Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy has been honored by Creative Child Magazine with the 2011 Media of the Year Award

Los Angeles, CA -

The multi-award winning illustrated kids book Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy by Tina Turbin has been honored by Creative Child Magazine with the 2011 Media of the Year Award in the category of Reading Interactive Picture Books. This prestigious prize is one of many that have been awarded to the critically-acclaimed author for the first book in her Danny the Dragon children’s book series.

Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy has already been honored by a number of esteemed awards programs including the iParenting Media Awards, the International Book Awards and the Mom’s Choice Awards. Most recently the title received First Prize for Best Illustrations in the prestigious Five Star Publications, Purple Dragonfly Book Awards for its illustrations by Aija Jasuna, which the judges praised as “outstanding” and “expertly rendered.”

Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy tells the story of how Jimmy and his family come across Danny the Dragon and his traveling companion, Skipper, at the beach and the blossoming of their friendship. It is celebrated by critics and readers for its pro-family themes and messages promoting mutual kindness. Turbin’s award-winning book has been released in a number of multimedia formats including a Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy DVD, which features a reading of the book with sign language interpretation as well as a Danny the Dragon DREAMS CD, which contains a set of ten original compositions by up-and-coming composers followed by a reading of Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy.

Creative Child Magazine, a national publication published bi-monthly with the leading information on how parents can nurture creativity in their child, is now celebrating its eleventh year while its circulation continues to grow throughout the country. Their Awards Program stands apart from others for the fact that submitted products are reviewed by parents, educators, and professionals—the people who purchase them. Creative Child Magazine announced Turbin as the 2011 Multimedia Set Winner on July 20 for her Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy book and CD set.

Turbin has had a busy year with her West Coast book tour and dealing with the intense media interest generated by the author’s release of a groundbreaking iPad app for deaf children, which was developed by iStoryTime, the app developer for How to Train Your Dragon. The first of its kind, Turbin’s app contains a reading of Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy with sign language interpretation. Profits are being donated to support literacy and other worthy causes while Turbin’s tour moves to European countries.

“It’s such an honor to have received this award from Creative Child Magazine,” Tina said. “It was important to me to make Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy available through a variety of media. I’m thrilled that the Danny the Dragon multimedia set has been so well-received.”

To book Tina Turbin for an interview or speaking engagement: Contact ImaginationPublishingGroup(at)gmail(dot)com

To learn more about Danny the dragon: Visit http://www.DannytheDragon.com.

To purchase Danny the dragon products: Contact Imagination Publishing Group at ImaginationPublishingGroup(at)gmail(dot)com or call 888-701-6481. Also available through: Amazon.com, Victory Multimedia, Barnes and Noble, Blockbuster Video, Baker and Taylor, and other major distributors.

Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy DVD: 837654741191, $24.95
Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy paperback: 978-0-9800-721-0-5, $8.95
Danny the Dragon Dreams CD/Audiobook: 978-0-9800-721-3-6, $8.95

DVD profits are generously donated by the author to support causes to improve literacy and education.

For more information or to schedule an interview, please call Alan Wayne 888-701-6481 or ImaginationPublishingGroup(at)gmail(dot)com.

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I am so excited to be a part of the Kiddie Cruise, themed as “Tea Party with Knights and Dragons” which launched out of New York’s Hudson River. Being the only dragon was a thrill!

This cruise was aboard the Queen of Hearts which sailed on the Hudson River this past Sunday with goodie bags gathered from some of the best such as Toy Story- along with special gift from Danny the Dragon and me.

Tons of kids climb aboard for 2 hours of fun with face painting, karaoke, puppet shows, balloons, arts and crafts and of course, a healthy lunch. Danny the Dragon was a part of all of that on the Princess special themed cruise,  Tea Party with Knights and Dragons.

Danny the Dragon and me supplied special Danny the Dragon pencils, Danny the Dragon tattoos, Danny the Dragon bookmarkers and Danny the Dragon door hangers. The kids were just thrilled and we have been invited on another cruise!

Activities like this are terrific for kids and I was really happy to contribute to this and be part of such a special event.

Check me out on kiddiecruise.com under the “Our Friends” tab and you will see Danny sitting there amongst some terrific new “friends”.

Bon Voyage and till next time.

Tina Turbin

www.DannyTheDragon.com

k.m.

     A passionate literacy advocate, I was alarmed by the literacy statistic among the deaf, and now I’ve begun raising support for education for deaf children. Upon the release of my Danny the Dragon DREAMS, the proceeds of my Danny the Dragon DVD, which features a signed reading of the book for deaf children, will be donated to the local deaf children’s school, Blossom’s Montessori School for the Deaf in Clearwater, Florida. I’m  very happy that I’m able to do something to improve deaf education!

Tina Turbin

As an active literacy advocate, I do as much as I can to get kids reading to revert the literacy statistic of this country. However, it wasn’t until recently that I became aware of another alarming statistic—the literacy rate among deaf children.

     The average deaf child is diagnosed at two or three years of age for hearing loss. This means that there is a good chance that his language development has been severely affected, as the child may have been missing large portions of spoken language, if not all auditory experience, that hearing children get from birth. What’s worse, the demand for academic achievement among deaf children is lower than for other children, resulting in learning and home environments which aren’t as focused on reading. With an upbringing that doesn’t emphasize language and literature, it is difficult to expect deaf children to perform at the same analytic and linguistic levels as other children.

