When reading books to children in a nearby park, Author Rochelle O’Neal Thorpe met a Nanny from Somalia who admired her stories.  After a brief conversation she discovered this young woman graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School with her eldest son.  Rochelle later learned about her struggles adjusting to life in America after leaving her war-torn country.  Being inspired by this young woman Rochelle decided to write a story especially for children from this region of the world.

This story shows how a young African American finds beauty in the headdress worn by a young girl from the Somali Republic.  With the help of her father Keisha discovers the significance of the Hijab and is encouraged to make a new friend. 

 Aisha's Gift shows the innocence and joy children share in making a special friend.

Available May 2012 - Wiggles Press Books
http://rochelleonealthorpe.com/books.html

About the Artist

Artist Anna Leliwa has created the beautiful illustrations for Aisha’s Gift and Dolly’s Winter Surprise. 

In 2000, Anna graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw with Masters Degree in Fine Arts from the Department of Fine Art Restoration. As a Conservator of Fine Art, Anna gained her experiences while working with different painting techniques such as oil painting, acrylic, pastel and watercolor. This knowledge and skills help her to create illustrations which could be easily "read" by children.

Making the illustrations for children's book is like retelling the story. Anna love to focus on all backstage details and characters. She is finding herself really connected to the characters she illustrates.

Anna now lives in Boston and is happily married to Charles and a mother to a Helenka.

 

This beautifully illustrated book introduces readers to Willie and his new family; the Everest’s, who adopted Willie. However, Willie doesn’t feel he fits-in and frankly has trouble adjusting to his new surroundings.

Willie later learns that he has a very special purpose and this discovery leads him to realize how it was his own thinking that brought about feelings of isolation.

The rhyme and tone of the story makes reading enjoyable and also makes it very easy to explore feelings about self-esteem with young ones.

The illustrations are bright and colorful with a touch of animation that brings the story to life.

 

"Willie the Wheelchair is truly an inspiring story that teaches children about embracing their unique qualities and seeing how truly special they are regardless of any adversities they may be faced with."
 

- R.K. Washington,
Creative Education Solutions
Charlotte, North Carolina

Loved this book, definitely a book that could be used with everyone from Kindergarten up, even 5th graders, to teach that everyone has meaning in this world and no one should ever feel left out. Even kindergarteners will understand why Willie was upset, I can just see the lesson plans now!

- Krystle LaChance, Teacher, Grade 2
Southbridge, Massachusetts

Willie the Wheelchair will be released by Wiggles Press Monday, March 19, 2012, just in time for Spring 2012 . Remon Jourdan has already penned two additional stories The Adventures of Rissa and SuperDad and Hop! Hope! Hop! to be published later this year.

About the Author

Remon M. Jourdan is the author of WILLIE THE WHEELCHAIR. He is an underground spoken-word poet from Massachusetts trying to return to his love of writing after a car accident left him paralyzed. He designs and maintains a personal website, Reyality.com, which explores creative ways of inspiring and motivating others through music, writing and poetry. When he's not performing, volunteering or creating, he is absorbing the inspiration from his daughter, Nerissa Rae to keep moving forward.

Remon is also an ambassador for Easter Seals Massachusetts, helping to ensure that people with disabilities have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play. Jourdan began his undergraduate courses at Howard University and completed his studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a bachelor's degree in Education. He was born and raised in Cambridge where he continues to volunteer by speaking with youth about making good choices. Remon currently resides in Randolph, Massachusetts.

About the Illustrator

Syanne Djaenal is a full time freelance designer and illustrator who was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. She is a graduate of the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, California. Syanne majored in Advertising and she has also worked with photo editing, logo design, and advertising in both print and online formats.

Syanne's creative projects include medical illustrations and illustrating children's books such as WILLIE THE WHEELCHAIR, The Sun Sets With Jack the Giraffe, and A House With 9 Rooms.

Publisher

Wiggles Press was founded in March 2009; this collaborative publishing house aims to provide storybooks for the hands of little readers that encourage an eagerness to read and inspire the imagination.

In 2012, Wiggles Press grew its authorship from twelve to twenty-eight new authors with a promising catalog of children’s books in print, digital and eBook formats.

WILLIE the WHEELCHAIR
ISBN 978-1-935706-77-9
Library of Congress Control Number
2012902886

Amazon.com

Spring Books 2012

Ththi

Daffoldils, Dogs and Cars iTunes Download

A drive to Hyannis, MA on a sunny spring day was planned for Gabe. He was looking forward to a ride on the Cape Cod Central Railroad, his second trip as Gabe was only four. But mommy hadn’t called ahead and as a result she had no idea that the train depot would be closed for the season. The opening day was in two weeks.

Quick on her feet, she spotted a sign for the “Steamboat Authority” and then she came up with plan “B”. Mom decided they might as well take a ferry to Nantucket.

What a great last-minute idea that turned out to be, because it was the 35th Annual Daffodil Day Celebration and they would be just in time for the doggy parade, antique car show, and the flower competition at the old schoolhouse.

Gabe and his Mom met townies who told them where to have ice cream, “…the Nantucket Pharmacy, of course, with its old-fashioned soda fountain.”

Others guided them to the old schoolhouse to see the flower show hosted by the Massachusetts Audubon. They saw all the varieties of daffodils and they would vote for best flower.

By the day’s end, the two were so exhausted that they made the ride back home to Cambridge on pure adrenalin from all the fun they had experienced.

