Pick-a-Woo Woo's new book, Guardians of Earth, is going green with Eco-Libris!

We are happy to announce a new collaboration with our partner, the Australian publishers Pick-a-Woo Woo, on a great new green children's book that was just released: Guardians of Earth: Adventures in Wild & Wonderful Places.

100 trees will be planted with Eco-Libris for this book. As you can see in the picture above, our logo is also added to the book's cover.

Based in Western Australia, Pick-a-Woo Woo Publishers are publishers of Mind Body Spirit books for children. Their inspirational books are designed to help children connect with their intuition and inner guidance, develop their awareness skills and enhance their Mind, Body, Spirit connection.

This book is a green book, not just because of the trees planted for it, but also because of the story it tells and the messages it sends to the readers. Here are more details about Guardians of Earth: Adventures in Wild and Wonderful Places:Adventures in Wild's Wonderful Places. 'Have you ever seen a penguin in your study; or a slinky, carpet python on your porch; a wedge-tail eagle resting in your sandpit or been possum spotting with a torch? We have! Follow the adventures of three lively lads. A Wild and Wonderful start to becoming a guardian of the earth.' 

"Pure delight! Highly recommended!" Andrew Chapman - Biologist, " Everyone will love the magic this series brings." Tracey Puckeridge - CEO, Steiner Education Australia

Author: Esther-Rose Mills
Esther Mills was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Her love for conservation and art are combined in 'Adventures in Wild and Wonderful Places', the first book in the 'Guardians of the Earth' series. Inspired by life in the Fitzgerald River National Park; where her husband Stephen worked as a national park ranger; and the curiosity of her three young sons, Esther is commited to reconnecting children with nature and the importance of sustainable living. The Mills family currently reside in the garden village of Nannup, Western Australia.

Copies of the book are available for purchase on MBS Press website.

Other Pick-a-Woo-Woo titles that go green with Eco-Libris:
The Star Who Lost Her Sparkle
The Boy Who Was Born To Love Frogs
Angel Steps
Ocean's Calling
KC the Conscious Came
Archie Angel to the Rescue

More information on these books and other titles published by Pick-a-Woo Woo can be found on their website - http://www.pickawoowoo.com

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris
Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Three children's books on the new Silly Gilly Gil Series are going green with Eco-Libris!

We are happy to update you on not one, but three new books coming from our partner, the Australian publisher Pick-a-WooWoo Publishers, as part of the new Silly Gilly Gil Series: Best Buddies, Bullying Hurts and Grandpa Harley's Funeral. Written by Abue (Donna Kuehl Frantz) and illustrated by Gabriel Evans, all of these wonderful children's books are going green with Eco-Libris and 300 trees are planted for the printed copies!

About the series: Gil, of the Silly Gilly Gil book series is an amazing boy. Regardless of where he is, what he is doing, or who he is with, Gil keeps his heart open. It is no different than his having brown skin...simply a part of who Gil is. Does that mean Gil is a perfect little angel? No way! He has real-life issues to deal with...divorced parents, a school bully, and the death of his grampa. But as Gil remains true to himself in each situation, those around him, both kids and adults, learn how to stay true to themselves as well.

Book #1 on the series: Best Buddies

Gil's parents are divorced, so come the weekend, he goes to live with his dad at his dad's apartment. Only this time his dad's new girlfriend is there. Seeing his dad with Lizzy feels weird, as in bad. And besides, it seems like Lizard (as Gil thinks of her), wants he and his dad to stop doing all the fun things they usually do together. But when Gil senses that his dad is lying to him about something involving Lizard, his heart starts to hurt. Not knowing how to do it any other way, and even though he is afraid, Gil simply must open up and tell his dad the truth about what he is feeling.

