Meet the Planets Receives a Teachers’ Choice Award for the Family!

Meet the Planets, a spring 2012 release from Sylvan Dell Publishing, has just received a Learning Magazine Teachers’ Choice Award for the Family!

Teachers’ Choice Awards have been a part of Learning Magazine since 1994. Since that time, the program has grown to become one of the most recognized and prestigious awards in the educational market. The Teachers’ Choice Awards for the Family is the only awards program that requires panelists to be both teachers and parents. The winners will receive a spotlight in the magazine’s Children’s Book Award section, as well as a seal distinguishing them as a Children’s Books winner.

John McGranaghan has always been fascinated by outer space and he shares that fascination in a humorous and educational way through Meet the Planets and Saturn for My Birthday. John has also written stories and articles for Boys’ Quest Magazine, Pockets Magazine, Columbia Magazine, and local newspapers. He is winner of the 2001 Pockets Fiction Contest. When John isn’t writing, he enjoys sports and spending time with his wife and two boys. John is a school counselor in the Philadelphia suburbs.

Klein has been a freelance artist for nearly 20 years. Over the last several years, she has worked as the on-staff artist for a marine park, where she does everything from painting life-size sea animal murals, to illustrating children’s activity books. In addition to the Furs and Feathers, Klein also illustrated Meet the Planets, Where Should Turtle Be?, Little Skink’s Tail, and If a Dolphin Were a Fish for Sylvan Dell Publishing. Her other books include The Out to Pasture series, authored by Effie Wilder.  This is the second Teachers’ Choice Award this year for Laurie.  She previously won the Teachers’ Choice Award for the Classroom for Fur and Feathers in October.

Soar into the Solar System to witness the first Favorite Planet Competition, emceed by none other than the former-ninth planet, now known as dwarf planet Pluto. The readers become the judges after the sun can’t pick a favorite and the meteors leave for a shower. Who will the lucky winning planet be? Could it be speedy-messenger Mercury, light-on-his-feet Saturn, or smoking-hot Venus? Readers learn all about each planet as Pluto announces them with short, tongue-in-cheek facts. Children will spend hours searching the art in Meet the Planets for all the references to famous scientists and people of history, space technology, constellations, art, and classic literature.

Eureka! Multiply on the Fly is a Winner!

Multiply on the Fly written by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Erin E. Hunter is a California Reading Association’s “Eureka! Silver Honor Book Winner” for 2011.

 The California Reading Association is a non-profit professional organization of educators devoted to the use of “standards-aligned instruction” and “research-based teaching strategies” in all aspects of reading and language arts education from the kindergarten level through college. The “Eureka! Children’s Book Award” was created to identify outstanding nonfiction books for children. Winners of this and other awards can be viewed in their journal, The California Reader or on their website, www.californiareads.org.

 Multiply on the Fly follows the arithmetic feel of Suzanne Slade’s What’s New at the Zoo? and What’s the Difference?. In this book children discover the world’s insects: from pirate bugs to Luna moths, while simultaneously learning multiplication. Teeming with fun facts, readers will multiply a variety of insects, including dragonflies, hungry honeybees and stealthy walking sticks.

 Suzanne Slade is the award-winning author of over 80 books for children. Her works include picture books, biographies, as well as many non-fiction titles about animals, sports, and nature. Slade has also written Animals are Sleeping and The Great Divide (which follows the series into division) for Sylvan Dell. One of her favorite parts of the writing process is researching and learning new things. Slade lives near Chicago with her husband Mike, two children, and their tiny dog Corduroy. For more information on Slade, you can visit her website at www.suzanneslade.com

 Erin E. Hunter is both a children’s book and scientific illustrator, specializing in entomological and botanical illustration. She has taught botanical illustration and field sketching at University of California at Santa Cruz, and has even drawn insects under a microscope for the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. She illustrated the fourth book in Slade’s arithmetic series; The Great Divide, as well as Sylvan Dell’s A Day on the Mountain.  Hunter lives with her husband on California’s Monterey Peninsula where she tends to flowers, fruit trees, and vegetables in her yard when she’s not sketching and painting. Hunter’s website is www.eehunter.com.

