Kickstarters,

Big news this morning, so we'll get right to it.

One of the backer rewards we've been most excited about is the READING RAINBOW 2015 CALENDAR, which is included in the READING YEAR-ROUND PACKAGE ($175), most $200+ packages, or as an ADD-ON REWARD (just add $25 onto any pledge here).

Here's why we're so excited about it:

Our 2015 Calendar will feature new, original artwork created for this calendar by six beloved artists, illustrators and cartoonists!

Each month of the calendar will provide space for your child (or you!) to keep a list of all of the books you've read, along with an original illustration inspired by the Reading Rainbow slogan: that with a book, you can "Go Anywhere and Be Anything."

If you grab a copy of the calendar, you'll be getting ORIGINAL ARTWORK DESIGNED EXCLUSIVELY FOR READING RAINBOW by these incredible artists:

MARY GRANDPRÉ is best known for her iconic work as the artist and illustrator of the Harry Potter books. All told, she has illustrated more than twenty books, including a number of children's books, and her work has appeared in both gallery exhibitions and periodicals including The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly and The Wall Street Journal. You can find more of her work at marygrandpre.com.

BRETT HELQUIST is best known as the illustrator behind the beloved children's book series, Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events. He has also illustrated a wide range of books and picture books for children, including Fly By Night and Chasing Vermeer... and appeared in the children's magazine Cricket! You can find more of his work at bretthelquist.com, and follow him on Twitter as @BHelquist.



PENNY ARCADE, which debuted in 1998, is among the most popular and longest-running webcomics on the internet. Written by Jerry Holkins ("Tycho") and illustrated by Mike Krahulik ("Gabe"), the runaway success of Penny Arcade led to the creation of PAX, an annual gaming convention, and enabled Holkins and Krahulik to launch Child's Play, a children's charity.

CHRIS ELIOPOULOS illustrates Ordinary People Change The World, a children's book series with Brad Meltzer. Besides that, he has worked on thousands of comic titles for Marvel, DC, Image and more. He co-created the graphic novel Cow Boy with Nate Cosby and wrote and drew the webcomic Misery Loves Sherman for a number of years. You can see more of his work at chriseliopoulos.com, and follow him on Twitter as @ChrisEliopoulos.

KATIE COOK is well-known for her commissioned work for Marvel, Star Wars, Fraggle Rock and more, and is the creator of the widely beloved webcomic Gronk: A Monster's Story. She is also the artist for IDW's My Little Pony comic series, based on the popular animated series, which has become a best-seller for all ages. As the daughter of a librarian, she is also a strong believer in the importance of reading (and Reading Rainbow)! You can see more of her work at katiecandraw.typepad.com, and follow her on Twitter as @katiecandraw.

MIKE MAIHACK is the creator of the sci-fi, action adventure series, Cleopatra in Space (published by Scholastic/Graphix), the popular webcomic Cow & Buffalo, and has contributed art and stories to books like Jim Henson’s The Storyteller; Cow Boy; Geeks, Girls, and Secret Identities; and the award-winning Comic Book Tattoo. He currently live in Tampa, FL with his wife, two-year-old son, and a couple of useless siamese cats. You can see more of his work at mikemaihack.com, and follow him on Twitter as @MikeMaihack.

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It's an amazing lineup of talent. And here's something just as amazing:

Every single one of them has chosen to participate for free.

In fact, these artists are so committed to helping us reach more underfunded schools that each of them have also agreed to donate FIVE SIGNED PRINTS of the original work they create for the calendar, which will be introducing as new, higher-level reward tiers next week!

Cool! But what about the OTHER six months of the year?



Great question! We're still talking to a few more artists, but we also want this calendar to reflect the most important thing about this whole Kickstarter experience: that YOU are the ones making a difference and helping bring reading to more children!

After the Kickstarter campaign ends, we'll be holding an ART CONTEST for artists of all ages -- kids and adults -- and inviting you to submit your original creations. All of our backers will be given a chance to vote for their favorites, and we'll include up to SIX of the top selections in the final calendar. (That means your art could appear alongside new work from the illustrators of Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket and more, for the whole world to see!)

Want to get multiple calendars?

If you want to get more copies of the calendar -- for yourself, or as gifts for the children and readers in your life -- you can get as many as you'd like as REWARD ADD-ONS. Just go here, and add $25 to your total pledge for each additional calendar you'd like.

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We can't even tell you how excited and honored we are to be working with these artists -- and we hope you share our excitement. Let us know your thoughts in the comments... and start working on your own ideas for the ART CONTEST!

We'll see you next time,

The Reading Rainbow Team