In celebration of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson's first contact in North America and his sailing up the Hudson River, One Book One New Paltz has selected the short classic Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving as the 2009 community read. Rip Van Winkle was chosen because of its regional, historical, and cultural setting, as well as for the timeliness and universality of its themes, and its appeal to a large spectrum of ages. |