"We have used children in our book covers in the past,"

said Sherry Moss, Gallopade's sales manager, "and it is very

popular. Readers write and ask who the children are and how they got

to be on our covers. This time, we listed the kids' names and ages."

The book covers are part of Gallopade's new

international book publishing program, and will be used through the year

2000. They will appear on titles ranging from Georgia history to

Minnesota geography to Australian sports, more than 6,000 titles

in all. The company was founded in 1979 and moved its

headquarters from Atlanta to Peachtree City in 1997.

The company creates, publishes and markets fiction and

non-fiction for the young adult market.

Author Carole Marsh has always incorporated real

children into her books and workplace, including her own children,

as well as those of friends.

"It's just a natural to feature the pictures of our local readers

on the book covers," said Marsh. "We find that teachers, librarians

and kids around the world are interested in knowing where

Peachtree City is and who those kids are. This is just another way for us

to connect with young readers and make our books more

personal for them. It's fun for the kids, too; they get to be mini-celebrities

and have something special to add to their scrapbooks to show their

kids one day!"

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