In Brief: March 15

Gold medal–winning figure skater and children’s book author Kristi Yamaguchi is in the middle of a national book tour for It’s a Big World, Little Pig! (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, Apr.), illustrated by Tim Bowers, her second picture book about a figure-skating pig. In the new book, Little Pig travels to Paris to participate in the World Games, where she meets athletic animals from other countries. Here, Yamaguchi is seen with two fans at Bank Street Bookstore in New York City. Having visited stores in Chicago this week, Yamaguchi will spend the remainder of her tour on the West Coast, with stops in California, Arizona, and Utah.

Earlier this week, MLB Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr. wrapped up his six-city book tour for Super-sized Slugger (Disney-Hyperion, Mar.), the second book in his middle-grade Cal Ripken, Jr.’s All-Stars series, following 2011’s Hothead. Ripken is seen here at with a young fan at St. Louis County Library in St. Louis, Mo., for the library’s Family Read Night on March 9. Super-sized Slugger isn’t about steroid use—rather it’s about an overweight third baseman who becomes the target of teasing at his new school. Photo: Dave Moore.

The second book in Brandon Mull’s Beyonders series, Seeds of Rebellion (S&S/Aladdin), went on sale March 13, and the launch party for the book took place the same night at Cottonwood High School in Murray, Utah, outside Salt Lake City. Several children’s book authors were on hand for the event, including Shannon Hale, Matthew Kirby, E.J. Patten, and Tyler Whitesides, along with a comedy troupe that Mull once belonged to. Around 1,700 fans came out for the event, some of whom—as seen here with Mull (seated)— dressed up as characters from the Beyonders series.

Author Leah Clifford celebrated the released of A Touch Morbid (Greenwillow, Feb.) with a tea party–themed launch event last Saturday at Schuler Books in Lansing, Mich. The sequel to A Touch Mortal, A Touch Morbid continues the paranormal adventures of Eden, a teenager caught between the worlds of the living and the dead. “It’s not every day one gets to throw a Gothic-Steampunk-Asylumtastic Victorian tea party to launch their novel,” Clifford wrote in her recap of the InsaniTEA Party on her blog. Attendees dressed in costume (Clifford is seated front and center in the green and black dress), and the party also featured live music and a livestream for fans who couldn’t be there in person.

This past weekend, writer John Coy had a release party for Take Your Best Shot (Feiwel and Friends, Feb.) at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, Minn. The book is the fourth and final book in his sports-themed middle-grade 4 for 4 series. In this outing, fifth-graders Jackson, Gig, Isaac, and Diego deal with challenges regarding the upcoming basketball season—and their first school dance. Here, Coy shows off a Take Your Best Shot cake at Red Balloon.