Tilbury House Offers Trunk Sale for Tarra’s Home
Long before Tarra the elephant and Bella the dog became media sensations for their unusual friendship at the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., sanctuary cofounder Carol Buckley wrote two picture books about Tarra. To promote Travels with Tarra (2002) and Just for Elephants (2006), Tilbury House in Maine, this year’s NEIBA publisher of the year, will hold a self-styled “Trunk Sale” promotion from now through the end of the year. For every 100 elephant books they sell, the press has pledged to sponsor an item on the Sanctuary’s wish list, including a day’s worth of meals for one elephant—more than 10 pounds of fruits and vegetables and 100 pounds of hay. Tilbury House is also organizing a virtual tour for Buckley in early September, with interviews, giveaways and Web-exclusive content. Pictured here are Buckley and baby Tarra.
Horrid Henry Hoofs It Stateside
Horrid Henry, the eponymous (and mischievous) star of Francesca Simon’s bestselling British series, brought to the U.S. by Sourcebooks, is wrapping up a summer tour of the States. Since July, “Henry” has appeared at Borders stores in six states, and will be stopping in at locations in San Jose and Folsom, Calif., this weekend. Here, Henry visits with bookseller and storyteller Matha Nelson, at Borders in Allen, Tex. Horrid Henry will also make appearance in bookstores in New York and New Jersey around Halloweeen, in support of the release of Horrid Henry and the Scary Sitter. A contest for booksellers, activity ideas, games and Horrid Henry’s tour schedule are available at the Sourcebooks Web site.
Debuting the 2009 Debutantes
Earlier this month during the SCBWI conference in Los Angeles, 10 members of a group of new middle-grade and young adult writers who call themselves the Debutantes met up for dinner to talk shop. The [online group] www.feastofawesome.com counts more than 40 debut writers in its ranks. Here (l. to r.) are authors C. Lee McKenzie (Sliding on the Edge), Cindy Pon (Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia), Sydney Salter (My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters), Chris Rylander (The Fourth Stall), Malinda Lo (Ash), Cynthea Liu (Paris Pan Takes the Dare), L.K. Madigan (Flash Burnout), Cheryl Renee Herbsman (Breathing), Kimberly Derting (The Body Finder) and J.E. McLeod (Waiting to Score).
Books of Wonder’s Glassman Hits the Air
Visitors to children’s bookstore Books of Wonder in New York City have been getting reading suggestions from founder Peter Glassman for decades. But starting next month listeners to Sirius XM satellite radio will be able to listen to Glassman discuss children’s books on the radio show “Absolutely Mindy on Sirius/XM’s Kids Place Live.” The segments featuring Glassman will be archived on both the Books of Wonder and Absolutely Mindy Web sites. The show airs every other Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. Listeners eager for other children’s book discussions can also check out free podcasts at Just One More Book!, featuring hosts Andrea Ross and Mark Blevis. During the past three years, the hosts have amassed more than 600 podcasts.
Book Release? A Piece of Cake
Earlier this month, author Maggie Stiefvater celebrated the release of her new YA novel Shiver (Scholastic Press, Aug.) at the College of William & Mary Bookstore in Williamsburg, Va. Here, Stiefvater shows off a cake decorated with the cover design from Shiver, the story of a teenager named Grace and her intense relationship with a boy who becomes a wolf when temperatures drop. A sequel to Shiver, titled Linger, is scheduled for fall 2010.
