Granny Ranny's Coming Attractions

Whether moving across town or across the country, when children are faced with changing schools and leaving friends behind it’s often an emotional, if not traumatic experience. Ryan is Moving Away (published by AuthorHouse), the new, illustrated in full-color children’s book by Emi Mead, follows a little boy named Ryan as he experiences the emotions of such a move.

When Ryan’s dad informs his family at the dinner table one night that he has been offered a position on the West Coast and the family would be moving there, his good news is not met with the happiest reception. Ryan is decidedly against the move and doesn’t want to leave his school and his best friend, Jason.

But his parents have a few surprises in store that might make preparing for the move more enjoyable for Ryan, including his very first trip on an airplane and a house-hunting experience! Ryan delights in the experience of flying on a plane and visiting new homes with unfamiliar flowers and palm trees everywhere. Not wanting to admit that he has a favorite of the potential houses, Ryan holds firm to the idea that he does not want to move or leave his friends.

The next day their real estate broker, Anne, and Ryan’s parents introduce him to Anne’s son, Eric, who is about Ryan’s age and plays Little League, like Ryan. Ryan’s parents decide between the houses that they looked at and choose the one that Ryan secretly liked the most. When his parents make an offer that is accepted and they make the final preparations by packing up all their belongings in boxes, Ryan knows that he must “get used to it.”

But will California and his new life have more surprises in store for him? What will happen to those that he leaves behind? Find out in the playfully illustrated pages of Ryan is Moving Away, which is inspired by the real-life experience of a young boy moving from the Midwest to the West Coast. Sure to be loved and appreciated by those children and parents about to relocate, Ryan is Moving Away invites readers to enjoy the new experiences involved in moving to a new place and teaches an important lesson about friendship.

Emi Mead is a former real estate professional with over 25 years of experience. She learned through her own family’s relocation experiences and those of her clients that children are especially vulnerable to major life changes. She currently lives with her husband in Kansas City and works as a freelance writer and advocate for domestic violence victims. Mead has five adult children and three grandchildren.

AuthorHouse is the premier book publisher for emerging, self-published authors. For more information, please visit www.authorhouse.com.

From Joe Kelly, The Dad Man: Why should your daughter or stepdaughter participate in sports? To be more healthy (in mind and body), feel better about herself, learn new skills, stay off alcohol and drugs, defer sexual activity, and, oh yeah, TO HAVE FUN! Sadly, some people worry that girls are too delicate, unskilled, or inadequate to play sports. To which the smart father and stepfather reply: “Baloney.” Here are some tips to help you provide the kind of support your girl needs.

1. MAKE SPORTS FUN FROM AN EARLY AGE. Keep a relaxed approach when she’s young. For example, have athletic-theme parties, like pizza and kickball.

2. DEMONSTRATE INTEREST IN HER ATHLETIC ACTIVITIES. Attend her games and other extracurricular activities. If you live away from your daughter, be sure to talk with her after every game to hear how it went.

3. GO TO THE GAMES TO CHEER. You can cheer hard for your girl, and then cheer for everyone who is playing. Every kid (and parent) should remember why they call it “playing” a “game.”

4. LEAVE COACHING TO THE COACHES. Tina Syer of the Positive Coaching Alliance says, “You’re there to fill the kids’ emotional tanks and make sure they bounce back from mistakes, not to tweak their throwing motion or tell them where to be on the field.” Be smart about choosing coaches tuned in to her age and skill level. If there’s a lack of adequate coaches, sign up to volunteer!

5. BE A MODEL FAN. Think about what you would look like on the sidelines if someone were videotaping you instead of the game. Be sure you (and your daughter) would be proud of what you’d see.

6. ASK, “WHAT DO WE EACH HOPE TO GET FROM THE EXPERIENCE?” Then tell her what you hope she gets. If you don’t talk (and listen), she may assume all you care about is a winning record or how good her stats are. Make sure she knows you want sports to be a fun way to make friends, test herself, be healthy, and feel good about herself.

7. LET HER PLAY WITH BOYS. In Raising Our Athletic Daughters: How Sports Can Build Self-Esteem And Save Girls’ Lives, authors Jean Zimmerman and Gil Reavill suggest utilizing coed or single-sex programs according to your daughter’s comfort level and what will contribute most to her learning and growth.

8. HELP HER USE “MISTAKES” PRODUCTIVELY. When she messes up, she’ll look to you first. So illustrate how to put mistakes in perspective by 1) showing her how to let go of them & 2) encouraging (not demanding or requiring) her to use mistakes as motivation to improve her skills.

9. MAKE SURE GIRLS & BOYS HAVE EQUAL SPORTS OPPORTUNITIES. Support Title IX and encourage school and other sports programs to be aware of and promptly address inequities in opportunities and resources.

10. KEEP A RELAXED, FUN APPROACH. Team sports teach girls how to be self-reliant while also working collaboratively to be competitive. If she loses interest in sports, you and she can still be physically active together–and there are plenty of other ways to relate and have fun as a Dad-Daughter team.

