The Exquisite Corpse Adventure

Take twenty top kids’ authors and illustrators. Give them free rein to take turns creating a zany progressive story. What could possibly happen next?

It all starts with a train rushing through the night. . . . Well, actually, it starts when Jon Scieszka, former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, writes a cliff-hanger episode and passes it on to the next member of a cast of celebrated writers and illustrators, who continues the story and passes it on. And what happens between episodes one and twenty-seven? Think werewolves and mad scientists, a talking pig, plenty of explosions, a blue Star Wars lunchbox, two meatballs, a whole army of villains and varmints, and one just plain bad egg. Not to mention our heroes, eleven-year-old twins Nancy and Joe, raised in a circus, who must find the pieces of a Top-Secret Robot in order to rescue their parents before . . . tick, tick, tick!

A collaboration between the National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance and the Library of Congress’s Center for the Book, The Exquisite Corpse Adventure originated as a national literacy project for young people and helped launch the Read.gov website.

The National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance is a not-for-profit literacy organization created in 1997 by award-winning children's book authors and illustrators. The NCBLA’s main goal is to make issues related to young people's literacy, literature, and libraries an ongoing priority on our national agenda. The NCBLA acts as a freelance, nonpartisan advocate, creating and developing special projects and events that promote literacy, literature, libraries, and the arts; educating the public about practical literacy and education solutions; and ensuring young people's right to read.