Children?s Book ?Sofia?s Rainbow? Now Available ? Portion of Proceeds to Benefit Children?s Literacy Programs

Palm Springs, California (PRWEB) December 14, 2011

Award-winning author Lina Simoni has teamed up with Italian illustrator Laura Furlan to bring to life Sofia's Rainbow, a book for children and young adults that teaches a message of acceptance and respect for others. The book is available for sale at http://www.sofiasrainbow.com and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to children?s literacy programs. Simoni will host an official launch party for the book in early 2012.

?In today's world, where we often see images that are filled with racial and religious hatred, Sofia's Rainbow is a treasured contrast,? says Simoni. ?The lesson Sofia learns is that even though things may not always be as we expect them to be, our differences should be valued and respected. I felt it was important to tell this type of story through the eyes of a child, and spread the message that love and understanding of others is critical for the survival of our modern world.?

Sofia?s Rainbow is set in Istanbul, Turkey, on the shores of the Golden Horn, where young Sofia is lonely and dreams of climbing rainbows. She strikes a friendship with Incir (In-jir), a kitten who eats figs and is afraid of heights. Sofia and Incir share a life-changing adventure, at the end of which Incir gains Sofia's unconditional love and trust, and Sofia learn the importance of tolerance, acceptance, and respect for diversity. Illustrator Laura Furlan worked for many years in the world of fine dining as an illustrator, reporter, and translator. Her renderings of Sofia and Incir provide a warm and tender touch to the story.

The book is priced at $ 14.99, and $ 4 from each sale will be given to two children?s literacy programs, First Book and Tools for Tomorrow. First Book (http://www.firstbook.org) is a non-profit based in Washington, D.C. that buys books for children who can't afford them. Tools for Tomorrow (http://www.afterschooltools.org) is a Palm Springs area program that provides children with free after-school training in the arts such as music, drama, writing, and visual arts.

?I believe that Sofia?s Rainbow reinforces the message that Tools for Tomorrow wishes children to learn, especially the message of respect for others and not judging others based on their appearance,? says Ed DiNicola, Executive Director of Tools for Tomorrow. ?We feel it might even be used in our program as a prompt for creative writing.?

Simoni was born in Genoa, Italy and moved to the U.S. in 1988. She is the author of two novels, award-winning "The Scent of Rosa's Oil" published in the US, Germany, and Greece, and "The House of Serenades," which will appear in the U.S. in April of 2012. She is a member of the National League of American Pen Women, Palm Springs Women in Film and Television, and the Palm Springs Writers' Guild. At the moment she is working on her third novel, "The Cabinet Spell." Simoni is also an accomplished artist and photographer, and has shown her work both here in the U.S. and in Europe.

In 2011 Simoni founded a publishing house, Moonleaf Publishing, which will be accepting submissions as of January 2012. For more information about Sofia?s Rainbow, visit http://www.sofiasrainbow.com.

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Mexico's Children's Day Celebrated with "The Way to Happiness" and "Cri-Cri" Festival for Hispanic Children in Hollywood

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 04, 2011

Children's Day was celebrated with a free "Cri-Cri" festival spectacular for children of all ages from the Hollywood area. Held on L. Ron Hubbard Way, over 150 children and guests of all ages were treated to songs, acts and plays based on the fictional character "Cri-Cri" in celebration of Mexico's Children's Day.

Host and Emcee, Francisco Sanz Polo, 1st Grandson of the creator of ?Cri-Cri? (Francisco Gabilondo Soler) introduced the original cartoons of the ?Cri-Cri? character to the children in attendance which was followed by a live enactment of a dozen acts from the "Cri-Cri" musicals.

The event was entertaining and also educational with film showings of "The Way to Happiness," (a common sense moral guide to better living containing 21 precepts) which included such precepts as "Love and Help Children," "Be Industrious" and "Try to Treat Others as You Would Want Them to Treat You." After the event "Cri Cri" posed with characters and children who each received their own photograph with the character and a copy of "The Way to Happiness" booklet.

About "Cri-Cri:" Cri-Cri is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic cricket, created by Francisco Gabilondo Soler in 1934 while broadcasting his own musical radio show on Mexico?s station XEW. Cri-Cri is known as the ?grillito cantor? or ?the singing cricket?. He is a character created by Francisco Gabilondo Soler in his childhood and has been described as a similar following among South American countries that Disney does for children in the United States.

