Last week, Algonquin author Esmé Raji Codell was featured on the Chicago television station WCIU,  where she showed off her wonderful Bookroom–PlanetEsme. Her mission? To educate and inspire future generations of book fanatics! Seriously, this woman is saving the world. Watch the video HERE. After taking the virtual tour of The Bookroom, I’m kind of wishing to be eight years old and living in Chicago. Books and cookies. What else could you ever need?

If you’re not in Chicago either, you can bake your own cookies and explore Esme’s website HERE, to read up on great new children’s books and enter contests. This is truly a labor of love for Codell, who is an award-winning author, teacher and librarian.  Her book, Educating Esmé, is about her first year of teaching in an inner-city public school. She also wrote How To Get Your Child To Love Reading which is an innovative guide to inspiring lifelong readers.