This week, an author is honored at a book fest; an author-illustrator invites readers to play along; authors cozy up at an awards gala; a series draws to a conclusion; an author’s debut celebrates a little-known baseball team; and a publisher delivers books to Bay Area classrooms.
Silver Streak
Winners of the Ezra Jack Keats Book Award were honored at the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival, held April 7 at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. Don Tate won the New Writer Award for Poet: The Remarkable True Story of George Moses Horton and Phoebe Wahl was the New Illustrator winner for Sonya’s Chickens. Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming) received the USM Silver Medallion for “outstanding contributions in the field of children’s literature.” Here, Woodson stands with university president Rodney Bennett.
In a Playful Mood
On April 16, Hervé Tullet held a lively reading of his books, including Let’s Play! at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. More than 180 readers were present in the audience and several took part in Tullet’s theatrical performance; afterward, audience members were invited to a museum space to participate in art projects inspired by Tullet’s work.
Fellow Nominees
The Minnesota Book Awards annual gala, held on April 16, drew more than 900 people. The event took place at the Historic Union Depot in St. Paul, where finalists, including those nominated in the Young People’s Literature category, signed copies of their books. (From l.): David Oppegaard (The Firebug of Balrog County), Jane St. Anthony (Isabel Day Refuses to Die of a Broken Heart), Shannon Gibney (See No Color), and Margi Preus (The Bamboo Sword). Gibney received the award later that evening. Photo by Claire Kirch.
The Final Quest
Michael Northrop celebrated the release of The Final Kingdom, the fifth and last book in his multi-platform series TombQuest, with a two-week tour, making stops in Wisconsin, Connecticut, Illinois, and Virginia. Here, Northrop signs copies of The Final Kingdom, as well as others in the series, at a school event at Middlebury Elementary School in Middlebury, Conn. He was joined by Karen Rosenthal from R.J. Julia Booksellers.
That’s the Ticket!
Mark Holtzen celebrated the release of his debut picture book on April 12 at Island Books in Seattle. A Ticket to the Pennant: A Tale of Baseball in Seattle, illustrated by John Skewes (Little Bigfoot), is based on Seattle’s first baseball team, the Seattle Rainiers. Holtzen sported his Rainiers baseball cap to honor the team.
One for the Books
Chronicle Books delivered more than 100 of its books to 22 Teach for America classrooms in the Bay Area in recognition of National Week of the Young Child, April 11–15. Here, a student at John McLaren Early Education School in San Francisco reads Monster & Son by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Joey Chou.
