New Release: Tomey and the Caterpillar

In this contemporary world of bullying and not-so-nice peers, TOMEY AND THE CATERPILLAR is an inspiring story about being proud of who you are and being confident in your individuality. Written by Sabrina Panfilo, with illustrations by Massimo Mongiardo, TOMEY AND THE CATERPILLAR is a tale of personal strength and positive self-esteem.

“This isn’t the first time a caterpillar has graced the pages of a children’s picture book,” a recent review in the New York Post points out. But, “while Eric Carle’s famous multilegged creature was very hungry, former Post reporter Panfilo brings us one who is very lonely. In her rhyming tale, Tomey, a red pony with its own issues, befriends the caterpillar who is sad due to, among other things, a lack of color. It offers simple lessons encouraging self-esteem.” TOMEY also gets a nice mention on the Crazed Mind blog.

Sabrina Panfilo is also the author of another recent Vantage title: the two-in-one Cosmo’s Crave and Guppy’s Gall. A graduate of NYU, Panfilo has molded her professional expertise in journalism, education, and psychology into one passion – creating a literal world for children that reminds each and every one of us that we are indeed unique and beautiful – and, undoubtedly, loved.

TOMEY AND THE CATERPILLAR
By Sabrina Panfilo
Illustrations by Massimo Mongiardo
Vantage Press
ISBN 978-0-533-16566-7
Publication Date: May 15, 2012

Vantage titles are distributed to major booksellers via Ingram Publishing Services. Find this title at AMAZON, B&N, POWELL’s, INDIEBOUND or your local bookseller.

A Drawing Guide for Artists and Students

Aimed at and written for the beginning art student and the interested amateur, DRAWING AND RENDERING THE FIGURE IN BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOUR: A STUDENT GUIDE by Doug White is an instructive and informative guidebook that will be of use to anyone with artistic “drawing aspirations”—no matter their experience level.

Mr. White presents a detailed and descriptive handbook with logical step-by-step suggestions, ensuring the reader will have a full grasp on aspects of drawing that are as specific as how to measure the correct shape and dimensions to all elements within the human form. While this method has worked for the author’s extensive professional art career, he is readily admits, “Once you have memorized and absorbed the rules and what they represent to you, you may want to change them, alter them, reverse or even eliminate them.” After all, this is art!

DRAWING AND RENDERING THE FIGURE provides structured information as well as practical advice such as what are the best and most economical supplies to purchase. Every page has at least one image to inspire and instruct, including multiple “gallery” sections of full color artwork from the author and contributing artists. Spanning the range from the basic elements to how to sketch different fabrics to detailed human portraits, DRAWING AND RENDERING THE FIGURE is an in-depth and easy-to-follow guide that will generate artistic excitement from even the most hesitant student.

“This book is set-up like a student guide from a Master Drawing class,“ wrote one reviewer. “I can already see the practicalities of using this method to teach the kids at school.”

Doug White’s professional art career began in 1966. While attending art school in Detroit, Michigan, he was hired as the junior apprentice to one of his drawing teachers. From that single experience, Mr. White was “smitten” by drawing and the idea of making drawing a life’s effort. After working in commercial art and advertising for twenty years, Mr. White has found his happiness passing on his craft as a teacher at George Brown Colleges, School of Design and working on his personal artistic development as a Canadian Landscape painter.

See inside the book at Amazon.

DRAWING AND RENDERING THE FIGURE IN BLACK AND WHITE AND COLOR: A STUDENT GUIDE
By Doug White
Vantage Press
ISBN 13: 978-0-533-16495-0
$24.95 paperback
Publication Date: August 1, 2011

New Children’s Book from Vantage Press

Gourdy Mouse wants to go on an adventure! But it’s not as easy as he thinks. He has to wait for Mother to pack a lunch, change his jacket, and then his little brothers want to come. He even has to bring his sister Celia, and girls are no fun on adventures. When he finally heads out into the great world—siblings in tow—his adventure takes a scary turn and Gourdy learns that sometimes, a sister is the best thing to have along on your adventure.

Penelope F. King’s charming new children’s book, GOURDY’S ADVENTURE, shares important lessons about love and loyalty, while captivating young readers with lively and whimsical illustrations by Tanya Stewart. King’s story helps to both educate and entertain, teaching children about family values and responsibility.

