category: Children's Books

As a boy and his mother move quickly through the city, they’re drawn to different things. The boy sees a dog, a butterfly, and a hungry duck while his mother rushes them toward the departing train. It’s push and pull, but in the end, they both find something to stop for.

Acclaimed author/illustrator Antoinette Portis’ signature style conveys feelings of warmth, curiosity, humor and tenderness in this simple, evocative story.

Award-winning picture book creator Antoinette Portis delivers a new universe of cleverness and imagination in this hilarious, sweet, and otherworldly book about friendship.

Yelfred and Omek have been best frints since they were little blobbies. They play and snack, and sometimes they even fight, all in a language similar to but slightly different from, English. When Omek decides to borrow Yelfred’s new spaceship without asking (and then crashes it), it sparks the biggest fight yet. Can these two best frints make up and move on?

It’s caw
coo
chip
peep.
Day after day.

But what if
you’re a little brown bird
that doesn’t want to sing
the same old song?

In a normal neighborhood, on a typical day, the birds chirp, the dogs bark and the cats meow. When Little Brown Bird decides she doesn’t want to sing the same old song, out comes a new tune that shakes up the neighborhood and changes things forever in this funny, innovative book that kids will love to read outloud.

What if you want to froodle?

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The companion volume to MY DAD IS THE BEST PLAYGROUND

Emma and her grandpa, Pop, are tap-dancing pals. They dig-shuffle-chug through town and put on a clickity-clacking, tip-tapping show every year on Emma’s birthday. But Pop is getting old. He starts forgetting things, even Emma’s birthday. And he stops dancing. Can Emma help Pop’s feet remember how to dance? Clickity-clack, clickity-clack, stomp-stomp-clickity-clack. . . .

There is a tender sweetness in this title, as a young girl finds a way to reconnect with her beloved grandfather through their shared love of dancing.. When Emma notices that Pop’s feet can still remember how to dance, a quiet hope grows that other special memories survive. Endearing illustrations rendered in gouache and pencils show that even the smallest act may spark a memory in an Alzheimer’s sufferer.

Sarah Lynn’s three young sons taught her how to race toy cars. Together they’ve used their imaginations to create roads everywhere (couch, kitchen floor, dirt, sand, rug, and the bathtub, just for starters.) The idea for 1-2-3 Va-Va-Vroom! came to Sarah when she was teaching her oldest son to write numbers. They began imagining the pencil as a car drawing its own track.

Award-winning Michael-Paul Terranova graduated with honors from the Art Center College of Design. And with the launch of Curious Circus, http://curiouscircus.com/, he’s now a digital publisher of children’s picture books and apps, fully embracing and fostering the intersection of digital formats and technology. OH; and with augmented reality features to come!

This interactive environment makes Curious Circus the industry leader in online apps and concept picture books for children. Now, we’re taking Michael-Paul and Curious Circus into the printed arena. Think deceptively simple and endlessly entertaining content with lots of extension opportunities.

For example, here’s the Kirkus endorsement of MAX’S TEMPER TURNAROUND, which we’ve developed in book form to I’M MAX AND I’M MAD.

“A well-designed and humorous concept book shines with just a few well-chosen effects … Readers will be G-LA-D that they accompanied Max on his barely restrained rampage and subsequent cool down.”

Here’s a link to the app: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/maxs-temper-turnaround/id455592472?mt=8

And the link to the Kirkus review: http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/michael-paul-terranova/maxs-temper-turnaround/.

The SOUNDS WE MAKE is a basic exploration of assorted bodily sounds, including—and perhaps featuring—those considered “rude.”

And that’s just the beginning! In all of the books, there are vibrant graphics, big swaths of white space and bold, black energetic text. The effects are very simple yet very effective.

Michael-Paul currently lives in Southern California with his wife and daughter, two dogs and a private collection of children’s books that rivals that of most local libraries.

She’s named after a landform.

She learned to walk on the red carpet.

And now she’s playing hostess to the nation’s hottest pop star.

Desert McGraw hasn’t exactly had a normal upbringing. Her dad fronts the popular rock band Crossfire, and her mom is the group’s manager. Always on tour or sitting in on recording sessions, Desert leads a life that looks glamorous to most people.

But now that she’s sixteen and living in yet another new town — Miami, this time — Desert is more than ready to call one place home. There’s one problem, though: How do you know whom to trust — let alone what guy to hook up with — when all any-one wants is access to the band?

Funny, romantic, and filled with essential rock-star etiquette (the proper attire for cruising in a Jag convertible, how to introduce new friends to your leather-wearing dad, etc.), BACKSTAGE PASS is a look at what happens when real life meets every girl’s dream.