 Check out more on Multiply on the Fly via the book’s homepage on our website.  Congrats to all!

Let’s Toot the Horn of our Award-Winning Author, Donna Love!

Author Donna Love has become a USA Best Book Awards Finalist for her latest picture book, The Glaciers are Melting!

USABookNews.com is an online publicaion that provides coverage for books from mainstream and independent publishers to the online community of the world.  JPX Media Group, in Los Angeles, California, is the parent company of USABookNews.com.

Jeffrey Keen, President and CEO of USA Book News, said that this year’s contest yielded an unprecedented number of entries, which were then narrowed down to over 500 winners and finalists. 

This is now the ninth year that these awards have been distributed.  Keen says, “The 2011 results represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the United States.  With a full publicity and marketing campaign promoting the results of the USA ‘Best Books’ Awards, this year’s winners and finalists will gain additional media coverage for the upcoming holiday retail season.”

The Glaciers are Melting! deals with the story of Peter Pika, who is certain that the glaciers are melting after a drop of water falls on his head.  He decides to go speak to the Mountain Monarch about it.  Joined along the way by friends Tammy Ptarmigan, Sally Squirrel, Mandy Marmot, and Harry Hare, they all wonder what will happen to them if the glaciers melt.  Where will they live, how will they survive?  When Wiley Wolverine tries to trick them, can the Mountain Monarch save them?  More importantly, can the Mountain Monarch stop the glaciers from melting?

Donna Love is an award-winning author whose husband is a district ranger on the Lolo National Forest.  Two of their three children are now in college.  In addition to The Glaciers are Melting!, Donna’s other books include Henry the Impatient Heron, Loons, Diving Birds of the North, and Awesome Ospreys, Fishing Birds of the World. Awesome Ospreys became a Skipping Stones Press Honor Award Winner in 2006, for promoting ecological understanding and cooperation around the world. With a background in art education, Donna substitute teaches at the elementary and high school level. Throughout her years as a substitute and while raising her own children, she found she had a gift for explaining nature to children. She and her husband have three grown children and one grandchild.

If you are interested in learning more information about Love visit her website at www.donnalove.com. Check out more one her book, The Glaciers are Melting! through our homepage.

Deep in the Desert Wins Silver Moonbeam Award

Deep in the Desert has just received a silver Moonbeam award!

The Moonbeam Awards are 100% dedicated to identifying the best children’s books published each year for the North American market. The Moonbeam Awards are one of the fastest growing U.S.-based award contests focused on children’s books. Award-winners appear for an entire year at http://www.moonbeamawards.com. Winners will also be featured in http://www.IndependentPublisher.com and highlighted prominently in their monthly newsletter, which goes out to more than 8,000 subscribers worldwide, many of whom are agents, buyers, and librarians.

Catchy desert twists on traditional children’s songs and poems will have children chiming in about cactuses, camels, and more as they learn about the desert habitat and its flora and fauna. Tarkawara hops on the desert sand instead of a kookaburra sitting in an old gum tree. And teapots aren’t the only things that are short and stout—just look at the javelina’s hooves and snout. Travel the world’s deserts to dig with meerkats, fly with bats, and hiss with Gila monsters! Whether sung or read aloud, Deep in the Desert makes learning about deserts anything but dry. Learn more by visiting www.SylvanDellPublishing.com

Rhonda Lucas Donald has written more than a dozen books for children and teachers including her most recent titles: Animal Rights: How You Can Make a Difference and Life on Other Planets. In addition, she has won awards for articles and stories appearing in Ranger Rick and Your Big Backyard magazines. Rhonda specializes in writing about science, and especially likes to write about animals and space. She fell in love with science as a kid, and read every dinosaur book in school library. Weaving science into verses and songs is her way of making it fun. Rhonda shares her Virginia home with husband Bruce, dogs Maggie and Lily, and her very dignified cats, Darwin and Huxley. Visit her website at www.BrownTabby.com

Sherry Neidigh, a graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design, has been freelasnce illustrating for over twelve years. Sherry’s love of animals and nature comes through in her bright, colorful art. In addition to illustrating Count Down to Fall (Fall 2009) and The Best Nest for Sylvan Dell, Sherry has illustrated several trade and education titles including Who Needs That Nose?, If I Had a Tail, and Black and White.  Sherry lives in South Carolina. Visit Sherry’s website at www.SherryNeidigh.com

Three Sylvan Dell Titles Win Gold!