Illustration by Tanya Stewart

Penelope F. King lives in Vermont with her husband, basset hound and two house rabbits. They live in a home surrounded by flower gardens. With a forest in their backyard, they are visited by animals and birds large and small.

GOURDY’S ADVENTURE
By Penelope F. King
Illustrations by Tanya Stewart
Vantage Press
ISBN 978-0533164509$9.95
Publication Date: January 18, 2012

Find this book at Powell’s Books.

Fluff the Wonder Bear’s Healthy Lessons

All parents would like their kids to be more active and healthier—the trick is getting the message across to them in an engaging and intriguing way. In THE ADVENTURES OF FLUFF THE WONDER BEAR AND HIS DISCOVERIES ABOUT HEALTH AND FITNESS, Maureen Lupton—a medical professional as well as a mom—has created a delightful pair of characters sure to captivate kids as they learn.

Seven-year-old Caspian Roberts never goes anywhere without Fluff, a bear with “lots of brains” and energy to match. In their adventures together, beautifully illustrated by Isabel Nadal, Caspian and Fluff venture out into the blustery weather to play detective, visit their neighborhood bookstore, take a Zumba class with a Wimbledon tennis ace—and spend an exciting day at a Thanksgiving parade. All along the way, they share what they are learning about fitness, nutrition, and the good feelings that come from a healthy body and mind.

Caspian and Fluff are sure to inspire young readers to follow in their snowy footsteps. As they put it: “The road to health is easily won. Just keep it simple and keep it fun.”

A registered nurse specializing in cardiology, Maureen E. Lupton has long wanted to share her prescription for a healthy body and mind and encourage others to strive for better health. The mother of two active kids, Ms. Lupton lives in Dallas, Texas. THE ADVENTURES OF FLUFF THE WONDER BEAR is her first book, and the first in what she envisions as series of Fluff and Caspian adventures designed to delight kids and help them develop smart and healthy habits.

Available on Amazon. You can also follow Fluff the Wonder Bear on Facebook.

THE ADVENTURES OF FLUFF THE WONDER BEAR AND HIS DISCOVERIES ABOUT HEALTH AND FITNESS
By Maureen E. Lupton, Illustrated by Isabel Nadal
Vantage Press
ISBN 13: 978-053316491-2
$13.95 paperback

“Respecting Autism” garners respect

RESPECTING AUTISM: The Rebecca School DIR Casebook for Parents and Professionals has been garnering positive reviews and praise since its release in November. Readers have called the Vantage Press title “engaging,” “beautifully written” and “clearly presented.”

Written during the third year of The Rebecca School’s operation in Manhattan, RESPECTING AUTISM adroitly describes the results of Tina McCourt and Michael Koffler’s efforts to conceive and create a new school in New York City for children diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Because of the devotion of the entire staff as well as parents, all New York students can now receive a developmentally appropriate, thoughtful, and integrated education. “At Rebecca School we believe that everything we do originates with respect,” says Dr. Gil Tippy, the school’s clinical director an co-author of the book. “Respect for the children we serve, respect for the staff with whom we work, and respect for the families of the children.”

Dr. Tippy and Floortime™ creator Dr. Stanley Greenspan collaborated on RESPECTING AUTISM. In 2005, Dr. Greenspan became a consultant to Rebecca School, and his work with students is featured throughout the book. The school institutionalizes Dr. Greenspan’s “Floortime™” methods of teaching and its educators work to extend students’ circles of communication using the Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship-based (DIR®) model also pioneered by Dr. Greenspan.

Autism Spectrum Disorders are not issues of memory or of extinguishable behaviors, but rather difficulties with relating and communicating. Throughout RESPECTING AUTISM, everyday real life students and their families generously open up their homes and personal histories to Dr. Tippy who then conveys to readers these student’s triumphs and frustrations, joys and fears as each child in her or his own way strives to experience the freedom of the world of abstraction.

RESPECTING AUTISM introduces readers to sixteen students and their personal stories presented as case studies. In each of these very different studies, Dr. Tippy takes a thorough and thoughtful approach to introducing readers to these individuals; he first establishes their family’s story and educational background, then provides specifics regarding the students’ work as well as behavior at school. Each case study concludes with Dr. Greenspan’s diagnosis, reflections, and plan regarding how best to proceed to bring the student fully into the circle of communication.