100 trees are planted with Eco-Libris for Best Buddies! The book is available for sale on Amazon at http://amzn.to/HKsUtS

Book #2 on the series: Bullying Hurts

Lots of kids call Ziggy a bully. That's because he punches people on the playground when the teacher isn't looking. When kids want to know why Ziggy does that, Gil gives them his best guess, "Maybe Ziggy needs a friend." But Gil is in for a big surprise when, instead of bumping knuckles with Gil to be friends, Ziggy punches Gil on the arm again and again! Of course you will have to read the book to find out what Gil does next, but here's a clue: it's not the answer most adults would give, and it's a little bit scary, too.

100 trees are planted with Eco-Libris for Bulling Hurts! The book is available for sale on Amazon at http://amzn.to/HBGAG2

Book #3 on the series: Grampa Harley's Funeral

After Gil's grampa dies, he has to go to a big church party called a funeral. But when he gets in trouble for using his outside voice inside the church, Gil gets embarrassed and squeezes his eyes closed. That's when something incredible happens. He actually gets to be with his grampa and sit on his Harley and give him a humongous hug, just like always! Afterward, even though he's not sure if his mom and his gramma and his aunt believe it, Gil knows in his heart that what happened with his grampa was real.

100 trees are planted with Eco-Libris for Grampa Harley's Funeral! The book is available for sale on Amazon at http://amzn.to/HQL7YM

About the publisher: Based in Western Australia, Pick-a-WooWoo Publishers are publishers of Mind Body Spirit books for children. Their inspirational books are designed to help children connect with their intuition and inner guidance, develop their awareness skills and enhance their Mind, Body, Spirit connection. Their goal is to help children create a sense of strength and sense of belonging in this world by teaching them of their connection to everything in the web of life.

Other Pick-a-Woo-Woo titles that go green with Eco-Libris:

The Boy Who Was Born To Love Frogs
Angel Steps
Ocean's Calling
KC the Conscious Came

Archie Angel to the Rescue
The Star who Lost her Sparkle
Herbie and the Tune
A is for Asking

More information on these books and other titles published by Pick-a-Woo Woo can be found on their website - http://www.pickawoowoo.com

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

Pick-a-Woo Woo's new book, The Star Who Lost Her Sparkle, is going green with Eco-Libris!

We are happy to announce a new collaboration with our partner, the Australian publishers Pick-a-Woo Woo, on a great new green children's book that was just released: The Star Who Lost Her Sparkle.

100 trees will be planted with Eco-Libris for this book. As you can see in the picture above, our logo is also added to the book's cover.
Based in Western Australia, Pick-a-Woo Woo Publishers are publishers of Mind Body Spirit books for children. Their inspirational books are designed to help children connect with their intuition and inner guidance, develop their awareness skills and enhance their Mind, Body, Spirit connection.

This book is a green book, not just because of the trees planted for it, but also because of the story it tells and the messages it sends to the readers. Here are more details about The Star Who Lost Her Sparkle:

Sprinkle here and Sparkle there. We work with love This cosmic fairytale of a sick star and her sad people is a story we can relate to with our planet today. Luckily, the Fairies from the Great Medicine Star work their wonderful healing arts for happiness. A simple meditation is provided to help spread the sparkle.

A powerful message that reaches out to young and old who care about our beautiful planet Earth.

Author: Tricia mary Lee
" I have always loved writing. I love it as an art form for it's creative expression, as a communication tool for reaching across cultures and continents, as a power tool to inspire the heart and transform our way of thinking."

"The Star who lost her Sparkle" is my first published children's book and it was written in England, where I have a strong Celtic bloodline, hence the fairies!!! "

A self-confessed gypsy, Tricia mary, [who is proud mum to two big men, Tom, a photographer and James, an artist,] currently lives with her husband of 27 years in the beautiful southern forest region of West Australia in communion with this wonderful earth.

Her work journey spans teaching special needs students in the early childhood age range in the UK to literacy consultant in the Kimberley [ far NW Australia ], from practicing various healing modalities to training volunteers in Tender Touch Therapy for work with the aged and especially those with palliative care needs. In 2010 she received the ‘Volunteer of the Year' award for this work.