Both the Mom’s Choice Award Foundation and Tillywig have just awarded Sylvan Dell Publishing picture books some of their top awards. Astro: The Steller Sea Lion and Big Cat, Little Kitty received gold Mom’s Choice Awards for Excellence, and Habitat Spy received the Tillywig Brain Child Award.

The Mom’s Choice Awards is an awards program that recognizes authors, inventors, companies, parents and others for their efforts in creating quality family-friendly media, products and services. It is known for establishing a benchmark of excellence in family-friendly media, products, and services.

Tillywig’s mission is to provide retail buyers, news media, parents, and consumers with product information and reviews of superior children’s products available in today’s marketplace.

Sylvan Dell’s mission is to excite children’s imaginations with artistically spectacular science, math, and nature-themed stories.  All Sylvan Dell titles are held to the highest standards of excellence and include a “For Creative Minds” educational section in the back of the book, and extensive resources including teaching activities, quizzes, related websites, and more free online at www.SylvanDellPublishing.com. Sylvan Dell titles have been honored as finalists or winners of over 70 book awards.  Our Science and Math Through Literature Program integrates reading, science, math, geography, character skills, and language learning through fun, cross-curricular activities.

Champ’s Story Wins Teachers’ Choice for the Family Award

Learning Magazine has selected Champ’s Story: Dogs Get Cancer Too!, by Sherry North and illustrated by Kathleen Rietz, as a 2011 Teacher’s Choice for the Family Award winner.   Learning will publish the results of this competition in its April 2011 issue.

The Teachers’ Choice for the Family Award is determined by a nationwide panel of judges, and is the only award that requires its judges to be both a teacher and a parent.  Winning titles are chosen based on qualities important to both teachers and parents such as originality, creativity, ease of use, safety and durability, and high-interest level and motivation for children.

In Champ’s Story, a young boy discovers a lump on his dog Champ which is diagnosed as cancer.  The boy becomes a loving caretaker to his dog as he undergoes the procedures needed to get better, many of which are similar to the practices used in humans recovering from cancer.  In the end, the dog returns the favor when the boy breaks his leg. Champ’s Story is easily understandable and can help children deal with cancer or other serious illness. 

Champ’s Story and an accompanying stuffed animal golden retriever are an educational and awareness initiative of the ASCEND Foundation, a non-profit organization, partnered with Sylvan Dell Publishing. It is ASCEND’s vision to introduce the cancer book with cancer-related teaching activities for children into school systems. By utilizing the fun, fictional book, along with the stuffed version of its main character, Champ; teachers, parents, and caregivers will be able to educate children on social concerns and treatment protocols for cancer in a way to which young children can relate. The ASCEND Foundation is a volunteer 501(c)(3) registered non-profit with a track record of initiatives designed to make a measureable difference in the battle against cancer.

Sherry North is an award-winning children’s author and medical journalist.  A former medical producer for CNN Headline News, Sherry has written and produced a number of award-winning medical documentaries for public television, and she currently contributes to WebMD.  Her writing has appeared in Highlights magazine, and she was a runner-up in the 2008 Magazine Merit Awards.  For more on Sherry visit her Web Site at http://www.sherrynorth.com/.

A lifelong artist and lover of art, Kathleen Rietz was drawing and painting before she learned to write her name.  For nearly two decades, she has worked as an illustrator, designer, and product developer.  In addition to Champ’s Story: Dogs Get Cancer Too! Kathleen is illustrating Prairie Storms for Sylvan Dell Publishing, set for release in the fall of 2011.  For more on Kathleen visit her Web Site at http://www.kathleenrietz.com/.

