NewsGranderson donates book to schools
Tigers star wants to promote reading for Michigan youth
By Alden Gonzalez / MLB.com
11/01/09 10:03 AM EST
When Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson set out to create a children's book, his goals had nothing to do with profit -- he simply wanted to get kids excited about learning.His new book "All You Can Be: Dream It, Draw It, Become It!" is being distributed free of charge to public elementary school libraries in Michigan, a recent article on the Michigan Department of Education Web site stated.
Copies of the book are being donated by Granderson and Chicago-based publisher Triumph Books.
Illustrations in the book were contributed by fourth-grade students across the state. A contest was held to pick the artwork, as hundreds of children contributed drawings and Granderson selected 29. The theme for the illustrations was: How do you see yourself when you are in high school, and how is education important to helping you become that person?
Granderson, who grew up on the south side of Chicago, is the son of two schoolteachers and learned the importance of education at an early age. All of the net proceeds from the public sale of the books go to Granderson's foundation, Grand Kids Foundation.
"There was one simple thing I wanted to achieve with 'All You Can Be' -- to make learning fun for school children," Granderson was quoted as saying on the Web site. "My mother, Mary, co-author Terry Foster and I truly feel we have accomplished what we set out to do, which was to make learning fun through using creative and different ways to get Michigan's elementary school students thinking about their future."
Alden Gonzalez is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