She is the author of two books for women : "Stop Punishing Yourself" and "The Sacred Goddess Manuscripts" and has more works yet to come. (Note from Pickawoowoo - these books are fantastic)

Copies of the book are available for purchase on Amazon.

Other Pick-a-Woo-Woo titles that go green with Eco-Libris:

The Boy Who Was Born To Love Frogs
Angel Steps
Ocean's Calling
KC the Conscious Came
Archie Angel to the Rescue

More information on these books and other titles published by Pick-a-Woo Woo can be found on their website - http://www.pickawoowoo.com

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Earth Day 2011 Campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book: Reason no. 23

We continue with our Earth Day campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book, where we share with you 41 reasons provided by readers in celebration of the upcoming 41st anniversary of Earth Day!

With more than 180,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea.. But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea.

So for 41 days until Earth Day, we publish here the 41 best replies we receive, one reply a day. All replies are gathered and presented on the Earth Day 2011page.

Reason mo. 23:

“Writing a book about ‘green guilt,’ I certainly had to do something to assuage my own green guilt about printing books! I tried to publish in the most sustainable fashion available to me, but partnering with Eco-Libris and knowing that a tree was planted for every copy made me feel much better about the publishing process.” - Paige Wolf, author of Spit That Out!: The Overly Informed Parent's Guide to Raising Children in the Age of Environmental Guilt

Thank you Paige for sharing with us your thoughts on planting trees for your book!

We want to mention again the great prizes we give away on this campaign, courtesy of our partners. Winners can choose their prize from a great list of gifts including audiobooks from Simon & Schuster Audio (such as The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova and Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama) and great books, like Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender, Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf, Menu Dating by Tristan Coopersmith and The Healthy Home by Dave Wentz and Dr. Myron Wentz. You can see the full list of the prizes on the campaign's page.

Every day we'll give further details on one of the prizes. Today we present you with the audiobook Bird Cloud by Annie Proulx.

Bird Cloud: A Memoir by Annie Proulx - "Bird Cloud" is the name Annie Proulx gave to 640 acres of Wyoming wetlands and prairie and four-hundred-foot cliffs plunging down to the North Platte River. On the day she first visited, a cloud in the shape of a bird hung in the evening sky. Proulx also saw pelicans, bald eagles, golden eagles, great blue herons, ravens, scores of bluebirds, harriers, kestrels, elk, deer and a dozen antelope. She fell in love with the land, then owned by the Nature Conservancy, and she knew what she wanted to build on it—a house in harmony with her work, her appetites and her character, a library surrounded by bedrooms and a kitchen.

Proulx's first work of nonfiction in more than twenty years, Bird Cloud is the story of designing and constructing that house—with its solar panels, Japanese soak tub, concrete floor and elk horn handles on kitchen cabinets. It is also an enthralling natural history and archaeology of the region—inhabited for millennia by Ute, Arapaho and Shoshone Indians— and a family history, going back to nineteenth-century Mississippi riverboat captains and Canadian settlers.

Proulx, a writer with extraordinary powers of observation and compassion, here turns her lens on herself. We understand how she came to be living in a house surrounded by wilderness, with shelves for thousands of books and long worktables on which to heap manuscripts, research materials and maps, and how she came to be one of the great American writers of her time. Bird Cloud is magnificent.

If you want to participate in the campaign, we still have some spots available so please send us your reply it to info@ecolibris.net. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Earth Day Campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book: Reason no. 22

We continue with our Earth Day campaign - 41 Reasons to Plant a Tree for Your Book, where we share with you 41 reasons provided by readers in celebration of the upcoming 41st anniversary of Earth Day!

With more than 180,000 trees planted so far on behalf of readers, authors and publishers working with Eco-Libris, it's no surprise that we think planting trees to green up books is a great idea.. But we also want to hear what readers think about it and why they believe planting trees for their books is a good idea.

