A Mouse on the Move
Looks like Library Mouse has learned what plenty of authors already know—bookstore visits can be exhausting! The eponymous star of Daniel Kirk’s Library Mouse returns in his third picture book, Library Mouse: A World to Explore (Abrams), in September. But, as evidenced by this photo, he has already been spotted in U.S. bookstores, including (seen here) Best Bargain Books in Centereach, N.Y. Kirk stopped by the store—with the brand-new Library Mouse costume—earlier this month while visiting area schools. Abrams is offering the costume free of charge to bookstores and libraries for events throughout 2010. Photo: Daniel Kirk.
Scribbling Out Some New Ideas
Earlier this month, author/illustrator Taro Gomi traveled from Japan to visit his publisher, Chronicle Books, to discuss and brainstorm future publishing projects; he was accompanied by a translator and a representative from the Japan Foreign Rights Centre. Chronicle publishes several of Gomi’s interactive coloring and activity books, including Scribbles—which has sold nearly 215,000 copies—Doodles, and Squiggles, as well as a pair of picture books. Gomi has three projects on deck for spring: his latest doodling/drawing book, Doodle 123!; Scribble It! Postcards, which lets kids share their drawings by mail; and the page-a-day 2011 Daily Doodle Calendar.
Online and On the Road
The new year has already been quite busy for Vampire Academy author Richelle Mead. On January 7, Mead participated in a live Web chat that drew online fans from around the world (click here for a transcript). And more recently she visited New York, Miami, and New Orleans during a “Fan Appreciation” tour, in which Mead’s devotees voted in an online poll to decide which cities she would visit. Here, Mead appears with a few of the 250 fans who came out to the Coral Gables Congregational Church, where the author’s event with Books & Books was held. The fifth book in Mead’s Vampire Academy series, Spirit Bound, will be released in May.
