Celebrating centuries of the written word--from the works of Confucius, Shakespeare, and Ben Franklin to the adventures of Nancy Drew and Harry Potter--this book offers a literary smorgasbord of milestones, anecdotes, and quotes, along with smart, fun, practical activities for exploring and enjoying a wide range of literature. More than a calendar book--yet concise enough for regular use in a busy classroom--the book offers one or more date-related prompts per day. It is designed to be used by every age, grade, reading level, and interest, be it fairy tales, silly poems, historical novels, juvenile detective yarns, wildlife stories, or the last written words of a hopelessly stranded Antarctic explorer. Included in the book are brief discussions of relevant topics: literary codes and games, the first popular dictionary and thesaurus, the importance of names (of authors as well as fictional characters), close observation and other kinds of research, spelling, rewriting, the power of artwork, and the source of artistic ideas. The most important thread throughout the book is that different people love different books. Using almost any entry as a jumping-off point and following the suggested reading/writing tips, teachers can encourage their students to read more books, and more kinds of books. (NKA)