Children's Book of the Week! January 24-30

I Want to be Miss America

by Katie Stam, Miss America 2009

This week is a special week to me because it is the week of the Miss America Pageant. Since a young age I have dreamed of becoming Miss America one day, and the night that the Miss America pageant came on the television was always a special event. This past year's Miss America, Katie Stam, has written a children's book during her journey to Miss America, so I found it only fitting to select it as our book of the week. Katie was recently interviewed by Robin Leach, and gave details on her book, which is set to be released soon.

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  "It’s called I Want to Be Miss America, and it actually follows me as a little girl. As you know, that was something I wanted to do my entire life and have been working toward my entire life, so I wrote a children’s book. It’s about Katie, this little girl, who dreams of becoming Miss America and what she does in order to accomplish it. It’s going to be very interactive with the little kids who want to purchase it. I think it will also be fantastic for Miss America fans in general because I am going to try and make it as special as possible."
  
  
  

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  "So it’s not just a children’s book. No. 1, it’s an education tool, and No. 2, make it for Miss America fans. What I mean by educational tool is I tried to utilize the same message that I spoke about this prior year on the road, and that was I decided I was going to be Miss America when I was 3 years old, but I had to have a plan that I set for myself. My plan was to get this education to make good decisions and to get involved in my community. That was my three-step plan of how I was going to accomplish my goal. So that is the theme in this book, but even more so, it teaches what Miss America is, and that is a role model, its service base, and that it is about education in scholarship and about being a good person."
  
  
  
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  "I tried to use it as an educational tool because there is a great responsibility that comes with being able to write a book. And as far as a keepsake message and memory from the book, I am going to keep that a secret. You are just going to have to figure out what that means as we get closer to the day of it being released."
  
  
  
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  To read more about Katie Stam, visit http://www.missamerica.org/
  
  
  

 So this week, explore your child's dreams. Ask them what they wish to achieve and try to find something at your local library about that subject. While little boys probably won't be aching to become Miss America, they may hope to one day be President or a Firefighter. Find their passion and explore it. By doing this through reading, you will also foster an interest in learning through reading.