The rooster has landed

Just in time for the holidays, our new adventure The Year of the Rooster has arrived!

This is the 12th and final adventure in our annual series Tales from the Chinese Zodiac.

Ray is a young chick who has a bundle of energy! He and his friend, the girl Ying, embark on an incredible journey to find a mysterious and magical creature. But can Ray discover his own calling along the way?

The fantastic art is by Juan Calle, who created our recent superhero story Good Dream, Bad Dream.

The Rooster, like 2016's The Year of the Monkey, features a bilingual translation in simplified Chinese.

Good news! Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide will sell The Year of the Rooster in their Chinese New Year displays in their children's sections in January 2017.

Also select Costco and Hallmark stores will carry our book to the delight of lucky shoppers.

Ray looks forward to flying into your hearts!

new story: The Treehouse Heroes

Our third tale for the fall season is about a realm both far away and yet familiar.
 
The Treehouse Heroes & the Forgotten Beast is the first children's book by writer Phil Amara and artist Alina Chau. Phil was a comics editor at Dark Horse Comics (Star Wars, Predator, Terminator, and many other titles) and Kitchen Sink Press, and is now an elementary school teacher for Boston Public. Alina is a professional animator and now a 3D artist at LucasArts, working on the popular animated TV series on the Cartoon Network Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Together they've created a brave new world, where fantasic scenery and characters are beautifully rendered in flowing watercolors.

Situated high in an ancient forest, five young teens have banded together under the tutelage of a wise teacher. They live in a land of noble traditions which are suddenly under siege by an increasingly rapacious civilization. A case in point is how mystical creatures are becoming rarer, such as the red-coated Zez whose reputed powers are now highly sought after by the power hungry General Moon.

Luckily for the Zez, it befriends the Treehouse Heroes, each of whom also possess special abilities. Cha is super strong. Klee can shape-shift. Gru is a speedster. Flo can teleport. Bri's breath is like the wind. But together can they save the Zez and the vanishing world it represents?

Sunil Thankamushy from DEEPBLUE Worlds called this a "A beautifully illustrated mythical adventure filled with fun and magic for young kids. The vibrant characters and creatures pop out of the pages and fill your imaginations. My kids loved it!" Discover this unique blend of picture book and graphic novel storytelling for yourself :)

new book: Animals Don't, So I Wont!

Our next story that is unleashed into the world is fittingly about wildlife.

David G. Derrick, Jr. is a story artist at DreamWorks. His first adventure was the funny and poignant Sid the Squid and the Search for the Perfect Job.

Now his second tale, Animals Don't, So I Won't!, features more eye-catching creatures than you can shake a stick at.

Here a boy loves animals so much that he can imagines himself to be any one of his favorite furry, feathered, or finned friends. Ben has a will of his own and likewise becomes beasts that cannot be tamed!

But little does Ben expect his mother to have the same power to transform... especially when she wants her son to clean up, eat dinner, and take a bath! So ensues a battle of wits that will entertain and inform kids, and cause knowing smiles to spread across parents' lips.

Drawn in traditional watercolors, the scenery pulses with a vibrant energy. Characters are drawn with a unique touch that is both photo-realistic but emotionally expressive. Watch the animated book trailer on YouTube.

Dave is sharing Animals Don't, So I Won't! throughout Southern California. This romp will find a home wherever there is a child who loves stuffed animals ("stuffies" in common parlance). Plus it  touches the hearts of those who like visiting zoos and aquariums, and enjoy the company of our kindred souls on four legs (or more).

Billie the Unicorn in Bloom!

As the saying goes April showers bring May flowers. However it rained today in San Francisco but our flowers were already in bloom!

Likewise, we're sharing a very beautiful flower this month. We can't help ourselves...take a gander at Billie the Unicorn!

The author Brianne Drouhard launched her debut storybook at WonderCon in San Francisco at the start of April, much to the delight of her appreciative fans.

At our booth #220, Brianne happily provided special Billie buttons, necklace charms, limited edition prints, and convention sketches. Plus she generously drew a cool picture of Billie inside each of her new books.

We quickly sold out of our 1st few cartons and surely needed more copies to satisfy eager (yet patient) readers who pre-ordered the story!

Today our breath was taken away when we received a batch of amazing "autographed" faceplates from Brianne. Going far beyond our wildest expectations, she drew and colored dozens of original sketches of Billie and her cousins Smudge and Rhubarb!

The sheets of 6 stickers were fantastic works of art in their own right. We managed to capture most of them for posterity and your viewing pleasure...before we started mailing them away!

Like Billie, each is unique and special in their own way and we are extremely proud to be sending these along (with Brianne's signature) to lucky readers from Alaska to Australia, and from Dover (New Hampshire) to Denmark.

We may have a few left, and who knows if we'll ever see such an amazing sight of dozens of Billie flowers in bloom again.

And who other than Brianne would make a plain mailer so very special by gracing it with a fleet unicorn?

We are lucky to collaborate with an artist who cares so much about her art! On behalf of our appreciative readers, we thank you very much!

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.

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!

Pirate Profile #4: Mr. Flynn

Every Captain needs a right hand man. Enter Mr. Flynn. He wields the dashing good looks of a matinee idol as well as a sharp rapier wit. Plus he can smoothly swing across the starboard on a rope in a pinch. So there is no one better to help Captain Redlocks manage the mayhem on the good ship Cutlass.

Mr. Flynn is actually the first real pirate that Baltazar lays eyes on. Shaken from his evening slumber, the boy is surprised to see this debonair scoundrel by his bedside. But soon enough our young hero helps the Corsairs - he supplies the missing piece to Mr. Flynn's treasure map and suggests where the long lost booty may actually be found.

Naturally Redlocks entrusts Mr. Flynn with the responsibility of storming the amusement park Treasure Isle and scouring it for the loot. Cue over the top chaos and laughs a minute...

Pirate Profile #1

The book has arrived in the New World! So naturally let's introduce the hero of our tale Baltazar and the Flying Pirates.

Baltazar loves listening to the wild pirate tales that his grandpa tells. But does he really believe the far-fetched rumor that he is distantly related to the infamous scalawag Greybeard, the scourge of peaceful sailors and the plunderer of valuable fortunes?

Well, he's about to find out! Now the characters from old yarns come to life, as the legendary pirates known as the Corsairs decide to pay Baltazar a midnight visit. Led by their beautiful Captain Redlocks, this crew makes the flying galleon known as the Cutlass ship-shape. But can this boy make the grade and help these brigands find Greybeard's long lost treasure chest?

Find out!