So for 41 days until Earth Day, we publish here the 41 best replies we receive, one reply a day. All replies are gathered and presented on the Earth Day 2011page.

Reason no. 22:
We like to Reduce Reuse Recycle whenever we can as a Publisher...not an easy task. So whenever we think PAPER we think along these lines.

P - PAY BACK – Learn to give back to Mother Nature – not just TAKE, TAKE, TAKE (thank you Eco-libris).
A - APRRECIATION - We appreciate the need to be different and show other publishers the way. Even if it means less profit.
P - PLAN – Plan to minimise wastage, minimise paper usage, minimise transport, minimise consumption on each book we print.
E - ENERGY - We appreciate that one reem of paper equals 6% of a tree; 5.4 Kg of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere... What can we do to reduce Energy and Resources and give back what we have taken?
R - RESPECT – We need to respect the lives of Trees and Ourselves...For without them – we cannot breathe.

Pick-a-WooWoo Publishers (Australia), publishers of great children's books, including KC the Conscious Camel, Angel Steps, Just a Dream, Mr. Now's Magnificent Moment, Archie Angel to the Rescue and many more!

Thank you Pick-a-WooWoo Publishers for sharing with us your thoughts on planting trees for your books!

We want to mention again the great prizes we give away on this campaign, courtesy of our partners. Winners can choose their prize from a great list of gifts including audiobooks from Simon & Schuster Audio (such as The Half Life by Jennifer Weiner, Left Neglected by Lisa Genova and Essence of Happiness by the Dalai Lama) and great books, like Planet Home by Jeffrey Hollender, Spit That Out! by Paige Wolf, Menu Dating by Tristan Coopersmith and The Healthy Home by Dave Wentz and Dr. Myron Wentz. You can see the full list of the prizes on the campaign's page.


Every day we'll give further details on one of the prizes. Today we present you with the book Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg.

Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg - Our relationship with the ocean is undergoing a profound transformation. Whereas just three decades ago nearly everything we ate from the sea was wild, rampant overfishing combined with an unprecedented bio-tech revolution has brought us to a point where wild and farmed fish occupy equal parts of a complex and confusing marketplace. We stand at the edge of a cataclysm; there is a distinct possibility that our children's children will never eat a wild fish that has swum freely in the sea.

In Four Fish, award-winning writer and lifelong fisherman Paul Greenberg takes us on a culinary journey, exploring the history of the fish that dominate our menus---salmon, sea bass, cod and tuna-and examining where each stands at this critical moment in time. He visits Norwegian mega farms that use genetic techniques once pioneered on sheep to grow millions of pounds of salmon a year. He travels to the ancestral river of the Yupik Eskimos to see the only Fair Trade certified fishing company in the world. He investigates the way PCBs and mercury find their way into seafood; discovers how Mediterranean sea bass went global; Challenges the author of Cod to taste the difference between a farmed and a wild cod; and almost sinks to the bottom of the South Pacific while searching for an alternative to endangered bluefin tuna.

Fish, Greenberg reveals, are the last truly wild food - for now. By examining the forces that get fish to our dinner tables, he shows how we can start to heal the oceans and fight for a world where healthy and sustainable seafood is the rule rather than the exception.

We still have some spots available so please send us your reply to info@ecolibris.net. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Award finalist for Mind Body Spirit Children's Book published by our Aussie partner Pick-a-WooWoo!

We just got great news from our partner, the Australian publisher Pick-a-WooWoo, announcing that their book KC the Conscious Camel was a finalist in the Mind Body Spirit Category for Children - 2010 Best Books, USA Book News Awards.

Kudos to Pick-a-WooWoo! KC the CONSCIOUS CAMEL is a story of being conscious of your own emotions and of employing spirituality and personal power to be the best that you can be. It even shows the children how to do this through meditating.

Eco-Libris is collaborating with Pic-a-WooWoo to plant trees for most their recent titles. 625 trees for were planted for KC the Conscious Camel.

