The Exquisite Corpse Adventure: A Reading Experience to ‘Die’ For

Wednesday, 9/30/2009

Illustration ©Chris Van Dusen

If “The Exquisite Corpse Adventure” seems like an odd name for a children’s literary project, it is, but it’s also the name of a centuries old game. Just like the road trip or campfire games we’ve all played, an exquisite corpse is a progressive story game where one person begins a tale, then lets others continue the story until it comes to its spontaneous, gripping and often hilarious end.

In the spirit of these wacky, fun progressive stories, the Library of Congress has launched a year-long online story called “The Exquisite Corpse Adventure.” A group of very talented children’s authors and illustrators including Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia), Kate DiCamillo (Because of Winn Dixie), Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising Sequence) and Daniel Handler aka Lemony Snickett to name a few, will each contribute a chapter to the zany adventure novel.

The first episode by Jon Scieszka (The Stinky Cheese Man and other Fairly Stupid Tales) and illustrated by Chris Van Dusen (Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee) which is up on the site now, is a hilarious read and sets up what we hope will be a fantastically funny adventure. A new episode will be up every week, so sign up for the RSS feed to receive notification of the new installments.

With every episode, the Library of Congress and the National Children’s Book and Literary Alliance will create discussion questions, reading lists, and classroom activities to help engage students as they follow along with the story. It’s a perfect activity for your classroom or home.

Read the first episode now, and learn more about the program on “The Exquisite Corpse Adventure” website.

Posted by » walden
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