Maisy and pals helped supervise the move.

Surveying the new space: Candlewick's Karen Lotz, Sharon Hancock and Anne Irza-Leggat.

Although Candlewick no longer serves lunch to its employees as it did when it first opened 16 years ago, the new 30,000-sq.-ft. space has been designed to radiate out like a conch shell from a large eat-in kitchen. In addition to a dining area, the new building, which is 8,000 sq. ft. larger than the Cambridge space, has other common areas where staffers can gather, like a formal reception area and a large library. Before the move, common areas like the kitchen and conference rooms had been converted into offices.

In keeping with the Somerville building's previous use as an art gallery, and to facilitate interaction with the community, Candlewick plans to mount art exhibits that will be open to the public. That should be good news for local artists like Timothy Basil Ering, illustrator
of Kate DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux, whose first gallery show had been held there. —Judith Rosen   

Last Friday Haslet stunned customers with her email announcement that she was closing the store. About to turn 63 (her birthday is this Friday), Haslet says that she wants time to enjoy life. As a bookseller, she says that she has to work as hard out of the store at off-site events as she does in the store, to cover expenses and pay the rent. "I will miss the people, not the constancy," she says.

Haslet, who struggled with the decision of whether or not to close All for Kids two years ago when the rent increased, says that she chose to do it now, because the store's longtime book buyer, Rene Kirkpatrick, was offered a buying job at Third Place Books, which she will start at the beginning of May. "I'm ready for a change," says Haslet.

Initially, she had planned to keep up the store's busy schedule for the next two and a half months before winding down inventory and closing. But since the news has filtered out, three potential buyers have come forward. "Monday, I didn't think there would be anyone taking over, and now I think there's a possibility," says Haslet, who is careful to add, "I'm not going to persuade anybody to take this on." —Judith Rosen   

Valerie Garfield, v-p, publisher for novelty and licensed publishing, will head the imprint. She called Little Green "an appropriate contribution toward making Simon & Schuster an environmentally responsible publishing house," and said the imprint will "allow parents to introduce young children to some of the issues surrounding the environment and what they can do to help preserve it."

All books will be priced under $10, made from recycled materials and printed with soy ink. Marketing and promotion efforts will be environmentally friendly and will include eco-friendly giveaways such as seed-paper flower bookmarks that readers can plant. —Lynn Andriani

Watt’s publishing career actually had its origins in a classroom. When she was assigned to create a book about color for a design class at Université du Québec à Montréal, Watt wrote a story about a chameleon. Her teacher, children’s illustrator Michèle Lemieux, suggested she submit it to Toronto-based Kids Can Press.   

The Narnia widget, which can be added to blogs, online profiles and Web sites.

"We’re taking a classic brand and moving it into Web 2.0," says Diane Naughton, v-p of marketing for HarperCollins Children’s Books, noting that the initiative marks the first time the publisher has created such an extensive online presence for a classic brand, as opposed to a brand-new property. "We want you to immerse yourself in Narnia and in all of the books," she adds.

The publisher hopes to reach Narnia fans of all ages by using a combination of interactive applications and games, as well as targeted advertising, to market the books on social networking sites and online communities.    read more