This week, Andrea Davis Pinkney celebrates her new book and Ezra Jack Keats; a singer who inspired a classic song – and now book – returns to the stage; John Coy lives the Gap Life; and author Carol Weston goes all out for Small Business Saturday.
Oh Happy Day
More than 200 guests recently gathered in the auditorium at Scholastic to celebrate the release of Scholastic Trade v-p and editor Andrea Davis Pinkney’s A Poem for Peter: The Story of Ezra Jack Keats and the Creation of the Snowy Day. Pinkney’s husband and fellow author Brian Pinkney hosted the event, which included a dance performance, a reading, and a rendition of “Oh Happy Day,” inspired by Keats. Here, Pinkney signs a copy of A Poem for Peter for author Jon Scieszka and his wife, Jeri Hansen.
Welcome Back, Mr. Tanner
Ripple Grove Press staffers recently attended a Harry Chapin Family concert at the Quick Center in Fairfield, Conn. In May 2017, Ripple Grove is publishing a book called Mr. Tanner, which features the song of the same name, written by the late Harry Chapin and illustrated by Bryan Langdo. The song was originally inspired by a 1971 newspaper clipping featuring a Carnegie Hall concert review for a man named Martin Tubridy, an Ohio dry cleaner whose passion was singing. Chapin’s old bandmates tracked down Martin Trubidy to perform “Mr. Tanner” with Harry Chapin’s brother Tom Chapin (l.). Proceeds from the concert went to the Harry Chapin Foundation, and Ripple Grove auctioned off an unedited copy of Mr. Tanner.
Friends, Family, and a Junk Food Feast
Addendum Bookstore in St. Paul, Minn., hosted a book party for local author John Coy )r.) to celebrate his novel Gap Life (Feiwel and Friends) on November 25. The store welcomed fans, friends, and family for an evening of junk food – candy bars, cereal, and double-cheese pizza – in honor of the main character’s diet. Addendum is the only store in the country dedicated to young adult books. Photo: Katherine Warde.
Shop Small!
Carol Weston, author of the Ava and Pip series (Sourcebooks), lent a hand at The Voracious Reader in Larchmont, N.Y., on Small Business Saturday on November 26. Weston (l.) took a break from handselling books to show off her “Shop Small” crown with the store’s owner, Francine Lucidon.
