Out and About-- the Press Release

Our publicists, Phenix & Phenix (hey, Chicken Soup for the Soul is one of their noteworthy clients), have finished a press release -- we've all had our input -- and we hope it leads to great media bookings. Here's the deal:

(Call, if you're interested in an on-line or in-person appearance)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Amy Currie (512) 478-2028 ext. 211

New World Kids: Growing up capable and creative
Authors reveal how to equip children with 21st century thinking skills

AUSTIN, TX – Our society is entering a time of sweeping change in which innovation is not just valuable, but vital. Today’s children will be pivotal in inventing our collective future—and that future starts now, with the skills, tools and competency they learn today. A new approach to childhood education is needed that encourages creative thinking
processes, the capacity to invent with many media, the ability to think across disciplines and a reliance on the imagination.

Built on decades of applied research, New World Kids: The Parents’ Guide to Creative Thinking (Foundry Media, 2009,
978-0-615-19060-0, $14.95), is a handbook for developing young minds to learn and grow in a future requiring visual literacy and innovative skills. Authors and educators Susan Marcus and Susie Monday demystify the often misunderstood territory of creativity, offering parents everyday activities to help kids discover their individual creative abilities.

“We tend to view creative achievement as a mysterious process, or another magical matter of talent,” they write in New World Kids. “It’s not a matter of chance or talent or luck, creative thinking is a matter of focus and practice. Like reading,
it’s a skill that is learned by doing.”

Just as the traditional alphabet is used to teach reading and writing, Marcus and Monday say the Sensory Alphabet—line, color, texture, movements, sounds, rhythm, space, light and shape—is the building block of creative literacy and the basis of our
sensory connection to the world. The Sensory Alphabet enhances a child’s ability to understand, symbolize and communicate ideas, which are all crucial skills in our digital media world of pictures, icons, sound and video.

Through vivid photographs, illustrations and more than 200 activities, New World Kids reveals how to identify and develop each child’s natural strengths and creative potential, enhancing their particular brand of imagination.

New World Kids includes topics such as:
• The Sensory Alphabet: Nine essential elements for creative literacy
• A step-by-step guide for mentoring children through the creative process
• How to raise innovative kids for the 21st century
• How to help kids find their creativity, passion at an early age
• How to design your home as a space for ideas
• Incorporating media and play into the learning process

Marcus and Monday are co-founders of the Learning About Learning Educational Foundation, a Texas-based institution conducting applied research in creativity, individuality, media and play. Together, they have translated the foundation’s research into more easily accessible formats by designing programs, materials and exhibitions for teachers, parents, children and museums. Visit www.NewWorldKids.com for more information.

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To schedule an interview or receive a review copy of New World Kids,
please contact Amy Currie at (512) 478-2028 ext. 211 or acurrie@phenixpublicity.com.