Learn more about healthy fathering  at http://www.thedadman.com/

Kelly presents 1Joe Kelly’s “The Dad Factor” workshops and in-service trainings show organizations and institutions how to accomplish more (and accomplish it faster) by mining the untapped natural resource of fathers and stepfathers. Interactive, hands-on sessions teach professionals how to overcome hurdles that inhibit father engagement, assess their own “father-friendliness,” and implement proven strategies to get dads to help you get your work done more efficiently.

Life on the Island of Sodor is extremely busy for the engines. While Thomas and his friends are hard at work, they like to listen to music and sing-along. Now you can join in on all the fun with this DVD collection of Thomas & Friends songs and episodes, including a bonus music CD featuring 5 songs: “The Roll Call Song,” “Let’s Have a Race,” “Toby,” “The Island Song” and “He’s a Really Useful Engine.”

Follow the bouncing steam cloud to read the words and sing along to Thomas’ Anthem, Let’s Have a Race, Gone Fishing and four other Island of Sodor favorites. You’ll also enjoy two classic Thomas & Friends episodes “Peter Sam and the Refreshment Lady” and “Bulldog”, as well as a bonus sing-along, “It’s Great to Be an Engine.” Hop on board for toe-tappin’ fun with Thomas & Friends Sing-Along & Stories.

It’s a magical musical ride when Thomas and his engine friends travel the tracks on the Island of Sodor with the toe-tapping DVD+Bonus Music CD Set, Thomas & Friends™: Hop on Board Songs and Stories, steaming into stores June 16, 2009 from Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment. The set is fully-loaded with fan favorites including 2 classic Thomas & Friends stories, 7 sing-alongs and a bonus music CD featuring 5 songs!

Teaching timeless life lessons of discovery, friendship and cooperation, the Thomas & Friends animated series invites children to enter a world of imagination through the tracks of a train and the words of a story.

Last weekend’s “Produced By” Conference, as reported by Nikki Finke, came up with some great tips for indie filmmakers. Among the top 10 things you should or should do were: change the title of your film to begin with a “A” to get higher placement on iTumes, experiment with new ways to market and promote your film, expect things to be tough cause we’re in tough economic times, back up your creative ideas with a solid budget and schedule, don’t expect foreign presales to bring in as much as in years past, producers with a successful track record will have an easier time than those who don’t, pay attention to genre and don’t get yourself into something so offbeat there’s no audience for it, get some name talent!, bank financing has dropped 66%, understand your audience from the get go.

For the full story, go to: http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/. Posted June 11, 2009.

Come celebrate with Barney as he plans a very special sing-along party and invites many of his friends in Barney: Sing & Dance with Barney, available in stores June 16, 2009 from Lionsgate and HIT Entertainment. The group sings some of their all-time favorites, such as “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” “B-I-N-G-O” and “Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star,” while being transported to some Tee-riffic places, such as a farm, a campsite in the woods and a storybook land. There are over 55 minutes of singing and dancing to 20 of Barney’s favorite melodies. As an added bonus, each DVD includes a free music CD featuring 5 songs: “The Clapping Song,” “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” “The More We Get Together,” “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and “You Can Count On Me.” This is a celebration no Barney fan will want to miss!

Trusted by moms and adored by children, Barney™ displays sharing, caring, imagining, dancing and learning on television, online and through live events, home entertainment and publishing. The Emmy award-winning series Barney & Friends™ changed the face of children’s programming when it first launched and continues to be one of the top-rated preschool shows today, airing on PBS KIDS® and PBS KIDS SproutSM.

Let the fur fly! Garfield’s newest full-length feature is a story of epic proportions. It’s an interstellar battle between the characters of Cartoon World and the evil Vetvix who’s bent on controlling the entire universe. In the non-stop, action-packed “Garfield’s Pet Force,” available on DVD June 16, 2009 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, meet the superhero versions of Garfield, Odie, Nermal and Arlene who exist in a parallel world where their crime fighting powers are the stuff of legend. But when they find themselves in trouble with Vetix, the fearless foursome have to recruit their earthly counterparts to help save the universe!

Having just celebrated his 30th Birthday, Garfield is one of the most beloved and enduring icons with the most widely syndicated comic strips in the world – 200 million readers and counting – and more than eleven million DVDs sold to date. “Garfield’s’ Pet Force”, for ages 6-12, includes an exclusive “Professor Wally’s Moscrambulator” DVD-ROM game where you can build your own superhero. 

One minute, Garfield and his pals are having a cookout, the next, they’re engaged in a super battle with a sinister alien and her army of zombies! When an evil comic book demoness tries to make everyone in Cartoon World her slaves, all the comic strip characters become superheroes in order to thwart her. Well, all except Garfield, who thinks being a superhero sounds like too much work! But when he sees all his friends in trouble, the fat cat might have to rise to the occasion!

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES: · Exclusive DVD-ROM game – “Professor Wally’s Moscrambulator”