Champ’s Story Wins Teachers’ Choice for the Family Award

Learning Magazine has selected Champ’s Story: Dogs Get Cancer Too!, by Sherry North and illustrated by Kathleen Reitz, as a 2011 Teachers’ Choice for the Family Award winner.   Learning will publish the results of this competition in its April 2011 issue.

The Teachers’ Choice for the Family Award is determined by a nationwide panel of judges, and is the only award that requires its judges to be both a teacher and a parent.  Winning titles are chosen based on qualities important to both teachers and parents such as originality, creativity, ease of use, safety and durability, and high-interest level and motivation for children.

In Champ’s Story, a young boy discovers a lump on his dog Champ which is diagnosed as cancer.  The boy becomes a loving caretaker to his dog as he undergoes the procedures needed to get better, many of which are similar to the practices used in humans recovering from cancer.  In the end, the dog returns the favor when the boy breaks his leg. Champ’s Story is easily understandable and can help children deal with cancer or other serious illness. 

Sherry North is an award-winning children’s author and medical journalist.  A former medical producer for CNN Headline News, Sherry has written and produced a number of award-winning medical documentaries for public television, and she currently contributes to WebMD.  Her writing has appeared in Highlights magazine, and she was a runner-up in the 2008 Magazine Merit Awards.  For more on Sherry visit her Web Site at http://www.sherrynorth.com/.

A lifelong artist and lover of art, Kathleen Reitz was drawing and painting before she learned to write her name.  For nearly two decades, she has worked as an illustrator, designer, and product developer.  In addition to Champ’s Story: Dogs Get Cancer Too! Kathleen is illustrating Prairie Storms for Sylvan Dell Publishing, set for release in the fall of 2011.  For more on Kathleen visit her Web Site at http://www.kathleenrietz.com/.  

Fur and Feathers Wins Gold

 

On October 13, the Moonbeam Awards for Children’s Books announced that “Fur and Feathers”, written by Janet Halfmann and illustrated by Laurie Allen Klein, won a Gold Moonbeam Children’s Book Award for best preschool picture book.

“This year’s Moonbeam award winners confirm that books can change children’s lives,” said Moonbeam Awards founder Jerrold Jenkins. This is the fourth annual Moonbeam Awards, which are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to celebrate children’s books and life-long reading.

Expert panels of youth educators, librarians, booksellers, and book reviewers of all ages judge each entry. This year’s awards attracted over 800 entries from throughout North America and the English-speaking world. Medals will go to a diverse group of authors, illustrators and publishers from 34 U.S. states, 5 Canadian provinces, and 2 countries overseas.

“Fur and Feathers” is a story of creativity, friendship, and animal coverings. Klein’s vibrant illustrations help author, Janet Halfmann, tell the story of a young girl, Sophia, who dreams that howling winds whisk the fur and feathers right off her animal friends. She offers to share her clothes with them, but her outfits don’t work well for the animals. So she comes up with creative ways to help them, thanks to her grandma’s huge sewing box.

Janet Halfmann is the award-winning author of more than thirty children’s books, including “Little Skink’s Tail,” (also from Sylvan Dell Publishing), “Good Night, Little Sea Otter,” and “Seven Miles to Freedom: The Robert Smalls Story.” Janet is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Before becoming a children’s author, Janet was a daily newspaper reporter, children’s magazine editor, and a creator of coloring and activity books for Golden Books. She is the mother of four and the grandmother of four. When Janet isn’t writing, she enjoys gardening, exploring nature, visiting living-history museums, and spending time with her family. She grew up on a farm in Michigan and now lives in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Klein has been a freelance artist for nearly 20 years. Over the last several years, she has worked as the on-staff artist for a marine park, where she does everything from painting life-size sea animal murals, to illustrating children’s activity books. In addition to this fall 2010 release, Klein also illustrated “Where Should Turtle Be?”, the award-winning “Little Skink’s Tail”, and “If a Dolphin Were a Fish” for Sylvan Dell. Her next work “Meet the Planets”, another Sylvan Dell title, comes out spring 2011. Laurie lives in St. Augustine, Florida. See more of her artwork at http://www.lauriekleinart.com/.