     That’s why I have created the signed reading of Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy DVD, all the profits for which are going to supporting the amazing school I visited, Blossom Montessori. Its Montessori education encourages imagination and allows for real-life applications of subjects learned in the classroom. By supporting schools such as Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf, I know I am truly contributing toward reverting the deaf literacy statistic and enriching the lives of many bright children.

If you’ve been keeping up with me as the children’s author of the Danny the Dragon series, you’ve probably heard me talk about the new Danny the Dragon CD, which is soon to be released, containing a reading of Danny Meets Jimmy by a talented vocal artist followed by a compilation of ten original classic songs by up-and-coming composers. What’s great about the CD is that, as with the book, it can be enjoyed by people of all ages—the young and the young at heart. What’s even better, though, is the fact that the proceeds are going to a cause which is near and dear to my heart in my research and humanitarian efforts, a cause that you may not know much about—raising celiac disease awareness.

If you’re like most Americans, you probably haven’t even heard of celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder which causes an immune reaction that can affect the entire body, causing both physical and mental problems. The cause? An allergy to gluten, a component of wheat, barley, and rye.

The problem with celiac disease is that doctors don’t know much about it either. They don’t know that it affects an estimated 300 million Americans and that with a simple test, a diagnosis can be made and the easy treatment can begin—a gluten-free diet.

Many years ago, I found myself with many painful symptoms and without any answer to what the source was or how to treat it. I went in circles with doctors, nutritionists, and testing. Finally, I decided to do my own research. It became clear that the answer was an allergy to gluten. What became even clearer was how little doctors knew about celiac disease and the vast numbers of people suffering without a diagnosis and treatment.

An estimated 300 million Americans have celiac disease and only three percent of them know it. When I’m not working on the latest installment of my Danny the Dragon series or the Danny the Dragon Cookbook, I’m working hard to change this statistic by raising awareness and support for this disease that affects more people twice as many of those who suffer from Crohn’s disease, ulceric colitis, and cystic fibrosis combined.

Proceeds from the Danny the Dragon CD will go to the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center, one of the major research centers around studying and bringing awareness to celiac disease. It is one-hundred percent focused on studying celiac disease and carries out research connecting it with various other diseases which it is believed to lead to if left untreated. Its goal is to change the lives of celiac disease sufferers for the better around the world, a goal which it is actively achieving, little by little, every day.

Why is it that you and your doctors probably haven’t heard about celiac disease? Although the amount of research on celiac disease is growing, it depends entirely on the generosity of private benefactors for its funding. Without these charitable donations, there would be no way to continue this research and the efforts to raise awareness. Out of the estimated fifty autoimmune diseases that have been discovered by doctors, it is the only one which isn’t supported in its research by the U.S. government.

That’s why I support centers such as Columbia University’s Celiac Disease Center. I look forward to the release of the Danny the Dragon CD. Not only will it delight Danny the Dragon fans, but it will help support a cause that has the potential to change the lives of millions of people for the better.

I am VERY pleased to share that the full Mastering of Danny The Dragon DREAMS CD has been fully Mastered and the CD cover is in design work as I type away here. Thank you Tom Morris at Morrissound Recording in Tampa, Florida! This is an amazing CD with my book being read by an extremely talented vocal-artist followed by a well chosen compilation of 10 original classical songs, composed by up and coming composers. This CD is for ANYONE and everyone, all ages. All the profits to this CD are going to a Cause that is very dear to my heart and I will be announcing the CAUSE, broadly and soon. All the legal mumbo-jumbo is just about totally complete. All the composers on this CD will be announced and broadly promoted, so I ask you to support the Cause and the Artists once we release the details. Each composer currently has beautiful credits for movie and television. More support to them will only help their career and this Cause. When I am given the OK to lift the curtain, I will be sharing it all! Exciting! Tina

I was recently provided the opportunity to contribute to the reputable organization Altrusa International, a strong volunteer group that is working to better the community worldwide.

As part of Altrusa’s many local programs, I’ve donated copies of Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy, to be gifted to the lucky “Birthday Child of the Month” of the given month, along with Danny-themed goody bags!

I hope the children will be pleased with their gifts, and all of my thanks goes out to Altrusa!

Here is a little sneak preview to my readers. I am about to be in a video supporting two wonderful companies. One is a well known gluten-free company and the other is a terrific non-profit gluten-free company which raises awareness about gluten free as well as research. Besides this, I get to use anyone else in the videos I want! Audition time again. We will all be wearing these delightful home- made aprons and Danny will be on the front of them too. Some say we should sell them eventually but there is also talk about many more videos so we shall see.

Listening to "Danny the Dragon" reading from the author.

To bring you up to date I need to share with you the wonderful experience I had at St Joseph’s Children Hospital of Tampa Florida along with Borders Bookstore. I arrived to an incredible group of children and some with their families by their side. These kids were “eyes wide open” as I read “Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy”, to a variety of children sitting and lying down, whatever made them comfortable. They had an upcoming fund-raiser which I donated a piece of furniture from my furniture line (Which I am no longer selling). Borders had accumulated boxfuls of books to give out to the kids along with Danny stickers and bookmarks. If you want to have Danny come to your school, hospital or library, just let us know!