Dear Albert Whitman & Company,

This letter is for Diane Burton Robb. I was unable to locate her address and contact information. I am a college student at Penn State and did a project with The Alphabet War. You were the publisher of this fine piece of literature and I assume that you will have Diane Robb's address. I would greatly appreciate it if you would pass this letter along to her and let her be aware that her book The Alphabet War has won an award in our classroom.

I developed an award called Anthony Baney's Award For Excelling In The Demonstration of Children Overcoming Retention. I was retained as a student in elementary school because I was unable to read. I received a tutor and was able to learn how to read and over come my struggles of being retained. I am currently attending Penn State where I am earning a degree in Elementary Education. My class developed a project that was designed for each person in the class to develop their own award and everyone else in the class would nominate books for that award. I had several nominations to chose from regarding children overcoming retention. I saw myself in your book that you wrote and felt it was a wonderful piece of literature. I loved the way the book was put together and it shows to other students that with a little determination that anyone can overcome their struggles with reading.

Sincerely,



Anthony Baney
Student of Penn State

The Anthony Baney Award for excelling in the demonstration of children overcoming retention and/or struggling to learn to read and write. Wolf says that "a child will lean on the language of an author without really acknowledging a direct connect." Students that struggle with reading and writing will find a way to bridge their issues with knowledge of others to overcome their struggles with reading and writing. The Anthony Baney Award will be awarded to the book that best demonstrates a child over coming retention and/or struggling to read and write. The piece may be for all ages k-12 because, a student who struggles with reading and writing will carry that with them the rest of their academic career. The book may be about a boy or a girl who struggles with reading and writing skills. The book is not to be limited to an ethnic group, anyone can struggle with reading and writing. Nominations for this award will be due by February 19, 2008. Good Luck!