Space Cadet Topo

Calling all you wanna be astonauts!

Next up is our 2nd new book of the fall season. Topo lives the dream of many a child - he monitors the universe from his rotating space station and helps out extra terrestrials in need.

Being a good space cadet, he wants to become space commander one day! That means, he is eager to undertake missions that would turn a regular terran's knees to jelly!

The following surprise assignment certainly qualifies...the sun has mysteriously turned off and needs to be turned back on before everything freezes forever! Ooops.

Well, that's not all. The only way to accomplish that impossible mission is to use the mythical "galactic torch"... and no one in eons has ever been able to do that.

Of course, Topo may be the right mole for the job. He is a cheery fellow and aided by his intrepid robot friends.

The Argentinian artists DGPH have created a colorful universe in Space Cadet Topo: the Day the Sun Turned Off. Bursting at the seams with life and wit, outer space has never seemed so much fun (let's forget about that dark matter for the moment). Kids will get a kick out of this brave astronaut's fantastic voyage, and parents can appreciate these entertaining adventures on the little printed screen.

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!