Here's some more information about the book:

When K.C.'s dear friend, Sticky the Pig, is ridiculed by the class bully, Ginger the Red Fox, for an unfortunate mud puddle incident, KC shares with Sticky the tools to owning an emotion and then moving beyond it. KC demonstrates the need for acting instead of reacting. Throughout the day, the precocious camel points out opportunities for he and his friends to tune in to their inner peace, joy, and unconditional love. KC shows them how to stay connected to these productive and positive emotions through meditation.

KC and his classmates ultimately demonstrate to their teacher and to each other that they are capable of complex spiritual evolution...and a harmonious day on the playground!

Author: Suzanne McRae
Illustrator: Alexander Mortimer

More information on other titles published by Pick-a-Woo Woo can be found on their website - http://www.pickawoowoo.com

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Pick-a-Woo Woo's new book, Angel Archie To the Rescue, is going green with Eco-Libris!

We are happy to announce a new collaboration with our partner, the Australian publishers Pick-a-Woo Woo, on a great new green children's book that was released last week: Angel Archie To The Rescue.

625 trees will be planted with Eco-Libris for the book's first edition. As you can see in the picture above, our logo is also added to the book's cover.

Based in Western Australia, Pick-a-Woo Woo Publishers are publishers of Mind Body Spirit books for children. Their inspirational books are designed to help children connect with their intuition and inner guidance, develop their awareness skills and enhance their Mind, Body, Spirit connection.

This book is a green book, not just because of the trees planted for it, but also because of the story it tells and the messages it sends to the readers. Here are more details about Angel Archie to the Rescue:

Mother Earth has sent Angel Archie on an incredible mission - to show children how to care for her Planet. Archie tirelessly works from morning to night with his fun, magical and sometimes musical methods.

‘This story empowers children, giving them the wisdom to ‘Reduce-Reuse-Recycle' and to ‘Think Green' at every opportunity. It is an extraordinary teaching tool for parents and teachers as Archie opens the opportunity for discussion about respecting our Mother Earth. Many interactive and fun activities are offered at the end of the story'

Author: Lisa Sheehy
Lisa is an energetic, positive person who lives her life with purpose and embraces everyday. She is passionate about environmental issues and the need for everyone to reduce-reuse and recycle.

With the help of ‘Angel Archie', Lisa aims to educate children on Earth the important role they play in saving our planet. Her hope is children will then teach parents and reinforce Greener living in the family home. ‘Angel Archie' and Lisa are currently working on how diet and lifestyle are affecting our children's spiritual, emotional and physical health.

Illustrator: Aaron Pocock
Aaron was born in Reading, England on May 11th 1970, now living in Brisbane, Australia and has been creative for most of his life. He's been illustrating in one way or another for most of his life.

It's the typical story of drawing since he was a child, making up imaginary worlds, populated with Wizards, Kings, Queens, Pixies, and Elves. He's been illustrating professionally since 1991 and has been blessed with the opportunity to do what he loves for a living.

Other Pick-a-Woo-Woo titles that go green with Eco-Libris:

The Boy Who Was Born To Love Frogs
Angel Steps
Ocean's Calling
KC the Conscious Came

More information on these books and other titles published by Pick-a-Woo Woo can be found on their website - http://www.pickawoowoo.com

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

The green agenda of the Green Books Campaign's publishers - part 5: Five Mile Press

6 days are left to the Green Books Campaign and we continue to present some of the publishers that participate in the campaign and their thoughts on why it's important that books will be printed in an eco-friendly manner.

Our guest today is Five Mile Press.

The Five Mile Press is an Australian publisher specialising in children’s books, adult non-fiction, Australiana and stationery lines. Founded in 1991, the company quickly became known for its high quality, innovative product and has been building on that reputation ever since. The Five Mile Press is one of the strongest children’s mass-market publishers in Australia. Today, The Five Mile Press publishes in excess of 200 new books each year and sells to countries all around the world.

