Several comics-industry professionals (and good friends to GNR) have banded together to form the nonprofit group Reading With Pictures. They're just starting out and they need your help. As a nonprofit, they're eligible to win a $10,000 grant from IdeaBlob.com. All they have to do is win the online contest, which is where you come in: They need people to register on the site and vote for them so they can win. If you go to the site, you'll be able to find out more, but please do it soon...voting ends tonight (Wednesday) at midnight, so they need your help fast.

Reading With Pictures was formed by four good guys whose names are probably very familiar to readers of this site: Josh Elder (author of Mail-Order Ninja and an important voice for comics in the classroom), David Rapp (professor in the Northwestern University Learning Sciences department), John Shableski (sales manager for Diamond Books), and Peter Gutierrez (a writer for this site and a professional curriculum developer and educational consultant). Reading With Pictures is going to be a huge resource for educators, publishers, and readers, and it will advance the cause of comics as a useful and essential tool for reading and learning. If you can, please register and vote today so they can win this much-needed prize!