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BEARS IN A BAND GOES INTO SECOND PRINTING! I was thrilled to receive a package from Candlewick with two copies of Bears in a Band. The book was released in February and in March, has already been reprinted. It's the 5th in the series with Bears in Snow scheduled for October 2016. I am having so much fun with these little bears!
NEWS OF THE DOLLS:
I'm excited to see that DOLLS OF HOPE, the sequel to my middle-grade novel SHIP OF DOLLS is currently offered for pre-order from several online outlets. Release date for the novel, which tells the story of the Friendship Dolls of 1926 and '27 from the viewpoint of a girl in Japan, is September 22, 2015. Artist Kelly Murphy has created distinctive covers for both books.
SHIP OF DOLLS became available in August of 2014 with terrific reviews. It's become a Top Pick at www.LitPick.com, a site dedicated to books read and reviewed by young readers. SHIP OF DOLLS is based on a true event when, in 1926, American children sent more than 12,000 dolls to children in Japan to create friendship in the hope of preventing future war between the two countries. In return, Japanese children helped send 58 large dolls in kimonos, with many accessories, to American children in time for Christmas of 1927.
NEWS OF THE BEARS:
BEARS AND A BIRTHDAY was released in March, the fourth in my series of picture books. BEARS IN A BAND and BEARS IN SNOW will follow. All the books are adorably illustrated by artist David Walker.
The little bears from my picture book series have become available on multiple items at www.zazzle.com. The company worked with Candlewick Press to create a Bears on Chairs store. I've ordered a coffee mug and two magnets featuring the bears, so far, and am delighted with them. Calico Bear looking out from his magnet makes me smile every time I open the fridge.
My little bears are becoming world travelers. A German publisher has published the second and third book in the series and will be publishing the first and fourth, as well. I've received copies of the books translated by a publisher in Finland into four languages, Finnish, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. I love knowing that children in so many countries are enjoying the stories!
Artist David Walker, creator of the wonderfully huggable illustrations, was invited to visit Japanese book stores by our Japanese publisher this past summer. He and our editor visited bookstores in Tokyo and Osaka where the bears were welcomed by hundreds of young readers.
I'm thrilled to be one of 16 Novelists Inc. authors included in a new anthology called I Never Thought I'd See You Again. All the stories use the title theme. The cover is a wonderfully evocative picture of a mossy pier stretching into a dark lake. I hope you'll take a look. It's Available now!
After years of writing in other fields, I'm having so much fun with stories of the little bears begun as BEARS ON CHAIRS, published by Candlewick Press both as a picture book and as a toddler board book. Recently, the story was read on a popular children's program in Australia called Playschool. TV rights have also sold in Japan.
When BEARS ON CHAIRS was published in Japanese, I was especially delighted since my daughter-in-law Miwa is from Fukuoka and has family there. I was even more excited when BEARS ON CHAIRS was ranked as the 9th best picture book of 2011 in Japan. A sequel, BEARS IN BEDS, was published by Candlewick in August, 2012, with more of artist David Walker's adorable illustrations. The story of the bears reassuring each other after frightening nighttime noises was also published in Japan in 2012.
A third book, BEARS IN A BATH, also illustrated by David Walker is scheduled for release in the U.S. in 2014 and in Japan in late 2013. It will be such fun to see my grubby little bears resisting bath time, then learning to love it. I can't wait to share all the books with preschool and primary school classes.
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