Many of their popular children’s books, including those by leading artists such as Shirley Barber, Trace Moroney and Robyn Johnson are published in many foreign languages as well as English language editions. We currently publish books in over 27 foreign languages supplied to over 30 different language markets. In addition to this, when world rights to a title are licensed for a particular language, another 20 or so countries are added to our distribution list.

Five Mile Press is participating in the campaign with the following books (all printed on recycled paper):

1. Ranger in Danger: Diablo's Doom by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds will be reviewed on 4 the LOVE of BOOKS.

2. Ranger in Danger: Erik's Enigma by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds will be reviewed on LitLad.

3. Ranger in Danger: Hernando's Labyrinth by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds will be reviewed on BabyMac.

4. Ranger in Danger: King Cobra's Curse by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds will be reviewed on Jennifer Howard's blog.

5. Ranger in Danger: Rapscallion's Revenge by Sean Willmore and Alison Reynolds will be reviewed on Reading Upside Down.

And now to the questionnaire (all publishers were asked to reply the same four questions):

Why do you believe books should be printed on eco-friendly paper?
Like everyone around the world, we are trying to do our best to conserve our resources and in the publishing industry we are very conscious of the large amount of paper we use. If we use eco-friendly paper, then we are at least doing our best to conserve the forests and ecosystems around the world for the future generations.

What is your policy on using eco-friendly paper?
All the paper we use comes from sustainable forests. We decided to print the Ranger in Danger series on recycled paper with the McPhersons Printing Group in Australia because they are ISO 9001 Environmental accredited, and they also have a number of environmental initiatives that support the printing of their books.

The decision to print on recycled paper came at the request of one of the authors, Sean Willmore, who is the director of the conservation organization The Thin Green Line. The Thin Green Line Foundation’s mission is to share the stories of park rangers from around the world and in doing so support conservations projects, and the families of rangers killed, whilst protecting wildlife in their selfless fight for conservation globally. Sean felt very strongly that recycled paper was the way to go for this series, and we agreed.

Are there other ways you're going green? We all try in our various ways. We car pool, we recycle, we turn off lights and use natural light whenever we can, and we limit our water use within the office. We have a large water tank that supplies water for our toilets and gardens. Our production department is always looking for ways to make our company more green.

What's your advice to readers that would like to make their book purchasing more sustainable?
Look out for the FSC, recycled logo or sustainable information on the cover or imprint of the book so you can sure that all the paper has been sourced from environmentally friendly organizations. Look for quality when you are buying books – this usually means the publisher cares about their products, and therefore about the environment. At The Five Mile Press we are very aware of quality and publish to the highest and most environmentally friendly production standards.

Thank you Five Mile Press for your work and your participation in the Green Books Campaign!

The Campaign's page is http://www.ecolibris.net/greenbookscampaign2010.asp .You can also follow the campaign on Facebook and twitter.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Three new children's books published by Pick-a- Woo Woo go green with Eco-Libris!

We are happy to announce a new collaboration with our partner, the Australian publishers Pick-a-Woo Woo, on not one, not two, but three new children's books they're publishing now!

We started working with Pick-a-WooWoo last October to green up children's books they publish by planting trees. We began with 625 trees planted for "The Boy Who Was Born To Love Frogs" and now we continue with planting 625 trees planted for "Angel Steps", 625 trees for "Oceans Calling" and 825 trees for "KC the Conscious Camel".

This brings us to a total of 2,475 new trees planted on behalf of Pick-a-Woo Woo!

Based in Western Australia, Pick-a-Woo Woo Publishers are publishers of Mind Body Spirit books for children. Their inspirational books are designed to help children connect with their intuition and inner guidance, develop their awareness skills and enhance their Mind, Body, Spirit connection.