About the authors:

GIL TIPPY, PsyD is a founding member of Rebecca School and its Clinical Director. He has evaluated hundreds of children from the Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship (DIR®) based perspective, having been mentored by Dr. Stanley Greenspan, the late creator of the DIR® model. Dr. Tippy also has a large clinical practice in Oyster Bay, New York. He has two children and lives on Long Island with his wife and daughter.

STANLEY I. GREENSPAN, MD, the world’s foremost authority on clinical work with young children and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at George Washington University Medical School, died shortly after finishing his work on this book. His influential books include The Challenging Child and The Growth of the Mind, as well as Engaging Autism and The Child with Special Needs (both coauthored with Serena Wieder, PhD).

Find RESPECTING AUTISM at Powell’s Books

“The Persian Room Presents” book event

On Wednesday, March 7 at 7pm, Patty Farmer will discuss her new book, The Persian Room Presents, and the historic New York attraction that inspired it, at Barnes and Noble on New York City’s Upper West Side. She will be joined by the legendary Barbara Van Orden, Marge Champion, and Tony Butala, as they reminisce about the Plaza’s famous night spot, the people that frequented it, and the unforgettable memories that were made there.

This book is nostalgia at its finest, indulging in the rich, elegant, mysterious history of one of the quintessential “old New York” nightspots. It could be called a collective memoir, a biography of a place, or a historical tell-all, The Persian Room Presents features dozens of celebrities—including Andy Williams, Marge Champion, Polly Bergen, Diahann Carroll, Connie Stevens, Leslie Gore, Patti Page, Carol Lawrence, Jack Jones, Michele Lee, Lainie Kazan, Julie Wilson, Tony Butala, Tony Sandler, Celeste Holm, Kaye Ballard, Roslyn Kind, Don Dellair, and Eloise illustrator Hilary Knight—as they reminisce about their experiences performing and partying at the Plaza.

A portion of the proceeds from each sale of this book will go to Childhelp for the treatment and prevention of child abuse.

Please join us at Barnes and Noble this Wednesday at 7pm for a book signing and Q&A with the author for an evening of reminiscing (and maybe a little dishing, too!). The event was recently written up on BroadwayWorld.com.

To Shoot or Not to Shoot?

Will Porter wakes up every morning hoping to shoot someone.

Why wouldn’t he?  After all, he is a photographer.

In PHOTO SHOOT: A Will Porter Mystery, Louis Barth introduces readers to Will Porter, who after watching the events of September 11^th, 2001 unfold, which all happen to coincide with his 50^th birthday, decides right then and there, that he is going to start enjoying life.  Porter quits his job, buys a RV and hits the road with his sidekick Kelly, a blind Welsh Terrier.

Porter starts working as a freelance photographer for an old friend, taking photos of construction demolitions.  He has the freedom he has always wanted, and now has the ability to travel the entire country, taking photos of anything that catches his eye.  When the duo land at a rest stop on Interstate 95, a beautiful young woman approaches Porter inquisitively asking if he really is a photographer, because she noticed that his license plate read “I FOTO U.”  Porter explains that he is a photographer, and then the mysterious woman persuades Porter to shoot her cousins upcoming wedding. It is then that Porter and Kelly end up in a small town in South Carolina, where the rangefinder becomes entangled in a murderous adventure mixing Southern family traditions and New York Mafia blood ties.

Has Will Porter bit off more than he can chew?  Is his passion for photography worth his life?  PHOTO SHOOT is a riveting mystery must-read that unfolds at a rapid pace and intensity, and Mr. Barth keeps readers guessing until the last page!

PHOTO SHOOT:
A Will Porter Mystery
By Louis Barth
ISBN 13: 978-0-533-16397-7
258 pages | $14.95 paperback

“UNCAGED” and Unstoppable

Check out UNCAGED featured in Times Square...with thanks to PR Newswire

Paul McKellips, author of Vantage Point Book’s summer title UNCAGED, is not someone who needs to worry about having ‘idle hands.’ Mr. McKellips has written, directed, and produced three Hollywood motion pictures, served in Iraq as a Public Affairs Specialist during “the Surge” and is now the Executive Vice President at the Foundation for Biomedical Research in Washington, DC. He regularly speaks at more than 80 major engagements per year on the topic of animal research, and this year he is taking advantage of that schedule as a speaking engagement and book tour. (Talk about an author with a platform!)

