Original children’s book series Playdate Kids launches in September 2006

MALIBU, CA— Playdate Kids Publishing— a new children’s publishing company founded by Tena Fanning, announced today that its first book series, The Playdate Kids: Self-help Series, authored by licensed Marriage, Family and Child therapist, Dr. Annie Thiel, launches September 2006.

The first of the book series encourages children between the ages of three and six to develop strong and confident social skills. As parents search for ways to teach their children life lessons, The Playdate Kids provide engaging characters to explain stories such as sharing, paying attention and helping with chores. Illustrated by William Edwards, each topic is easy to understand, colorful and fun.

The books released in the first self-help series will be “Cosmo’s Mom and Dad are Moving Apart,” “Chloe’s New Baby Brother,” “Danny is Moving” and “Dakota’s Mom Goes to the Hospital.” These books have useful tips to help kids understand their feelings and feel safe in their current environments and difficult situations.

"The Playdate Kids book series recognizes the social needs of young children and shares them with parents," says Tena Fanning, President of Playdate Kids Publishing. "The stories are lessons designed with the guiding hand of a new friend. The Playdate Kids are great role models for social interaction and good behavior."

Publisher Bio:

Tena Fanning is the president of Playdate Kids Publishing, the latest venture for this successful entrepreneur. As former Vice President and co-founder of the industry’s hottest music video production company, FM ROCKS INC., Tena co-developed it into one of the most successful global producers of commercials and music videos.

With over twenty years of creative management and entertainment production, Tena has contributed to the success of global commercials and showcased music videos on top networks including MTV, VH1, FUSE, as well as premiere international stations around the world.

It was Tena’s natural enthusiasm for children that made this new endeavor an obvious next step in her career. As publisher of Playdate Kids Publishing, she has created a new series of children’s books under the name The Playdate Kids. This series of books for young children between the ages of 3-6, deals with emotional and social situations that children encounter in their young lives. The stories help provide adults with the tools they need to help children understand and cope with each situation.

Tena’s heartfelt commitment to children is prominent in other areas of her life as well. She is co-chairman of Malibu Global Awareness—a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders (an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural or man-made disasters, or excluded from health care in over 70 countries). Over the past several years, she has successfully raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the charity.

Tena hopes that her expansion into children’s book publishing will bring excitement and flair to the world of children’s entertainment. In addition to the book series, she plans to publish DVDs, workbooks and other outstanding children’s products.

Author Bio:

Author, Annie Thiel, Ph.D., magnificently blends more than thirty years experience as a renowned child psychologist with her excitement towards kids to create a story like no other.

With her extensive educational background in psychology and her license in Marriage, Family and Child Therapy, Dr. Thiel has always had career goals that involved helping children. Her active private practice in Malibu, California, has been consistently successful for families with kids of all ages.

Dr. Thiel’s compassion for children does not end at therapy. Her desire to reach out to children all over the world has led her to join the Malibu Global Awareness charity— an organization devoted to improving the lives of children and families all over the globe.

Through her most recent accomplishment, The Playdate Kids, Dr. Thiel showcases her exceptional background in child psychology, authenticating the book series with her brilliant insight and caring solutions to various children’s situations. She is hoping that The Playdate Kids series will help children around the world realize that although being a kid seems tough, it is the most special time of their lives.

Illustrator Bio:

As illustrator of The Playdate Kids series, Bill Edwards provides engaging characters and vivid images throughout the books. His mastery in extraordinary art extends way past a caricaturist, bohemian painter and mechanical draftsman.

In animation, Bill literally found life in art and a whole new world of creative expression. He has worked as an animator for a number of production companies such as Disney, Fox Animation, PAX TV, Fox Sports, Candid Camera, Focus on the Family, Steamroller Entertainment, Studio Animatics, among others. He worked on The Family Guy from its initial development through three years as lead character designer.

Bill brings a laid-back attitude to The Playdate Kids series; his oddball sense of humor and skilled draftsmanship, work together to bring the children’s literature something totally new. Between the characters’ hilariously depicted personalities and their quirky appearances, Bill has provided The Playdate Kids readers sheer entertainment.

Each book in this series is illustrated in full color throughout, is 32 pages long, has a trim size of 10” x 10”, a library binding, and is priced at $14.95.

Dr. Annie Thiel and Tena Fanning are available for interviews.

For additional information or a sample copy, please contact Mona Loring at (805) 231-3182 or contact@monaloring.com. Please also visit the website at: www.theplaydatekids.com.

# # #