African Amerian Publisher launched at iTunes & More

Everyone around the world can now download a multicultural book from Wiggles Press with the launch made possible by StoryChimes™ a division of Siena Entertainment Los Angeles, California.

Wiggles Press is truly multicultural in that writers from varying backgrounds author stories that are based in diversity whether it is content, storyline or illustration. Wiggles Press makes a special effort to create main characters that are African American, Asian, or Hispanic. The stories are universal in nature and meant to teach valuable life lessons that would be embraced by educations and parents.

The initial launch includes nine 2010 storybook releases:

1. Don’t Play Catch with Jelly, George Jack and Jennifer Rackley
2. Gabe’s Nantucket Adventure; Daffodil, Dogs, and Cars
3. I Saw Wild Parrots in New York City, George Sommers
4. Metal Mike, Larry Richardson
5. My Favorite Shoes, Rochelle O’Neal Thorpe
6. Perfect Pet, Donald Cantor and Michael Cantor
7. The Moon Creeper, Monique Howard
8. There’s No Mouse in My New House, Jean Smith Andrews
9. Tyler and the Spider, Melinda Lancaster

For more information or to go to the links for each story click here > http://wigglespress.com/Storychimes.html

StoryChimes Wiggles Press Launch February 18th, 2011

The Adventures of Penelope Star: The Mystery of The Three Dragons

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 20, 2010

Wiggles Press is pleased to announce its first juvenile novel
The Adventures of Penelope Star: The Mystery of the Three Dragons
Written by Paula M. Ezop and illustrated by Bill Young

Cambridge, MA – Wiggles Press a small publisher that specializes in creating books for the hands of little readers has produced its first juvenile chapter book or juvenile mystery novel titled, The Adventures of Penelope Star: The Mystery of the Three Dragon. Now available in paperback and as a Kindle e-book at Amazon.com.

The main character, Penelope Star is an adventuresome pre-teen who has a best friend, Dolly. The two live in the picturesque town of Dragon Point where tourists come to enjoy the rugged Maine coastline, the excellent cuisine, and to explore the tiny shops that line Main Street. There are a number of fancy boutiques and an unusual number of antique shops.

There are also many town legends and mysteries that these two decide to explore and the girls elicit the help of three boys, Eddie, Ben, and Billy to discover the truth about Dragon Point’s past. They call themselves “The Fearless Five”.

Their summer adventure begins when they find an old diary hidden under a floorboard in Penny’s room. This diary would have more questions than answers, and an exciting mystery of treasure, jade dragons, and a long ago young Chinese Empress…

“I wanted to write a story about a diverse group of children who were best of friends. That’s when “The Fearless Five” came to life. I guess my inspiration was the fact that I could create a friendship between children of different races and ethnic backgrounds who would not only share their friendship but a common experience and adventure.

It enabled me to create the type of childhood experience that I’ve always dreamed about. What fun it would have been to live in Dragon Point, Maine, with friends like Dolly, Eddie, Ben, and Billy, and to have a summer filled with mystery and adventure!”

- Paula M. Ezop

The author also weaves in a whole community of villagers and illustrates cross-generational relationships with the dialogue between Penelope and her Grams and Tati, a southern woman with roots going back to the Underground Railroad.

Although this story is a first chapter book for the author, it will leave readers anticipating the next edition.


About the Author
Paula M. Ezop says she absolutely loves writing for children as it takes her to a place where all things are possible, a place where dreams come true and fantasy becomes reality. Bears can talk, mountains can move, dogs can sing, and alligators can dance. You bring all of the characters that exist in your mind to life, they become real, and you have the pleasure of sharing them with everyone who reads your books.

While creating The Adventures of Penelope Star and the Mystery of the Three Dragons, Paula knew that Penny, Dolly, Billy, Eddie, and Ben had lots of adventures to go on. After all, they are best of friends, and Dragon Point, Maine is just filled with secrets, hidden passageways, buried treasure, stories of pirates, and maybe even a ghost or two.

Paula’s inspirational columns “Following the Spiritual Soul” have appeared in Oconee Today, a South Carolina Scripps Howard publication, “Celebrating the Success of the Modern Woman” and “Esteem Yourself”. She has contributed to Chicken Soup for the Caregivers Soul and she has written the foreword to Whispers of Inspiration, a collection of both poetry and prose gathered from voices around the world.

About the Illustrator

Bill Young resides in Philadelphia, PA, where he also attended the Hussian School of Art to obtain an Associates Degree. For the past 30 years Bill has created several illustrations for comic books and news publications. His talents range from comic to realism and his mediums from computer graphics to fine arts paintings in watercolor and acrylics.

His dream is to stop the printing press, as his day job is working in a print shop, to become a full-time artist with a lucrative career.

Publisher
Wiggles Press was founded in March 2009. Its objective is to provide multicultural literature for young readers created by first-time writers and illustrators. This year Wiggles has grown its authorship from one to twenty new writers with a promising Spring Catalog.
For more information contact us:


Publisher, Rochelle O’Neal Thorpe
Wiggles Press
115 Clifton Street
Cambridge, MA 02140
Telephone: (617) 497-3985
Cell: (617) 981-0285
Email: Publisher@wigglespress.com
URL: wigglespress.com

Juvenile Fiction / Mysteries & Detective Stories
Book Size: 6" x 9"
Pages: 190
Language: English
Text: Black and White / Trade paper
Price: 9.95 USD
ISBN 1935706047 / 9781935706045
Amazon Kindle ASIN: B003MW03RS