'Stinky Cheese' author has a read on kids

America’s children aren’t reading very much or very well these days, so the nation’s finest minds have come up with a Big Idea: Find an author who can tap into the richness of children's literature and persuade kids to drop their idle pursuits—their Facebooks, Nanos and Wiis—for the thrill of a good book.

Last month, the Library of Congress and the Children’s Book Council, a trade group, announced the appointment of the USA’s first “ambassador for young people's literature,” a sort of poet laureate for the Harry Potter set. As the inaugural ambassador, they named renowned author Jon Scieszka. For Scieszka, the appointment comes as “a great vote for the importance of humor” to win converts to reading. Read more about how Scieszka keeps kids reading at USA Today online.