PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Children's book author and literacy advocate Ty Allan Jackson of Pittsfield, Mass., was honored last week by New England Public Radio in a ceremony at The Log Cabin in Holyoke.

Jackson, along with two other recipients — illustrator Barry Moser and the Northampton Jazz Workshop -- was presented with an Arts and Humanities award for his tireless work to promote literacy and to empower young people to be "reading superheroes."

"This is a great honor, to be presented with this award, especially when you consider the kind of work and the kind of talent that we have here in New England," Jackson said. "It's hard to believe that all of this began seven years ago, but I have really found my purpose. And it's humbling to be recognized for that."

Jackson started his own publishing company, Big Head Books, LLC in 2010. Since then the company, which publishes children's books with diverse characters, including the inaugural book "Danny Dollar Millionaire: The Lemonade Escapade," has become a platform for Jackson to visit schools across the country - New Orleans, Florida, the Bronx, most of Western Massachusetts – delivering inspiration and education to children of all ages. His latest initiative, the READ OR ELSE (ReadorElse.com) campaign, is a nationwide push to promote literacy through visibility. For every READ OR ELSE purchase (i.e. T-shirts and sweatshirts) Big Head Books will send a copy of "Danny Dollar" to a child living in a shelter or designated low income school district.

"The READ OR ELSE campaign is just starting to really take off," he said. "I feel like it's been happening all along, that the work and the message have all been leading up to this point. People are very passionate about literacy, and the implications of literacy in this country."

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