Soak It Up!
Andy Griffiths visited Warner Elementary School in Spring Arbor Township, Mich., during his 18-city tour for The 26-Story Treehouse (Feiwel and Friends). The appearance took a wet and wild turn when the school’s principal, Ben Gilpin, bravely told his students that everyone who purchased a book would have the chance to throw a water balloon at him. Griffiths (l.) had the honor of exploding the first balloon over Gilpin’s head (center), while students and teacher Suzanne Gibbs (r.) caught some of the splash.
Feeling the Love
A launch party for Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (S&S) drew enthusiastic fans to Books of Wonder in New York City, including these two readers, who made shirts in honor of one of the author. During the event, guests decorated cupcakes and enjoyed other refreshments. For her part, Han read from the book and, in the interest of full humiliation, also read from some of the love letters she wrote as a teen.
In the Giving Spirit
Members of the Cambridge (Mass.) Public Library Teen Advisory Board observed World Book Night on April 23 by dropping off books at a center for homeless youth. Shown here (from l. to r.), board members Abdi Egal, Aicha Belabbes, and Rachel Rwe, along with librarian Maya Escobar, hold up their World Book Night editions of Jesse Andrews’s Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (Abrams/Amulet) before heading out to make their donations.
Here, There Be (Fluff) Dragons!
A well-attended launch party for Platte Clark’s middle-grade fantasy novel Fluff Dragon (S&S/Aladdin), the second book in the Bad Unicorn trilogy, took place at the Provo City Library in Utah as part of the library’s Author Link program. Clark (seated) spoke about the book and signed copies, which were for sale through Brigham Young University’s bookstore. Thanks to a local balloon artist, Fluff Dragon himself was in attendance, and kids walked away with balloon swords.
A Match Made in China
While visiting English language schools throughout China to promote Secrets of the Terra-Cotta Soldier (Abrams/Amulet), Ying Chang Compestine (who co-wrote the book with her son, Vinson) came face to face with an actual terracotta soldier outside the International School of Tianjin. Compestine, who grew up in China and lives in California, will embark on a U.S. West Coast book tour later this spring.
The Great Cookie Drop
Chronicle Books celebrated National Library Week with a visit to the San Francisco Public Library, where staffers dropped off 400 cookies they had baked, including “Love Letter” sugar cookies. The treats took their sweet theme from the weeklong #LibraryLoveLetter social media campaign that invited readers to share their love of libraries and librarians nationwide through handwritten letters and blog posts. Here, Angela Chen (l.), a designer at Chronicle, prepares cookies with senior publicist Lara Starr (r.).
