Are you an animal lover? Got a great story to share about your pet or any animal, the outdoors or wildlife? As part of The Big Read celebration of Jack London's The Call of the Wild, Dearborn Public Library is sending out a call for short stories, poems or essays about animals, people's pets, the outdoors or wildlife. Email your original story, poem or essay of 1-4 pages to hfischer@ci.dearborn.mi.us. The stories can be real or fictional. This program is open to anyone (all ages). The entry deadline is February 1, 2014. We hope to compile selected stories and publish them in book format as "Call of the Wild Dearborn: Animal Tales." Please spread the word. Read the submission guidelines at http://bigreaddearborn.org/animal-tales/. A flyer is available there too.

The Big Read is coming to Dearborn! Do you hear the Call? Fun-filled activities and events centered on Jack London’s The Call of the Wild will take place in and around Dearborn in March through May 2014. The adventure – Call of the Wild: EmBARKING on Discovery – begins with a BIG kickoff at The Henry Ford in Anderson Theater on Saturday, March 8, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sign up for email updates at www.bigreaddearborn.org!

Save the date also for another Big Read event: George Guidall on Saturday, April 26, 1-3 p.m. in the auditorium at Henry Ford Centennial Library, 16301 Michigan Ave. Dearborn, MI 48126

The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. The program is designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment.