New Picture Books from August House
Atlanta, GA - March 1, 2008
This spring, August House will unveil three, colorful new picture books by three teams of highly acclaimed authors and illustrators. These three new picture books will set the foundation for the award-winning publisher's spring releases. Steve Floyd, CEO, stated that, “These beautifully illustrated children’s books will draw a lot of interest from anyone who loves great children’s stories. We are extremely proud to be associated with these gifted authors and illustrators as part of our Little Folk collection.” The spring releases include: The Contest Between the Sun and the Wind by Heather Forest and illustrated by Susan Gaber, The Ghost Catcher by Mitch Weiss and Martha Hamilton and illustrated by Kristen Balouch and Billy Brown and the Belly Button Button Beastie, written by Bobby and Sherry Norfolk and illustrated by Baird Hoffmire.
From the award-winning, creative team that brought you The Little Red Hen, comes this fresh look at one of Aesop’s classic fables. As a man walks along a winding road, he unknowingly stumbles into a contest of strength between the sun and the wind, as they compete to see which one of them can remove the man’s coat. This timeless tale offers a poignant portrait of the power of gentleness. With a storyteller’s sense of the spoken word, Heather Forest’s dynamic retelling captures the essence and cadence of boasts and wagers. Susan Gaber’s dramatic illustrations imagine a dream-like universe filled with vivid moments of destruction, unexpected beauty, and transformation.
Heather Forest is the author of two recent Parents’ Choice Award-winning picture books from August House: Stone Soup and The Little Red Hen. A professional storyteller for twenty-five years, she has been named to the prestigious Circle of Excellence of the National Storytelling Network.
Susan Gaber has illustrated more than twenty books for children. She and Heather Forest have collaborated on four previous books. Most recently she illustrated Mama Outside, Mama Inside by Dianna Hutts Aston, and Angel Coming by Heather Henson as well as the award-winning books The Little Red Hen and Stone Soup that she also collaborated on with Heather Forest.
In this retelling of a traditional Bengali folktale, Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss introduce us to a kind and generous barber. In fact he is so generous that he often has nothing left for his own family. After another night of coming home empty-handed, his wife sends him away until he can find a way to feed his family. As he rests under a tree, the barber is terrorized by a ghost. Through his cleverness, the barber manages to turn the frightening encounter into a solution to his money problems. Kristin Balouch’s crisp and colorful illustrations transport us to a world where the living bargain and bluff with the dead, where communities gather under sprawling trees, and where generosity prevails.
Martha Hamilton & Mitch Weiss are “Beauty and the Beast Storytellers,” a husband-wife team who began telling stories together in 1980. They have published several award-winning books, including Noodlehead Stories and How & Why Stories. They are based in Ithaca, New York.
Kristen Balouch lives in Brooklyn, New York, but spends a lot of time at her quiet little lake house in the Adirondacks. She draws everyday, sometimes in a noisy place like the New York subway and sometimes in a quiet spot, beside a brook or under a large shady tree. She always liked ghosts and is not at all afraid of them. Her most recent book Mystery Bottle received the Ezra Jack Keats Award in 2007.
Every night when Billy’s mother puts him to bed she tells him to keep his covers on so he doesn’t catch cold. If he does not keep them on, his mother tells him, the Belly Button Beastie is going to pay him a visit and steal his belly button. Billy ignores his mother’s advice saying he doesn’t believe in monsters. That is, he doesn’t until one night when his belly button is stolen by the Belly Button Beastie! Now Billy Brown must figure out a way to get his belly button back!
Bobby and Sherry Norfolk also wrote The Moral of the Story, along with several Story Cove picture books about Anansi, the African trickster. They perform individually and together both nationally and internationally, introducing children and adults to story making and storytelling.
Illustrator, Baird Hoffmire is an animator, illustrator, and exhibiting artist. He received his BFA in Illustration from Western Carolina University and a BFA in Media Arts and Animation from the Art Institute of Atlanta.
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About August House
Recently recognized as one of "America's 101 Top Independent Publishers," August House is a highly-acclaimed and award-winning multimedia publisher of children's stories and folktale anthologies. August House's is based in Atlanta, GA.
August House Media Contact
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