Two announcements today on this, the official publication date for The Day-Glo Brothers: The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors:

1) I’ve just sent out the first edition of my occasional Bartography Express newsletter. For the next few weeks, you can view it here, and you can always sign up on my home page to have Bartography Express emailed to you directly.

2) If you’ll be in Austin on Saturday, July 11, I hope you’ll join me at BookPeople at 1 p.m. for a celebration of The Day-Glo Brothers, which is my first book for young readers.

It’s an “enlightening story” (says WIRED)…

…”of quintessentially American ingenuity” (Publishers Weekly)…

…with illustrations that are “retro funk, dipped in Day-Glo… guaranteed to suck any kid straight in” (Blue Yonder Ranch).

In honor of The Day-Glo Brothers, we’ll have daylight-fluorescent crafts, prizes*, and activities, including a high-tech viewing station (a cardboard box rigged with black lights). With some assistance from the younger members of the audience, I’ll talk a little about the story and science behind the book.

If you’d like to RSVP on Facebook, go here. If you’d like to learn more about the book, go here.

And if you’ll be in Austin on the 11th, I hope you’ll dress in your Day-Glo best and come join me!

* “Reading, ‘Riting, Researching” kits including a black light, a copy of the book, and some other Day-Glo-hued goodies. Nifty, yes?