About "The Way to Happiness:" The first moral code based wholly on common sense, originally published in 1981, its purpose is to help arrest the current moral decline in society and restore integrity and trust to humankind. The Way to Happiness (http://www.twth.org) further holds a Guinness Record as the world?s single most translated non-religious book in the world. "The Way to Happiness" was written in 1981 by humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard (http://www.lronhubbard.org)

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Give the Gift of Dynamic Education With a Donation to Westchester Children?s Museum

Westchester County, NY (PRWEB) December 21, 2011

As Westchester Children?s Museum (WCM) begins to ready its new brick-and-mortar home in the historic North Bathhouse of Playland Park in Rye, N.Y., its Museum Without Walls program has been traveling to local community centers to provide students with hands-on educational activities that are full of fun and discovery. With a mission to engage regional children in exploratory learning and provide the same opportunities for future generations, there?s no better time than the season of giving to donate to the Westchester Children?s Museum.

Museum Without Walls programs are taught by volunteer educators and feature lessons about science, technology, engineering and math. Launched in March 2010, Museum Without Walls has helped children explore concepts of magnetism, DNA extraction, and solar and wind energy, as well as learn about whales, sharks and other wonders of the natural world. Students also participate in the creative arts through music, learn about cultural diversity through an innovative mask-making exercise, and examine environmental and sustainability issues through paper and book-making projects.

?Museum Without Walls offers diverse programs that provide kids with the opportunity to experience unique activities that are both educational and exciting,? said Brian Skanes, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Westchester. Mary Thomas, Director of the White Plains YWCA?s Kids Connection, agrees, adding, ?The need has never been greater for this type of community collaboration.?

As declining school budgets continue to eliminate out-of-school enrichment programs, Museum Without Walls has steadily grown to provide an interactive learning environment to nurture and encourage the imaginations of future scientists, engineers, artists, and productive citizens. With your support, WCM can provide programs for children most in need of out-of- school-time activities throughout Westchester County, N.Y. and southern Fairfield County, Connecticut. Museum Without Walls programs are privately funded by generous corporate, foundation, and individual supporters.

To take advantage of the museum?s secure online giving options, please visit http://www.discoverWCM.org. For more information or to learn about other ways to help Westchester Children?s Museum, please call 914-421-5050.

About Westchester Children?s Museum

Westchester Children?s Museum (WCM) will be a learning laboratory providing children, families, and school groups throughout Westchester County and the surrounding region with the opportunity to nurture curiosity, enhance knowledge, and ignite imagination through hands-on exploration. WCM is committed to broadening knowledge of the arts, the environment, multiculturalism, and the local and global communities in an educational and recreational atmosphere. The Westchester County Board of Legislators recently granted WCM a home at the historic Rye Playland North Bathhouse, where families will learn and explore through state-of-the-art exhibits. Until its physical home is built, WCM is dedicated to fulfilling its educational mission through its Museum Without Walls program, which has brought hands-on educational programs to nearly 3,000 children since launching in March 2010. For more information about WCM, please visit http://www.discoverWCM.org.

Contact:

Barbara Wollenberg

Co-Communications

914-666-0066

barbara(at)cocommunications(dot)com

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Just Fine the Way they Are, Award-winning Children's Book Author Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge, is Released by Calkins Creek, an Imprint of Boyds Mills Press

Cincinnati, Ohio (PRWEB) August 23, 2011

Just Fine The Way They Are: From Dirt Roads to Rail Roads to Interstates, a new release by Calkins Creek (the non-fiction and historical fiction imprint of Boyds Mills Press), is a story about change and resistance, progress and protest, innovation and the American entrepreneurial spirit. Award-winning children's book author Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge and artist Richard Walz worked closely with experts and firsthand accounts to tell a ?just fine and accurate? illustrated story of how dirt roads of the 1800s turned into the U.S. highway system of today. This is the fifth picture book by Wooldridge who also earned critical acclaim for her young adult biography of Edith Wharton, The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton (Clarion 2010).

A special plus for educators and home school instructors are three sets of lesson plans and teacher resources Wooldridge developed with two elementary school teachers. These are available to download from her website at no cost. Recommended for ages 8 & up, Just Fine The Way They Are lists for $ 17.95, and is available at independent and major bookstore retailers nationwide.

Critics agree on the book's important role in engaging children in a discussion about transportation ? ??a fine philosophical debate to introduce to budding environmentalists? (Los Angeles Times, July 3, 2011). Roundtable Reviews for Kids writes, ?As young readers follow the development of these basic ground transportation systems, they?ll discover the importance of those people who not only invent new ways of doing things, but also refuse to give in when obstacles are placed in their way.? The author, who lives near the National Road, now I-40, in Richmond, Indiana, provides resources for those readers who want to learn more, including a timeline, bibliography, websites, historic landmarks and places to visit.

