Coming Full Circle
Christopher Paolini’s international tour for Inheritance (Knopf) took him to 24 cities and towns in six countries, including Prague, where more than 1,500 fans turned up, and Utrecht, Holland, where he was the featured author at the Elf Fantasy Fair. At Spain Book Day in Barcelona, two fans brought an heirloom with them – a photo they’d taken with Paolini in 2005, when he visited the city to promote Eldest. Next up for the author: the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand.
Arbor Honors
Toronto’s annual Festival of Trees, Canada’s largest children’s literary event, draws more than 8,000 young readers. Every year, more than 250,000 students from kindergarten to grade 12 participate in the Forest of Reading program, which asks them to vote for their favorite books through their school or public library, and the winners are announced at the festival. At this year’s event, held May 15 and 16, Kenneth Oppel (pictured) was among the honorees: his novel Half Brother won the White Pine Fiction Award, chosen by students in grades 9 to 12. Photo: Readings.org.
Judgment Day
Children's authors and illustrators get asked to do all sorts of things, and keep all sorts of company. Recently, some children's book stars were tapped by Google 4 Doodle to judge a doodle competition; the winner was announced on May 17 at Google’s New York City offices. Pictured here are (from l.) Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black, and Mo Willems; other judges included Katy Perry and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. Photo: Christophe Wu for Google.
Girls Just Wanna Read Books
While touring for the paperback release of her middle-grade novel Out of My Mind (S&S/Atheneum), Coretta Scott King Award winner Sharon Draper appeared at schools and bookstores in Raleigh, N.C., Atlanta, Vero Beach, Fla., Chicago, and near her hometown of Cincinnati. Here she meets students at the Washington Middle School for Girls, which she visited on behalf of An Open Book, a children’s literacy foundation in Washington, D.C.
