On Monday, March 1, Peter Lerangis, author of two of the books in Scholastic’s “The 39 Clues” series, will be at The Country Bookshop on Broad Street in downtown Southern Pines from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. to sign “The Sword Thief” (Book 3) and “The Viper’s Nest,” the seventh and newest installment in the popular children’s series.

Lerangis, whose other books have sold nearly 3 million copies worldwide, is making only two stops in North Carolina on his six-state tour.

Before he appears at the bookshop in the afternoon, Angie Tally, manager of The Country Bookshop’s children’s section, has arranged for him to spend time with hundreds of fourth and fifth graders at Sandhills Farm Life Elementary School and sixth graders at New Century Middle School, where he’ll read from “The Viper’s Nest,” share strategies to solve the puzzle, and discuss the writing process.

For information about the Peter Lerangis signing at the bookshop, or to order “The Sword Thief” and “The Viper’s Nest” and any of the other books in “The 39 Clues” series, call The Country Bookshop at (910) 692 3211.

Writers’ Contest

UNC-TV is launching the PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest, a national competition designed to promote the advancement of children’s reading skills through hands-on, active learning.

The effort encourages children in grades K-3 throughout North Carolina and communities across the country, to celebrate the power of creating stories and illustrations by submitting their own original stories and illustrations.

UNC-TV will actively partner with schools, public libraries and other literacy organizations to implement the contest. Children will be encouraged to write and illustrate stories and submit them to UNC-TV, which will select winners and award prizes. First place local winners will be entered into the national level of the contest where a renowned panel of judges will identify the national winners. Winners will be announced and national prizes, including laptops, digital cameras and MP3 players, will be awarded this summer.

Applications and additional information are available at the Web site www.unctv.org/kids/kidswrite. In addition, a new PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest Web site at pbskids.org/read will launch in early 2010.

It will include the winning stories in each of the contest categories, as well as a searchable archive.

The PBS KIDS GO! Writers Contest is produced by WNED-TV, Buffalo/Toronto and PBS, and is part of PBS KIDS Raising Readers, a national initiative which uses the power of public media to build the reading skills of children ages 2 to 8, with an emphasis on children from low-income families.

The effort is funded by a Ready To Learn grant from the U.S. Department of Education, part of a cooperative agreement with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), PBS and The Ready To Learn Partnership.

Visit www.unctv.org for more information about programs and services offered by UNC-TV.