The story begins with Mr. John Slack, the keeper of a tavern beside a rutted dirt road in the early 1800s, who thought things were just fine the way they were. Lucius Stockton, who ran the National Road Stage Company in the mid 1800s agreed, and so too did the owners of the railroads when the first Model T appeared in 1908. Yet with each new innovation, driven by Americans need to move around the country more quickly, efficiently, comfortably, and now more ?greenly,? means things will never be just fine the way they are. Richard Walz, who has illustrated numerous non-fiction titles for children, ?provides heroic imagery with a Thomas Hart Benton twang? (Kirkus Reviews, February 11, 2011).

For Educators

On her website, Wooldridge offers three sets of lesson plans and teacher resources for Just Fine the Way They Are, created by Lois Brown and Kimberly Vincent, elementary school teachers for the Richmond Community School district and adjunct professors at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. Addressing three subject areas ? Social Studies (Transportation), Comprehension and Writer?s Craft ? the content includes an ?Essential Question,? ?Big Ideas,? ?Materials and Resources?, ?Vocabulary,? up to four complete ?Lesson Plans? and ?Explicit Teaching? ideas. The lesson plans for each subject area include handouts, whole classroom and small group activities and readers? response questions. Wooldridge invites educators who use these resources to provide feedback and suggestions, so the information can be revised and updated to best serve teachers and students.

An experienced speaker and presenter, Wooldridge offers four different programs for students, community, civic and professional organizations, writing groups, library audiences, and seniors. Wooldridge can be followed on Facebook and Twitter. She also posts regularly to her two blogs, ?Scenes from a Writer?s Life? and ?On The Writing of Non-Fiction,? which can be found and followed by visiting her website, http://www.conniewooldridge.com.????????????????????????????????????????????????

About The Author

Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge?s vivid imagination and spirited storytelling are fueled by her love of travel, adventure, and the unconventional way she embraces life. She?s lived in seven states, Washington, D.C., Athens, Greece and Seoul, Korea, was a Latin major, a flight attendant for a major airline, raised four children, and worked at her dream job ? a librarian in an elementary school. While attending the University of Chicago graduate school, where she received a double Masters degree in library science and education, she was recommended by Zena Sutherland, children?s literature professor and editor of The Bulletin for the Center of Children?s Books, to serve first on the American Library Association?s Newbery-Caldecott Committee and then on the Notable Books Committee. In addition to her five non-fiction picture books for children and a young adult biography The Brave Escape of Edith Wharton (Clarion Books, August 2010), she?s written numerous articles and stories for Highlights for Children and Cricket. Her first book, Wicked Jack (Holiday House 1995) won the Irma S. and James H. Black Book Award and North Carolina Children?s Book Award, and The Legend of Strap Buckner (Holiday House 2001) earned the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America.

Reviews

?Wooldridge?s story of America?s land-transportation networks?its roadways and railways?is folksy but panoramic. The informal, affable tone, something like a movie voice-over, works well here, conveying a sweeping amount of material?over a lot of ground and 200 years?as it chugs merrily along, hitting the high points, while Walz provides heroic imagery with a Thomas Hart Benton twang. Fittingly, the story has got real rhythm to it, helped along by the refrain??Things were just fine the way they were,? thought those who benefited from a soon-to-be-diminished carrier?but most of all by capturing the surging, ever-evolving nature of the country?s transportation network.?

????Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2011

?How we move around our country ? Cars? Bicycles? High-speed rail? ? is a big issue in environmentalism, and ?Just Fine the Way They Are? shows readers that making decisions about technical progress is not always easy. Beginning in 1805?the book gives a history of U.S. roads, from dirt track to superhighway. At every point, there were people who embraced new technologies (bicyclists ?claimed the act of walking was on its last legs!?) and people who thought things were ?just fine the way they were.? That's a fine philosophical debate to introduce to budding environmentalists."

????Los Angeles Times, Sonje Bolle, July 3, 2011

?This tongue-in-cheek picture book presents young readers with an easy-to-understand account of technological advances in transportation and how progress could also encounter resistance from people who preferred the old way of doing things.?

????Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children, 2011

Just Fine the Way They Are:

From Dirt Roads to Rail Roads to Interstates

Written by Connie Nordhielm Wooldridge

Illustrated by Richard Walz

Published by Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills Press 2011

Picture Book; Ages 8 & up

$ 17.95 (US)

ISBN #978-1-59078-710-6 (hardcover)

Calkins Creek Books introduces children to the many people, places, and events that shaped our country's history. Their picture books, chapter books, and novels?nonfiction and historical fiction for ages eight and up?combine original and extensive research with creative, energetic writing. History is key at Calkins Creek. Their authors transport their readers back in time to recognizable places with living and breathing people.

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