Meaningful Holiday Gifts

If you are looking for gifts that are truly meaningful, that nurture a child's interest in good stories and reading, and that also give back in a major way, consider Story Pie Press' books for children. 

Samson's Tale tells the story of love and loyalty between a boy and his dog, with 30% of the proceeds going to Flashes of Hope!

The Day I Met The Nuts helps children realize that any challenge can be overcome, and that family and friends are there to help.  And  45% of the proceeds support Johns Hopkins Children's Center in their efforts to find a cure for food allergies.

So consider gifts that truly matter, books that care about the future of children!

Happy Holidays!

In case you haven't seen it yet....

The book trailer for Samson's Tale

Exploring the healing power of pets, Kathleen Spale's Interview with the Chicago Parent

Our wonderful Kathleen Spale was written up in the Chicago Parent for her integral part in Samson's Tale!  Please stop by to read this article, which highlights the reasons she decided to illustrate this special book.  Also, consider purchasing a copy for your library at home, or local library.  Remember, 30 percent of the proceeds goes to Flashes of Hope.  Both Samson's Tale and Flashes strive to give children with life threatening illnesses hope in the future!

Cheers,
Mary

Picture Book Idea Month, November 2011!

For all you children's book writers out there, or even those who secretly dream of writing for children, this month is a good month.  It's PiBoIdMo, otherwise known as Picture book Idea Month.  I absolutely love this idea and encourage you to participate (even next year...if you're too late to participate this year), as we never have enough good stories for children. 

Tara Lazar, the founder of PiBoIdMo, has asked me to be one of the guest bloggers for the month.  Every day, there's a new guest sharing what they know and love about writing for children.  Guests include editors, agents, and authors, among others.  So stop on by the site, read what all the guest bloggers have to say about writing for children and the magic of dreaming up picture book ideas.

~Mary

Ten Stories Up Interviews Carla Mooney

To find out the story behind Samson's Tale, visit the Ten Stories Up blog for an interview with Carla Mooney.  Though the story is fiction, Carla had a great deal of real life inspiration that got her writing this important and touching book.

Happy reading,
Mary

The Light The Night Walk on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 at Heinz Field

Carla Mooney will be reading Samson's Tale in the kids area at LIGHT THE NIGHT at  6 pm this evening!  Light the Night is at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA, and honors the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Light The Night is a two mile walk where participants carry red illuminated balloons and cancer survivors carry white illuminated balloons. All proceeds go toward finding a cure for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and Hodgkin's disease, while improving the lives of patients and their families.

~Mary

Author Carla Mooney Talks About Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Most people know what this stands for:

But what about this one?

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Many people don’t even realize that childhood cancer has its own “month” and a gold ribbon symbol. Yet many of us have been impacted by childhood cancer, either in our own families or in people we know. Cancer is the #1 disease killer of children in the United States, and even through survival rates are improving, about ¼ of children diagnosed with cancer will die within five years.

My own experience with childhood cancer began when my son Daniel was diagnosed with leukemia at 19 months of age. We quickly learned that he was one of the “lucky” ones – he had a type of leukemia (acute lymphoblastic leukemia or ALL) which has a higher survival rate. Yet I will never forget a conversation with one of his doctors, where she told us that he had a 75 percent chance of surviving for 5 years. For me, that 25 percent loomed too big and menacing over our Daniel. With great understanding, the doctor acknowledged our fears and said quite simply, “But for each family, it’s either 100 percent or nothing.” How true. Statistics mean nothing when a child has cancer. Either that child beats it or they don’t. And that is why raising awareness and research for childhood cancer is so important. So that every family can have their 100 percent.

Our journey through cancer has been tough and heartbreaking at times. We have gotten to know many children and families who did not win their battle. Yet we’ve also gotten to see the strength, kindness, and generosity of family, friends, neighbors, and even strangers. And through this experience, I was able to write Samson’s Tale. I hope that this book can be one piece of my “paying it forward” and helping someone else who may be going through similar experiences.

If you didn’t know, 30 percent of the proceeds of sales of Samson’s Tale go to Flashes of Hope, a national nonprofit that changes the way children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses see themselves through the gift of photography and raises money for pediatric cancer research. Consider buying a copy for your home school library. If you want, you might even ask your school or community librarians to contact Follett Library Resources to purchase Samson's Tale for their shelves.

Did You Know?

• Each school day, 46 children are diagnosed with cancer, and 1 in 330 children will develop cancer by age 20.

• On the average 12,500 children and teens will be diagnosed with some form of cancer each year in this country.

• Currently there are between 30-40,000 children undergoing cancer treatment in the U.S.

• Research funds are scarce, because most money goes to adult forms of cancer, such as breast and prostate.

• Over the past two decades, only ONE new cancer drug has been approved for pediatric use.

~Carla Mooney

(Visit Carla on the web at http://www.carlamooney.com/)