In this bright, bold picture book, a cast of animal characters are building a brand-new playground in a local park for their community! Each day of the week contains a different construction plan as the steam-rolling, digging, and planting gets underway. Tuesday! Mix day! Pipe and boards and bricks day. Stack, spin, pour it in. Give the fence a fix day. Wednesday! Load day! Take it on the road day. Hoist, haul, pull it all. Something being towed day! The construction project comes together for a joyful, rhyming walking tour of a neighborhood, where young readers can learn the days of the week while watching everyone work as a team!

This is the story Bardot’s Belinda Chapple has wanted to tell for twenty years – a cautionary tale of exploitation and heartbreak. In 2000, millions of Australians tuned in to watch Popstars, one of the world’s first reality television competitions, in which five girls were selected from thousands to become members of a new band: Bardot. And Belinda Chapple signed a contract that would turn her life upside down. Bardot shot straight to fame and Belinda spent the following three years relentlessly rehearsing, recording and touring. The band released two very successful albums, a slew of hit singles, and performed on world stages to thousands of adoring fans. But Belinda discovered that the life of a popstar could be lonely, and it came with consequences she never saw coming. The impact on her body image was disastrous, and it was impossible to maintain romantic relationships, but at least she had her fellow band members to turn to for support … or so she thought. The Girl in the Band is a behind-the-curtains look at the ruthlessness of the entertainment industry. Belinda Chapple’s story will resonate with anyone who’s given up everything for a dream, only to have it shatter around them.

BARBIEr TALKS! is a free-wheeling account of life at Mattel during the “Golden Age” of the sixties and early seventies. This is the first book written by two toy designers who actually worked in the wonderful, top secret circus of Mattel’s Research and Design. BARBIEr TALKS! relates the genius, the hilarity and the craziness that, Gwen Florea and Glenda Phinney encountered in the workplace and their roles in making Talking Barbie a reality. In their well-written intersecting personal memoirs, the authors reveal the inside story of how Barbie got her voice, and why Barbie’s figure took the unrealistic shape that it did. There are both humorous and poignant stories about the antics of the toy designers and executives of Mattel. These historical events are interwoven with an honest and very readable account of the loves, marriages, and the blindly sexist business world, which triggered development of a feminine consciousness in each woman. What do Barbie Dolls do when they grow up? They have amazing lives and achieve their goals! BARBIE TALKS! is a revealing account of two women who came of age in the shadow of Barbie, and reveals a lie to the notion that Barbie was a poor influence for young women. Visit us on the web, www.barbietalks.com and see some of the fun pictures that didn’t make it into the book. We’d also love to hear from you.

Hurt, confused, guilt ridden and angry, so begins the story of Francie Roberts. An aspiring teenage model who along with her cousin Barbie Roberts starts out in Wisconsin and head to New York City. The city of fabulous clothes, and unlimited adventure. Unspeakable tragedy and loss in Francie's life plays a part in her not being able to accomplish her dream of becoming a high fashion model. An unexpected plot twist unfolds in this heartfelt book and takes the reader on a whirl-wind of emotions. And Francie finds herself returning to her devious ways of the past filled with lies and betrayal. This fiction account of the author's imagination paints a portrait of memories from her own childhood, familial love and how it has endured through the years. So captivating, it exhibits ways in which terrible pain and family chaos can be redeemed in fragments through love and forgiveness. This book teaches about life, death, grief, faith, holding on, and letting go. It will surely make reader think about the things that are sometimes taken for granted. See our beloved Barbie come to life and bring her family members together on a special holiday in this beautiful story that will clearly warm the hearts of millions of readers around the world.

Illustrations and rhyming text invite readers to imagine themselves as brilliant birds.