About the Exquisite Corpse Adventure
Ever heard of an Exquisite Corpse? It's not what you might think. An Exquisite Corpse is an old game in which people write a phrase on a sheet of paper, fold it over to conceal part of it and pass it on to the next player to do the same. The game ends when someone finishes the story, which is then read aloud.
Our "Exquisite Corpse Adventure" works this way: Jon Scieszka, the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, has written the first episode, which is "pieced together out of so many parts that it is not possible to describe them all here, so go ahead and just start reading!" He has passed it on to a cast of celebrated writers and illustrators, who must eventually bring the story to an end.
Every two weeks, there will be a new episode and a new illustration. The story will conclude a year from now. To get bi-weekly updates with new Exquisite Corpse Adventure chapters, click on the subscribe link 
at the top of the page. "This story starts with a train rushing through the night...." No one knows where or how it will end!
Episode 1 – “ . . . Just Start Reading”
Contributed by: Jon Scieszka
Illustration by: Chris Van Dusen
Play the Game »
Hear it »
Episode 2 – “The Lost Clue”
Contributed by: Katherine Paterson
Illustration by: James Ransome
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Episode 3 – “The Found Clue”
Contributed by: Kate_DiCamillo
Illustration by: Calef Brown
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Episode 4 – “Dig That Pig”
Contributed by: Susan Cooper
Illustration by: Timothy Basil Ering
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Episode 5 – “The Exquisite Corpse”
Contributed by: Gregory Maguire
Illustration by: Chris Van Dusen
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Episode 6 – “Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!”
Contributed by: Patricia C. and Fredrick L. McKissack
Illustration by: James Ransome
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Episode 7 – “The Beast Pit”
Contributed by: Shannon Hale
Illustration by: Calef Brown
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Episode 8 – “A Possible Solution”
Contributed by: Natalie Babbitt
Illustration by: Timothy Basil Ering
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Episode 9 – “In Arm’s Way”
Contributed by: Nikki Grimes
Illustration by: Chris Van Dusen
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Episode 10 – “Wolf at the Door”
Contributed by: Megan McDonald
Illustration by: James Ransome
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Episode 11 – “A Second Arm”
Contributed by: Steven Kellogg
Illustration by: Steven Kellogg
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Episode 12 – “The Shadowy Abyss of Our Own
Fates”
Contributed by: Lemony Snicket
Illustration by: Timothy Basil Ering
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Episode 13 – “Lucky Episode 13: Out of the
Cradle, Into the Fire”
Contributed by: M. T. Anderson
Illustration by: Chris Van Dusen
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Episode 14 – “Skills”
Contributed by: Linda Sue Park
Illustration by: James Ransome
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Episode 15 – “The Gingerbread House”
Contributed by: Katherine Paterson
Illustration by: Calef Brown
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Episode 16 – “If I Only Had a Leg”
Contributed by: Kate DiCamillo
Illustration by: Timothy Basil Ering
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Episode 17 – “Speak, Memory”
Contributed by: Susan Cooper
Illustration by: Chris Van Dusen
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Episode 18 – “The Regional Conference”
Contributed by: Gregory Maguire
Illustration by: James Ransome
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Episode 19 – “Legs on the Run”
Contributed by: Shannon Hale
Illustration by: Calef Brown
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Episode 20 – “An Angel Descends”
Contributed by: Steven Kellogg
Illustration by: Timothy Basil Ering
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Episode 21 – “Anything At All”
Contributed by: Linda Sue Park
Illustration by: Chris Van Dusen
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Episode 22 – “Meanwhile, Near a Meadow”
Contributed by: Lemony Snicket
Illustration by: James Ransome
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Episode 23 – “Promises, Promises, and More Promises”
Contributed by: Patricia C. and Fredrick L. McKissack
Illustration by: Calef Brown
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Coming August 13, 2010
Episode 24
Contributed by: Natalie Babbitt
The Exquisite Corpse Brain Game: Test your knowledge, collect clues, and best of all YOU get to decide what happens next.
Play the Brain Game »
The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance and the Butler Center for Children’s Literature at Dominican University have developed a companion educational resource center to support “The Exquisite Corpse Adventure.”
CONTEST
Reading Rockets and AdLit.org are offering K-12 students the chance to have some fun of their own with the Exquisite Prompt Write It, Film It Video Contest.
Katherine Paterson is the new National Ambassador for Young People's Literature »
Audio recordings provided by National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped at loc.gov/nls.
