Eh, Canada! 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics mascots

Meomi, the creators of The Octonauts series, designed the mascots for the Winter Olympics Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, which start today.

The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) chose Meomi's proposal from 177 entries. "They had to appeal to children from all over the world, they needed to represent the people, geography, and spirit of British Columbia and Canada, and they had to personify the values and essence of the 2010 Winter Games…. In short, they needed to be many things all at once," said John Furlong, VANOC CEO,

The three official ambassadors are Quatchi (a young Sasquatch). Sumi (a mythical Thunderbird), and Miga (a Sea-Bear). Plus don't forget their sidekick Mukmuk the Marmot.

'When we met Meomi Design's Vicki Wong, and saw the portfolios of her and her partner, Michael Murphy, I think we all felt they were born for this project," said VANOC Brand & Creative Services director Ali Gardiner. "Not only is her work warm, endearing and imaginative, but she's a very proud Vancouverite and Canadian, and was excited to share our culture and environment with the world through these Vancouver 2010 mascots. Vicki also understood immediately how the mascots could communicate Olympic and Paralympic ideals and values to children, and get them engaged in our Games."

Though Vancouver has no snow, it has the first 21st Century mascots - modern, fun, and adaptable.

Ask a Canadian friend to send you a commemorative hockey puck with a mascot stamp...or better yet collect all four adventures of their aquatic cousins The Octonauts. Their newest trek is The Octonauts and the Great Ghost Reef.

Roar at the SF Asian Art Museum

Enjoy the annual Chinese New Year family program at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum this weekend, Sunday, February 7th. The agenda is: Lion Dance - 12:00–12:30 pm Hands-on activities 1:30–4:00 pm Author Reading 2:00–2:45 at Samsung Hall At 2 pm, listen to author Oliver Chin read the newest book from his Tales from the Chinese Zodiac series, The Year of the Tiger, a charming tale about Teddy the tiger and his human friend, Su. Stick around and color pictures from the book, illustrated by Justin Roth, have your face painted like a tiger, create your own red envelopes (hung bao), decorate them with auspicious symbols, and fill with chocolate coins to give to friends and family. This is a "Target First Free Sunday"— enjoy free admission on the first Sunday of every month. First-come, first-served! We look forward to seeing you there and we hope you enjoy our new hero Teddy, his friend Su, and the other characters from the lunar new year.

Ring in 2010 & The Year of the Tiger at Kepler's book store

A day should be long enough for you to recover from imbibing warm spirits, gawking at Dick Clark, and watching the ball drop. Then you'll be ready for a good yarn on Sunday morning. Celebrate the baby new year with a story time of The Year of the Tiger with author Oliver Chin.

Oliver will read the 5th adventure in the popular Tales from the Chinese Zodiac on Sunday, January 3rd at 11:30 am at:

Kepler's
1010 El Camino Real Blvd.
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650-324-4321
www.keplers.com

Naturally there will be free coloring pages (courtesy of new series artist Justin Roth) for a fun art activity following the story time.

This kicks off another season of visits to schools, libraries, museums, and associations. Kids of all ages will enjoy getting to know our new hero Teddy the Tiger and his human friend Su.

Holiday gifts for Secret Santas

We're looking forward to meeting the Association of Chinese Cooking
Teachers tomorrow in Cupertino, CA.

Founded in 1983, these friends share knowledge about Chinese food and cooking, while having fun dining throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

We're pleased to share our Asian American children's books with them during their annual holiday party at the Merlion Restaurant and Wine Bar. In the meantime, we'll make sure that we've worked up an appetite and that our stomachs are suitable empty so we can enjoy sampling Lychee Martinis and a buffet of Singaporean cuisine that blends Thai, Malaysian, Indian and Chinese influences. Sounds yummy!

We'll debut the fifth adventure in our popular annual series The Tales from the Chinese Zodiac - The Year of the Tiger, just in time to welcome in the new year of 2010!

Teddy the Tiger is our newest hero. No he does not ruin his teeth by eating sugary breakfast cereal. However he is on a grrreeeat quest to grow up and discover his true character. Colorfully animated by the artist Justin Roth, this curious cat meets his match in the girl Su. So take this tiger by the tail and come along for an exciting ride!

Santa's elves would certainly get a promotion if they put this in children's stockings!

Reading at recess urban recreation on 11/22/09

We're pleased to participate in Holiday Fest, a special family event this weekend - Sunday, November 22nd, 9am-noon at:

recess urban recreation
470 carolina st.
san francisco, ca, 94107
415.701.7529
www.recessurbanrecreation.com

Adults are free. $5 per child/$12 per non-member child.

We've been invited to read a story time at 10 am, and will present our popular alphabet board book The Adventures of WonderBaby + our railroad adventure Timmy & Tammy's Train of Thought.

"The variety of animals doing activities that a typical child would enjoy - like blowing bubbles or swinging - makes [WonderBaby] a fun story for kids because it is easy to relate to. The little lady bug to find on every page adds to it as an enjoyable book to read over and over again with your toddler.” – Babitty

"I think Timmy and Tammy’s Train of Thought has replaced Thomas the Train in our house!" - BabyLuxe

We'll be there starting at 9 am to show all our colorful children's books. These stories would make great holiday gifts for the kids in your life. Plus there will be music, crafts (make your own holiday cards), snacks, and other local artisans.

Meomi's new The Octonauts and the Great Ghost Reef book

Well, they've done it again! Meomi's newest adventure is now available, to the joy of those who love cute things everywhere.

The team of 8 bosom buddies take a well-deserved vacation, but their famously colorful destination is not at all in the condition they expected! The coral reef has turned a ghostly white. So the Octonauts decide they must solve this mystery before it's too late!

Meomi launches their fourth fantastic tale in their usual style - with a weekend of fun readings in the San Francisco Bay area! They are in town and autographing copies galore. Catch them at Book Passage today (Friday, 11/13) at 10 am, and tomorrow (Saturday, 11/14) at Books Inc in Berkeley at 11 am and Given in San Francisco at 1 pm.

Sales from Books Inc benefit the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), the only international organization working exclusively to save coral reefs! Get your own autographed book at our website and free coloring pages at www.octonauts.com.

Immedium books available at www.astorybeforebed.com

Given all the news about digital books, e-books, and electronic book readers like the Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook, the book publishing industry seems like it is going e-crazy.

We're not the first to jump on any bandwagon. But whenever we do jump, we want to do it right. Therefore we are glad to announce that our children's books are now available online at www.astorybeforebed.com. The producers of this new web site, Jackson Fish Market, have made the reading experience appropriately digital (with multimedia elements such as audio and video) but very personal. Of course our illustrators' art is prominently displayed in their colorful glory.

Anyone can read a sample of a story and make our authors' narratives their very own. They can customize the experience and share it with friends or family. As long as one has a webcam, a customer can record themselves reading the book, page by page. Like a television's picture in picture feature, they can see themselves in a little window next to the story's illustrations. Then if they like their performance, they can pay an affordable fee to "own" it, and then they can email their "storytime" to another person around the globe who can enjoy playing it. For parents on the road, this is a great substitute for being home and reading a bedtime story to their kids. Similarly, grandparents can send their love to little relatives with these online postcards.

Plus as a service to our men and women in uniform, people in the United States armed forces can sign up for a special mailing list offering free recordings and discounts so they can send greetings to their children who may be far away.

Check out wwww.astorybeforebed.com and give our adventures your own personal spin. Let us know what you think!