeekOnline.com.

Tikatok (www.tikatok.com) offers a safe studio environment for parents, teachers and child authors to write, illustrate and publish books. Tikatok is owned by Barnes & Noble.

About Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world’s largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 775 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, also operates 636 college bookstores serving nearly 4 million students and over 250,000 faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble is the nation’s top bookseller brand for the sixth year in a row, as determined by a combination of the brand’s performance on familiarity, quality, and purchase intent; the top bookseller in quality for the second year in a row and the number two retailer in trust, according to the EquiTrend® Brand Study by Harris Interactive®. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through Barnes & Noble.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web’s largest e-commerce sites, which also features hundreds of thousands of titles in its eBookstore (www.bn.com/ebooks). Customers can buy and read eBooks on a wide range of platforms, including nook by Barnes & Noble, the iPhone and iPod touch, BlackBerry^® smartphones, as well as most Windows^® and Mac^® laptops or full-sized desktop computers.

General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company’s corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.

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About Every Child a Reader

Every Child a Reader, the CBC Foundation, is dedicated to supporting positive programs and opportunities that help promote the enjoyment and importance of reading among America's youth. The CBC Foundation is the administrator of such impactful programs as the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and Children’s Book Week. For more information, visit us online at www.ECARfoundation.org.