Q Kindness Cafe Hosts ‘BIG GIVE’ Event with Local Children’s Authors

In celebration of December Kindness Week (the first week of the month) the Q Kindness Cafe is hosting a week-long “BIG GIVE” event inviting customers, families, and friends to visit the Cafe to write a Kindness card or letter to a soldier or make a Get Well card for a sick child in a local hospital. “What could be easier?” said co-owner Lisa Metwaly, “stop in for breakfast or lunch and write a kind message to someone less fortunate. We wanted to make it fun for kids, and easy for families, to do something kind—especially at this hectic time of year.”

Visit the Cafe on Saturday, December 6th from 12–2 p.m. for the “BIG GIVE” Party where local authors Todd and Peggy Snow will be signing purchased copies of their new children’s book Kindness to Share from A to Z and donating 20% of the proceeds to the Foundation of Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. Each Get Well card will be delivered to a child at Children’s St. Paul Hospital along with a copy of the picture book You Are Brave, donated by Maren Green Publishing. All cards and letters to soldiers will be distributed through local VFW’s so they’re received in time for the holidays.

Maren Green Titles Win Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards

A one-of-a-kind alphabet book and a book that celebrates diversity have won 2008 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.

My Favorite Sounds from A to Z and Colorful World were both published by Maren Green Publishing in Minnesota. The Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards were established to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to support childhood literacy and lifelong reading. “Creating books that inspire our children to read, to learn, and to dream is an extremely important task,” says a Moonbeam spokesperson. “These awards were conceived to reward those efforts.”


Silver Medal winner My Favorite Sounds from A to Z was written by Peggy Snow and illustrated by Brian Barber. Rhyming poems and colorful pictures teach the alphabet from A (acorns cracking under bicycle wheels) to Z (zippers zipping on tents during family camping trips). The book encourages children and adults to take time to listen and be more in tune with their environment. Snow has written a second alphabet book, My Favorite Places from A to Z, also published by Maren Green.



Gold Medal winner Colorful World was inspired by a song by Grammy-winning artist CeCe Winans. Illustrator Melodee Strong created lively, multi-hued pictures to accompany lyrics like “We have millions of children with possibilities, from the streets of Nairobi to the hills of Tennessee.” The book includes a CD of Winans singing the song. This is the second award for Colorful World, which recently won a 2009 Teachers’ Choice for Children’s Books Award. Children’s Literature praised it as “a book that sings to children from all different backgrounds.”

Both award-winning books are available from the publisher, bookstores, and distributors nationwide.

Maren Green Titles Win Teachers’ Choice Awards

A book that celebrates diversity and a board-book series that honors children have won 2009 Teachers’ Choice for Children’s Books Awards, Learning Magazine announced this week. All are published by Maren Green Publishing, a newcomer to the children’s books world. Established in 2006 by publishing executive Todd Snow, Maren Green specializes in books good for young children.

“We are thrilled to receive not one but two Teachers’ Choice awards,” says Snow. “I’m especially excited that the winners are chosen by teachers—people who use our books with kids, and who count on our books to deliver positive, meaningful content. Also, if a teacher says a book is good, that means parents can trust it.”

Begun by Learning Magazine in 1994, Teachers’ Choice is one of the most recognized and prestigious awards program in the educational market. It is the only awards program that is exclusively judged by teachers in the classroom. Books are evaluated on quality, instructional value, ease of use, and innovation.

Maren Green’s winners are Colorful World and the “You Are Important” series.


Colorful World is six-time Grammy winner CeCe Winans’s inspiring song about diversity, adapted as a picture book with beautiful illustrations. The lyrics celebrate differences and urge all children to be proud to be themselves. The book includes a CD of Winans singing the song.

“You Are Important” is a board book series that includes You Are Beautiful, You Are Brave, You Are Creative, You Are Friendly, and You Are Important. Simple words and colorful illustrations of children in everyday life help little ones know they are precious and valuable.

Award-winning illustrator Melodee Strong illustrated all six books. Strong is committed to creating work that accurately represents people of color. Her illustrations are multicultural and inclusive, something teachers—and
parents—look for today.

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Founded in 2006, Maren Green Publishing specializes in books for young children, including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Our award-winning picture books and board books support and expand children's understanding of their life experiences in positive, affirming, fun, and educational ways. For more information on our specific titles, visit www.marengreen.com