Presidential Photo Op
Lang Lang, the acclaimed pianist—and author of the 2008 autobiography for young readers, Lang Lang: Playing with Flying Keys (Delacorte)—got a chance to meet President Obama at a Nobel Peace Prize party in Oslo. Lang Lang performed at Oslo City Hall, where the president accepted the Nobel, as well as at the Nobel Peace Prize concert. The paperback edition of the autobiography, written with Michael French, comes out in January from Random House’s Laurel Leaf imprint.
Many Happy Returns! (No, Not of Books)
Author James Owen just finished touring the U.S. in support of The Shadow Dragons (S&S, Oct.), the fourth book in his Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series. The tour began in the writer’s home state of Arizona, where Owen visited Changing Hands Bookstore in Phoenix; he also traveled to Austin for the Texas Book Festival; Nashville, Tenn.; Kalamazoo, Mich., for that city’s Teen Lit Festival; as well as southern California. Owen even celebrated his birthday on the road—serving up ice cream at the Desert Ridge Barnes & Noble in Phoenix.
Greeting Summer with Reading
Ah, summer (in the southern hemisphere, anyway). This past Saturday, kids in Sydney, Australia, got to kick off summer vacation with Summertime Stories, organized by the Western Sydney Young People’s Literature Project. The event featured readings of books and poetry, activities, and prizes. The participants, seen here, l. to r., were storyteller Chris Tobin, authors Deborah Abela, Simon French, and Pamela Freeman, illustrator Nina Rycroft, author/illustrator Gus Gordon, and illustrator Donna Rawlins.
