New York, April 24, 2003 - The Random House Publishing Group today held their highly anticipated annual TAKE YOUR KIDS TO WORK DAY PUBLISHING WORKSHOP, a unique interactive program designed to open up the amazing world of publishing to the children of employees. This marks the first year that the workshop has included children of both the Ballantine and Random House employees. This year also saw the largest attendance yet for the workshop, with 15 children - ranging from 6 to 14 years old - participating.

"The workshop offers the kids a wonderful opportunity to learn how a book gets made by participating in every part of the process. I'm thrilled by this year's turnout and can't wait to read this year's books!" said program co-founder and organizer Christine Cabello. "Random House and Ballantine have both been in the tradition of nurturing new writers, so this program fits right in."

As in previous years, all the books were written, contracted for, edited, copy-edited, typeset, proofread, designed, and produced in the course of a single day. The children were even able to help design their own covers. The books were also illustrated throughout with the children's own artwork.

After opening remarks by Gina Centrello, President & Publisher of the Random House Publishing Group, the children learned about - and signed - a contract, and were then paid a small advance for their work. Throughout the rest of the day, the children got a behind-the-scenes look at the publishing process as they followed their books through all steps of production. Creative writing and individual editing sessions in the morning were followed later by sessions about cover and interior art. While the children were at lunch, the books were then typed, copy-edited and put into a page-layout program. The program continued after lunch with sessions about advertising, promotion, and publicity. Finally, the kids were able to assemble all of the components and create their own finished book.

The children has a special surprise guest after lunch when renowned children's author R. L. Stine dropped by to lead the kids in a storytelling session; he also signed books for everyone. Later, the children went on a scavenger hunt specially designed to help educate them about how the publishing process works. At the end of the day, the children were presented with their finished books, as well as a goodie bag full of books.

The titles of the finished books were:

• Pokémon by Jesse Kling, a book about the famous Japanese pocket monsters
  
• Candy Land by Niki Constantine, the story of two girls fighting to protect Candy Land from a very greedy man
  
• Baseball by Danny Constantine, the story of a boy's adventure getting to meet and play with the New York Yankees
  
• The Horrible War by Daniel Dyssegaard Kallick, the highly-anticipated sequel to his science-fiction thriller THE GREAT MOVING OF THE EARTH'S POPULATION IN 20,018
  
• Upstate New York by Mathias Dyssegaard Kallick, a moving novel about two boys who find and adopt three horses
  
• The Dog Race by Elizabeth Mydlowski, a riveting thriller about a race between six dogs
  
• Fruits & Vegetables by Rebecca Resnic, a fact-filled journey through the exciting worlds of fruits & vegetables
  
• My Friend Tierra by Laquisha Lewis, a touching memoir about how the author met her best friend Tierra
  
• Geronimo by Alexandra Porter Clark, a glimpse inside the world of the author's favorite pinto riding horse
  
• Challenges by Colleen Masterson , an engaging true story about a volleyball team that overcomes great hurdles on their way to the top
  
• The Two Foxes Fight by Madelyn Mejia, a novel about the conflict between two fox friends
  
• My Reality, World's Reality by Micheal Montilla, an intensely personal book of poetry about the author's world
  
• Neil Armstrong by Gabriel Dreyer, a novel based on the life of the first astronaut to walk on the surface of the moon.
  
• Once There Was An Old Lady Who Had A Bug Disease by Michael Lange, an eerie modern-day re-working of Franz Kafka's METAMORPHOSIS
  
• Faith by Kristen Lange, the heartbreaking story of a teenager who runs away from her terrible life at home

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

JESSE KLING, age 7, is the son of Ballantine Senior VP & Editor-In-Chief Nancy Miller. This is Jesse's third year participating in the program. After school, he likes playing games like Safari and The Sims on his computer. Although he expressed interest in becoming a police sketch artist last year, this year he is considering becoming an artist like M.C. Escher. He also wants to write all different kinds of books. He plans to travel to Denmark with his family this year.

NIKI CONSTANTINE, age 8, is the daughter of Gina Centrello, President & Publisher of the Random House Publishing Group. When she grows up she would like to be both an author and an elementary school teacher. She enjoys playing soccer, dancing to hip-hop music and playing with her friends outside. This summer, she plans to travel to Portugal for her birthday. Her brother, DANNY CONSTANTINE, is going to be 11 in June. He is the world's biggest Yankees fan, and when he grows up he wants to be as great a ballplayer as Derek Jeter, and to make just as much money as Derek does, too. After school, he likes playing baseball and Warhammer with his friends. He's looking forward to day camp this summer where he can play soccer, lacrosse, and hockey.