Felina’s New Home Receives the Bock Book Award

Congratulations to Loran Woldarski and Lew Clayton, an award-winning author/illustrator team! Felina’s New Home is the recipient of the 2010 Bock Book Award.

The Bock Book Award is given in honor of Frances and Wesley Bock. Wesley Bock was co-owner of Kilner’s, a store in north central Philadelphia that provided equipment, clothing, and supplies to religious institutions. As sales representative to the Sisters of St. Francis, he grew to be quite fond of the Sisters and began making contributions to the order.

When Wesley passed away, his wife Frances continued the contributions. When she passed away, the estate passed to their nephew, who, in consultation with the Library, established the Bock Book Award in their memory.

The Library and the Neumann Institute for Franciscan Studies sponsor the Frances and Wesley Bock Book Award for Children’s Literature. The award ceremony takes place on October 4 (St. Francis Day) every year. In order for a book to be eligible for the award the text and illustrations must promote a moral attitude and or action. 

Felina’s New Home is the perfect fit for the award! Woldarski was inspired to write Felina’s New Home in an effort to ”teach children that we can all make a difference, and animals like the Florida panther desperately need our help”.

Travel to the forests of Florida with Felina as she discovers her home is rapidly changing. Because of human interference in her natural habitat, Felina must scour the forest looking for food. Along the way, the reader will meet a host of other threatened animals in Florida through the vivid illustrations by Lew Clayton.

To find out more about the Bock Book Award visit:http://www.neumann.edu/academics/library/services_bock.asp
To find out more about Felina’s New Home visit: http://sylvandellpublishing.com/Felina.php

And The Winner Is…Pandas’ Earthquake Escape!

 Hats off to author, Phyllis Perry, and illustrator Susan Detwiler! Pandas’ Earthquake Escape has been awarded a Gold Mom’s Choice Award.

The Mom’s Choice Awards® (MCA) is an awards program that recognizes authors, inventors, companies, parents and others for their efforts in creating quality family-friendly media, products and services. Parents, educators, librarians and retailers rely on MCA evaluations when selecting quality materials for children and families. The Mom’s Choice Awards® seal helps families and educators navigate the vast array of products and services and make informed decisions.

In the wake of the May 2008 earthquake that hit the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve in China, Phyllis Perry was inspired to write Pandas’ Earthquake Escape. Pandas’ Earthquake Escape, follows the adventures of a mother panda, LiLing, and her cub, Tengfei, for several days after the devastating earthquake. Along with Susan Detwiler’s vivid illustrations, Perry tells an exciting story of two pandas’ quest to survive outside the comfort of their reserve. Perry aims to educate children about natural disaster through her characters LiLing and Tengfei.

Pandas’ Earthquake Escape, like all Sylvan Dell titles, features a special “For Creative Minds” section at the end of each story. This section provides fun activities and information to enhance the book’s educational value. Additionally, the Sylvan Dell website offers an abundant amount of supporting material including 30-40 page “Teaching Activities” packet, Interactive Reading and Math Quizzes, the most technologically advanced e-Books in the world today, and much more.

Phyllis J. Perry is the author of more than 70 books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for children and adults. Perry was an educator in California before moving to Boulder where her husband took a position at the University of Colorado.  In Boulder, Perry worked with the Boulder Valley Schools as a teacher, principal, curriculum specialist, and director of talented and gifted education before taking early retirement to write full time.  She is a member of the Colorado Authors’ League and of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Perry resides in Boulder, Colorado with her husband, David.  They have two daughters and four grandchildren.

Susan Detwiler is the illustrator of several books for children including The First Teddy Bear and The Wonderful Bicycle Parade. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. Her illustrations have appeared in the children’s magazines, Highlights For Children and Ladybug. Susan’s artwork has also been used for puzzles, games, and more than one hundred greeting cards. Books have always been a source of joy in her life, and as a child, she particularly loved books with beautiful illustrations. Susan lives in Maryland and received her education at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.

For more information about the award visit: www.MomsChoiceAwards.com
For more information about “Pandas’ Earthquake Escape” visit: http://www.sylvandellpublishing.com/Panda.php