Mr. McKellips’ taut, politically charged thriller plunges us into the world of animal research and tackles the subject of animal welfare vs. animal rights with inside perspective and precision. Story lines zigzag across international borders at breakneck speed while millions of lives hang in the balance when the country is left exposed to an international bioterrorism plot that threatens the lives of the entire population.

Mr. McKellips’ extensive speaking experience has obviously made his public appearances as riveting as his writing…audience interest has become so high at many events that he has often quickly run out of books to sell to those in line, therefore having to resort to handing out rain checks to interested buyers! Luckily, the book is also available at Amazon.com and on the shelves of brick-and-mortar stores everywhere. However, for everyone with a schedule as busy as Mr. McKellips’, be warned: once opened, UNCAGED is a hard book to put down.

Make sure to “Like” Paul McKellips on Facebook and follow him on Twitter!

UNCAGED: A Thriller by Paul McKellips
ISBN13: 978-1936467099
288 Pages
$14.95 Paperback/$24.95 Hardcover

A New York Poet Looks Back at 9/11 — and After

A DAY TO REMEMBER by Steve S. Singh is a moving work of poetry that strives to put into words the wide range of memories, thoughts and emotions that the author (and much of the world) has considered since the events of September 11, 2001. Also beautifully illustrated, the book’s images and offerings together serve as a testament to the memories of the innocent victims who lost their lives on that fateful day, as well as a tribute to those who served to clean up the aftermath.

 

Courage, love, and caring, conquered all the same

Through fireman, policeman, and civilians it came

Sacrificing their lives to do their best

To ease the minds of all the rest

Not only a touching commemoration for individuals who lived through the tragedy, A DAY TO REMEMBER is also meant to educate younger readers about the September 11^th attacks, and to that end the book proves that sometimes the most complicated things in life can in fact be thoughtfully communicated in a very accessible way.

A Day to Remember
Steve S. Singh
ISBN 9780533164981
36 Pages, $9.95

Not Just a Beach Read!

As the summer draws to a close, instead of unpacking sweaters and boots, reach for Nancy S. Kyme’s memoir, MEMORY LAKE: The Forever Friendships of Summer. The deceptively moving memoir of lost youth and adulthood reclaimed is sure to keep anyone warm well through the chill of fall. First time author Nancy-whose journey from draft to publication can be read in this Monday’s Patch.com article-has taken on the role of self-publicist with natural ease, aggressively booking signings all over the country and winning over local press with the same charm that exudes through her writing.

Nancy has already had two signings in Glen Arbor and Leelanua, Michigan, both towns close to the old camp where MEMORY LAKE’s flashbacks are set, as well as a hometown signing in Manassas, VA during Hurricane Irene! Not letting a natural disaster slow her down, Nancy also has a Barnes & Noble’s book signing in her college town area of Mishawaka, IN. Saturday, Oct 22nd, and two more hometown events at the Potomac Mills Outlet Mall’s Books-A-Million (Oct 8th and Dec 14). For Nancy, these events are equally exciting as a chance to see both old friends supporting her debut and to personally introduce new people to the book-especially mother and daughter pairs. Both of these readers, new and old friends alike, are creating the word-of-mouth buzz that has helped launch MEMORY LAKE to the top of Vantage Point’s summer sales.

MEMORY LAKE takes the reader on an unforgettable journey of life at summer camp on the shores of Lake Michigan, where self-sufficiency in nature was learned, but where the most important resource of all became good friends. Told in flashback as Nancy drives to a camp reunion with her own daughter, dormant memories resurface with the force of a tornado, the lessons of which can only be learned in the present when the mind and heart are prepared to know “in the blink of an eye, if the timing is right”. Nancy Kyme captures the innocence – and power – of a not so bygone era when it took two pictures taped together to fit a large group of friends in one photo – and when going to camp not only changed your summer, but changed your life.

Finally, we would be remiss if we did not mention the beautiful cover art that jumps off the shelf and engages even the most casual bookstore browser. They say to never judge a book by its cover, but MEMORY LAKE: The Forever Friendships of Summer just be the exception to that rule!

MEMORY LAKE: The Forever Friendships of Summer
By Nancy Kyme
ISBN 13: 978-1-936467-05-1
320 Pages
Price: $15.95
Publication Date: July 12, 2011