DANIEL DYSSEGAARD KALLICK, 9 years old, and MATHIAS DYSSEGAARD KALLICK, 6 years old, are the sons of Ballantine Executive Editor Elisabeth Dyssegaard. Daniel's favorite movie is The Lord of the Rings and after school he likes to read science fiction and fantasy novels. Although last year he was leaning toward becoming a British spy when he grew up, this year he thinking about changing his career plans to working with computers. Mathias, on the other hand, likes to play with his best friend Max and his brother Daniel (although he complains that Daniel often tries to steal their shoes and sell them back to one of their parents). He can't decide if he wants to be an artist, a ball player for the Yankees or if he'd like to work with computers when he grows up.

ELIZABETH MYDLOWSKI, age 7, is the daughter of Gene Mydlowski, Senior VP & Creative Director of the Random House Publishing Group. This is her third year in the workshop, and she is much taller now! She loves to play with her dog, a Maltese names Snowflake, and with her friends after school, and she enjoys the cartoon program Sponge Bob Square-Pants. When she grows up, she wants to be a veterinarian, and an artists like her father.

REBECCA RESNIC, age 6, is the young cousin of Lisa Feuer, the Senior VP & Director of Publishing Operations. This is her first year in the workshop. After school, she likes to make arts & crafts with her friends in the basement. Rebecca says that her basement is like Disneyland and all her friends like to play there. Although she hasn't given much thought to career choices when she grows up, she would very much like to travel to England one day. This summer she hopes to get a dog, go to the beach and go to her favorite farm camp so she can play with the tame chickens.

LAQUISHA LEWIS, 10 years old, is being tutored by Claire Tisne, VP & Director of Subsidiary Rights for The Random House Publishing Group. This is her second year in the workshop. When she gets home from school, she loves to participate in African dance and to sing. She really loves the song "Amazing Grace." When she grows up, she wants to be a doctor, a singer, a dancer and a runner. (We think she's going to be pretty busy!)

ALEXANDRA PORTER CLARK, 8 years old, is the daughter of Random House Senior Editor Susanna Porter. Her favorite activity is riding horses at Sag Pond, and feeding them carrots. She has a dog named Eliza and three turtles named Pippy, Victoria and Tuffy. When she grows up, she'd like to become a jockey so she can ride horses all the time! This spring she'll be going to Maine and attending sailing school.

COLLEEN MASTERSON, 14 years old, is the cousin of Random House Advertising & Promotions Manager Magee Finn. This is her first year in the workshop. Her favorite after-school activity is volleyball. When she grows up, she would like to become an interior designer. This summer, she'll be attending volleyball camp, and traveling to Florida with her parents.

Random House Publishing Associate Evelyn O'Hara is Big Sister to MADELYN MEJIA, 11 years old, and her brother, MICHEAL MONTILLA, age 13. This is the first year for both of them in the workshop. Madelyn loves to play basketball and write short stories. This summer she is planning to start an autobiography. When she gets older, she wants to be either an artist or a writer. Micheal was born in New Orleans and hopes to go back to visit someday. After school he enjoys performing "pledges" (a kind of hip-hop dance), and playing basketball with his friends. This summer he may visit the Dominican Republic. When he grows up, he'd like to become a choreographer.

GABRIEL DREYER, 9 years old, is the nephew of Random House Associate Copy Chief & Associate Managing Editor Benjamin Dreyer. He lives in Massachusetts and is just visiting for the day. (He also sports a very cool Jedi Padawan braid.) This summer he'll be going to his family's cottage in Maine, as well as visiting his grandparents for a week. After school, he enjoys playing catch with his mom, riding his bike and going to Little League practice, but his true love is history; when he grows up, he says that he wants to be a historian and study the Revolutionary War period in American history.

MICHAEL LANGE, age 8, and KRISTEN LANGE, age 12, are the nephew and niece of the co-founder and organizer of the TAKE YOUR KIDS TO WORK DAY PUBLISHING WORKSHOP, Christine Cabello. Michael wants to be a detective when he grows up, and solve murders. After school he likes to play tag with his friends, and play soccer. Kristen is on the school swim team and also loves to play lacrosse. While last year she expressed interest in taking over her aunt's job in the marketing department, this year she is leaning toward becoming a grade-school teacher when she grows up. Both Michael and Kristen will be going to Lake George this summer.

For more information, please contact Colleen Lindsay at 212-782-8282 or via e-mail at clindsay@randomhouse.com.
To receive review copies, please fax your request on letterhead to 212-782-8438.