A great book is more than just a read — it’s a step “up, up, up” for a child’s imagination and development.

The winning manuscript of last year’s First Edition Children’s Book Contest, Up Up Up will be released this September. Proceeds will fund Southwest Human Development’s early literacy programs.

Up Up Up is written by former teacher and librarian Phoebe Fox, and illustrated by Michael Hale, who is well-known for his advertising campaigns spanning print, radio, and television.

The story entails a diverse band of characters uniting in celebration. As the story unfolds, whimsical characters varying from a squeaky mouse to a growling bear and everything in between come together and ascend through an apartment building to attend a birthday party.

Fox instils an understanding of animal behavior and sound through the language used in the book as Hale breaths life into the characters through his uncanny eye for detail. Strategic storytelling encourages children to unleash their imagination and ignite development of early literacy skills.

The Up Up Up manuscript was selected by a team of Southwest Human Development early childhood specialists and community children’s book experts from over 250 manuscript submissions. According to Fox, she harnessed her inspiration from her husband and three sons. Her rich background in literacy stems from past experiences teaching first grade and position as a library media specialist for a Tempe school district.

Southwest Human celebrated the pending release of Up Up Up with a book launch luncheon today at the First Draft Book Bar inside the Changing Hands Bookstore Phoenix location. The luncheon offered a sneak peak at the book’s illustrations and insight about the processes of writing and illustrating a children’s book. Fox and Hale shared their compelling experiences with literature and the First Edition contest.

Help us make a difference

Help us reach our goal of putting a new book into the hands of every one of the more than 55,000 babies born in Maricopa County each year by becoming a champion of early literacy today:

http://www.firsteditionproject.com/become-a-champion.html