Laura Bush Promotes Reading in Russia

Speaking to a crowd of Russian children and school librarians near the Kremlin, Bush said gatherings like these celebrate "books and reading and great writers" as well as "the freedom to write what we want to write and to read the books we want to read." Then Stine, soliciting ideas from the audience, wove together a scary tale about a boy and a haunted car, while Brown created a huge drawing of an imaginary creature to the delight of a group of younger children. Lerangis, who has penned about 40 titles in the Babysitters Club series, spoke about the difficulty of writing and encouraged kids to pursue their own ideas on paper.

Later, during a First Ladies roundtable on family literacy and education attended by First Ladies Bella Kocharian of Armenia and Zorka Purvanova of Bulgaria, Bush said that while nearly all American schools have libraries, they're "not really well funded." She added that the librarian is often "the first job that's cut when schools face financial problems" and chided American children for their addiction to television. Bush then passed around some popular American children's books, which she said reflect "the values that had to do with living a good life." The titles included Dr. Seuss's Hop on Pop, a Bush family favorite, the Arnold Lobel series Frog and Toad, and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.