In Brief: December 23

It may be chilly in the northern hemisphere, but it’s summer Down Under, and on December 11, the Western Sydney Young People's Literature Project held its annualSummertime Stories

event. Taking place at the end of the Australian school year, the event brings together children’s book authors, illustrators, and children for storytelling, performances, drawing, and other activities (including, this year, a creative writing session for older children). Here, l. to r., are participating authors/illustrators David Legge, Oliver Phommavanh, Frances Watts, Sarah Davis, and Tina Matthews. Photo: Alex Wisser.

Earlier this year, DDG Booksellers ran a contest that awarded a prize to the creator of the best sentence that included the titles of all eight books in Sara Shepard’s Pretty Little Liars series. To thank the store, HarperCollins sent custom Pretty Little Liars T-shirts and a signed set of the books. So DDG owner Kenny Brechner decided to do another contest, this time with students from Mt. Abram Regional High School in Salem Township, Me. The winners, shown here, got to choose T-shirts, and the books were given to a local library.

Last week, the Barnes & Noble in Tucson, Ariz., hosted several local children’s and YA authors to sign copies of their books. Seen here are two of the participating authors, Adam Rex (Fat Vampire) and Robin Brande (Fat Cat). They were joined by Juanita Havill (Call the Horse Lucky), Judy Dyl (who contributed a poem to I Invited a Dragon to Dinner), and Charline Profiri (Counting Little Geckos).