Abrams has hired Cecily Kaiser in the new role of publishing director for children’s books, concentrating on books for children ages 0-5. Kaiser was previously at Scholastic, most recently as editorial director for Cartwheel Books and Little Scholastic.

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill announced three staff changes today. Effective October 1, Michael Taeckens will be promoted to director of online and paperback marketing. Taeckens has been with Algonquin for 10 years, and worked on campaigns for Water for Elephants, A Reliable Wife, Last Child in the Woods, and other successful books. Additionally, Kelly Bowen, who recently joined Algonquin from Simon & Schuster, has been hired as publicity manager, and on July 15, Megan Fishman will join Algonquin’s publicity department. Fishman had most recently been at the Virginia Quarterly Review; prior to that she was at Random House.