Editing Laura Bush (section)

===Education and children and the National Book Festival===
Early into the administration, Bush made it known that she would focus much of her attention on education. This included recruiting highly qualified teachers to ensure that young children would be taught well.<ref name=teach>{{cite news |url=http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2001/02/wh-0226.html |title=First Lady Laura Bush Launches Education Initiatives |access-date=May 26, 2008 |publisher=U.S. Department of Education |date=February 26, 2001 |archive-date=October 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006080554/http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2001/02/wh-0226.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> She also focused on early child development.<ref name=teach/>

In 2001, to promote reading and education, she partnered with the [[Library of Congress]] to launch the annual [[National Book Festival]].<ref>Stevens, Roberta A. "Report on the National Book Festival, September 8, 2001." ''Collection building'' 21.4 (2002): 171–173.</ref> More than 60 organizations that promote reading, literacy, and libraries—including the National Basketball Association participated.<ref>Kniffel, Leonard.(2001) "Authors Take Center Stage at First National Book Festival". ''American Libraries'' 32: (October): 16 Chicago: American Library Association, 2001.</ref> Bush served as Honorary Chair from 2001 to 2008.<ref>[https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/firstlady/initiatives/nationalbookfestival.html The National Book Festival] The White House. President George W. Bush</ref>

In January 2002, Bush testified before the Senate Committee on Education, asking for higher teachers' salaries and better training for [[Head Start Program|Head Start]] programs. She is also credited with creating a national initiative called "Ready to Read, Ready to Learn", which promotes reading at a young age. To promote American patriotic heritage in schools, she helped launch the [[National Anthem Project]]. In 2006, Bush and media executives worked together to provide a $500,000 grant for school libraries along the Gulf Coast which had been devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.<ref name="Bush Biography"/>

Immediately following the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], Bush spoke regarding America's children:

<blockquote>"We need to reassure our children that they are safe in their homes and schools. We need to reassure them that many people love them and care for them, and that while there are some bad people in the world, there are many more good people."<ref>{{cite news |date=November 8, 2001 |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011108-7.html |title=Mrs. Laura Bush Speaks at the National Press Club |access-date=May 25, 2008 |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514161913/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/11/20011108-7.html |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

[[Image:Romanian children greet Bushes 2002.jpg|thumb|right|Romanian children greet President and Mrs. Bush upon their landing in [[Bucharest, Romania|Bucharest]], 2002.]]
[[Image:Laura Bush with children 2005.jpg|thumb|right|The First Lady shares a laugh with fifth graders in [[Des Moines, Iowa]], 2005.]]
The following day, she composed open letters to America's families, focusing on elementary and middle school students, which she distributed through state education officials.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/letter1.html |title=Mrs. Bush's Letter to Middle and High School Students Following Terrorist Attacks |access-date=December 13, 2006 |date=September 12, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514222444/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/letter1.html |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|access-date=December 13, 2006 |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/letter2.html |title=Mrs. Bush's Letter to Elementary School Students Following Terrorist Attacks |date=September 12, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514222505/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/09/letter2.html |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |url-status=live}}</ref> She took an interest in mitigating the emotional effects of the attacks on children, particularly the disturbing images repeatedly replayed on television.<ref name=911message>{{cite news|title=First lady: Turn off TVs on 9/11 |access-date=May 25, 2008 |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/09/08/ar911.first.lady/ |agency=CNN |date=September 11, 2002 |archive-date=June 1, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080601094302/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/09/08/ar911.first.lady/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> On the one-year anniversary, she encouraged parents to instead read to their children, and perhaps light a candle in memoriam, saying, "Don't let your children see the images, especially on September 11, when you know it'll probably be on television again and again – the plane hitting the building or the buildings falling."<ref name=911message/>

Later in her tenure, she was honored by the United Nations, as the body named her honorary ambassador for the United Nations' Decade of Literacy. In this position, she announced that she would host a Conference on Global Literacy.<ref>{{cite news|title=Secretary Spellings Spoke at UNESCO's 'Education for All' Event |url=http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2006/04/04242006a.html |date=April 26, 2006 |access-date=May 26, 2008 |publisher=U.S. Department of Education |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829004602/http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2006/04/04242006a.html |archive-date=August 29, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The conference, held in September 2006, encouraged a constant effort to promote literacy and highlighted many successful literacy programs.<ref name=conference>{{cite news|access-date=May 26, 2008 |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060918-1.html |title=Mrs. Laura Bush Hosts White House Conference on Global Literacy |date=September 18, 2006 |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514222529/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060918-1.html |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Laura Bush. "Global Literacy." ''Vital Speeches of the Day'' 71, no. 11 (2005): 322–</ref> She coordinated this as a result of her many trips abroad where she witnessed how literacy benefited children in poorer nations.<ref name=conference/>

On July 28, 2008, she visited [[Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site]] in [[Flat Rock, Henderson County, North Carolina|Flat Rock, North Carolina]], where she met with superintendent Connie Backlund and the Friends of Carl Sandburg Home's President Linda Holt as well as various students from [[Boys & Girls Clubs of America|Boys and Girls Club]] of [[Henderson County, North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite news|date=July 28, 2008 |access-date=June 14, 2014 |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/07/20080728-12.html |title=Mrs. Bush's Remarks during a visit to the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714221757/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/07/20080728-12.html |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 3, 2008, she visited Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum where she praised her works such as ''[[Farmer Boy]]'', ''[[These Happy Golden Years]]'' and ''[[Little House on the Prairie]]'', the last of which she had felt an association with as a child. During the same Laura Ingalls Wilder's estate visit, she said that she read her books to her daughters and gave the writer [[Save America's Treasures]] grant.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/10/20081003-20.html |title=Mrs. Bush's Remarks During Visit to Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home and Museum |place=[[Mansfield, Missouri]] |date=October 3, 2008 |access-date=June 14, 2014 |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714180043/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/10/20081003-20.html |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |url-status=live}}</ref>