Mac Barnett’s 2025 National Ambassador Tour in photos!
Mac’s Ambassadorship celebrates the Power of the Picture Book Art Form
Mac Barnett wrapped up his 2025 “Behold, the Picture Book!” Tour stops this October. His whirlwind trip took him to Hanover, PA, Elkhart, IN, Manvel, TX, and Greensboro, NC. Along the way, Mac connected with hundreds of students at local elementary schools, reading to, talking with, and getting inspired by their enthusiasm at meeting a real-life book creator. Many of the students had never experienced an author visit before.
A public event at each location also allowed Mac to connect with the wider community of families, teachers, librarians, and adult fans of his work. Mac was able to share his message across generations, sharing the joy of picture books, storytelling, and family reading.
Enjoy these photos from each event, with more to come on the Every Child a Reader website soon!
In Hanover, PA:
In Elkhart, IN:
In Manvel, TX:
In Greensboro, NC:
About Mac Barnett
Mac Barnett is a New York Times-bestselling author of stories for children. His work has been translated into more than 30 languages and sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. Barnett’s books have won many prizes, including two Caldecott Honors, three New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Awards, three E.B. White Read Aloud Awards, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Germany’s Jugendliteraturpreis, China’s Chen Bochui International Children’s Literature Award, The Netherlands’ Silver Griffel, and Italy’s Premio Orbil. He is the co-creator, with Jon Klassen, of “Shape Island,” a stop-motion animated series on Apple TV+, based on their best-selling Shapes series of picture books. Barnett lives in Oakland, California.
About the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature
The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature is an initiative of the Library of Congress, in partnership with Every Child a Reader, with generous support from The Library of Congress James Madison Council, The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation and Dollar General Literacy Foundation.
The program was established in 2008 by the Library, the Children’s Book Council and Every Child a Reader to emphasize the importance of young people’s literature as it relates to lifelong literacy, education and the development and betterment of the lives of young people. Previous National Ambassadors include authors Jon Scieszka (2008–2009), Katherine Paterson (2010–2011), Walter Dean Myers (2012–2013), Kate DiCamillo (2014–2015), Gene Luen Yang (2016–2017), Jacqueline Woodson (2018–2019), Jason Reynolds (2020-2022) and Meg Medina (2023-2024).
About Every Child a Reader
Every Child a Reader is a 501(c)(3) award-winning literacy charity whose popular national programs include Children’s Book Week, the longest-running literacy initiative in the country, celebrating 106 years in 2025; the Kids’ Book Choice Awards, the only national book awards chosen solely by children and teens; Get Caught Reading, a classroom poster project; and the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature program, in partnership with the Library of Congress.
About the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States – and extensive materials from around the world – both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