Here are more details on the three new books:





















Angel Steps

About the book:

Love You, Miss You. Through five easy steps Paris learns how to call upon Archangel Gabrielle ...the Angel of messages. Paris wishes to share with her Nana, how much she still loves and misses her. Paris is overjoyed when Nana, in return, gives her some very special messages.

"Angel Steps sensitively illustrates the process used to heal, comfort and send a message of love"

Author: Lidija Pretreger
Illustrator: Carolyn Maree Rose





















Ocean's Calling

About the book: An enlightening journey to the lost city of Atlantis.

Filled with the ancient knowledge of colour and crystal healing, this beautifully illustrated story follows the journey of a young girl who meets blue dolphins and a magical mermaid. Deep beneath the waves, they find a hidden city where they discover a secret which helps them to heal the ocean. Both children and adults will want to immerse themselves in this timeless underwater adventure.

Author: Jacqueline Nicholl
Illustrator: Gabriel Evans

KC the Conscious Camel

About the book:

When K.C.'s dear friend, Sticky the Pig, is ridiculed by the class bully, Ginger the Red Fox, for an unfortunate mud puddle incident, KC shares with Sticky the tools to owning an emotion and then moving beyond it. KC demonstrates the need for acting instead of reacting. Throughout the day, the precocious camel points out opportunities for he and his friends to tune in to their inner peace, joy, and unconditional love. KC shows them how to stay connected to these productive and positive emotions through meditation.

KC and his classmates ultimately demonstrate to their teacher and to each other that they are capable of complex spiritual evolution...and a harmonious day on the playground!

Author: Suzanne McRae
Illustrator: Alexander Mortimer

More information on these books and other titles published by Pick-a-Woo Woo can be found on their website - http://www.pickawoowoo.com

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Pick-a-WooWoo Publishers, our Australian partner, is presenting a long list of achievements!

We have a great partner in Australia - Pick-a-WooWoo Publishers that work with us to green up children's books they publish by planting trees, starting with "The Boy Who Was Born To Love Frogs" by Jacqueline Nicoll, which was released last October.

They sent us some good news we want to share with you - Pic-a-WooWoo have been recognized by Bookseller+Publisher as a significant contributor to MBS publishing and we will be mentioned in their May/June Magazine which goes out to all Booksellers / Schools / Libraries and their online network all over Australia!

This is great news and it's also an opportunity to share some other impressive facts about Pick-a-WooWoo:

1. They have gone from 5 titles in 2007 to a total of 21 books (plus e-books) at various stages of development.

2. They are the only publisher –Worldwide – focusing exclusively on Mind Body Spirit books for children. (Does not include self publishers) Do a Google Search on Spiritual Books for Children and just see!

3. Pick-a-WooWoo is the first Australian Publisher to join Eco-Libris – planting trees for each edition to offset our Carbon Imprint (625 trees planted for Born to Love Frogs)

4. Each of their titles is available via Print on Demand in the US, UK, Canada & Europe in partnership with Ingram Book Group and Lightning Source - Proudly Australian & Promoted Globally

5. E-books are the trend – and YES, every one of their Pick-a-WooWoo books are already available as an E-Book – children love them. If you would like to view one – just email them.

6. They’ve got the support of many spiritual leaders or pioneers & teachers. Shirley MaClaine, Anthony Grzelka - & awaiting testimonials from Deepak Chopra.

7. They have the services and support of the largest distributor of Mind Body Spirit books in Australia – Brumby Books and Music.

8. Their strong brand image and logo is now recognised worldwide as synonymous with Children’s Spiritual Books.

9. They have 17 books in the Pick-a-WooWoo series and growing. (Young Readers to Older Readers). As a series, each book tends to on-sell the others in the series which booksellers love and customers enjoy.

10. They have other mind body spirit books series (Grand Master Little Master) that teach enlightenment in a fun and adventurous way.They also offer FREE books as well.

11. And amazing novels for tweens/teens. Called the Colour Code - which already have been viewed by ABC filmmakers as a prospective film.

12. Pick-a-WooWoo has 11 authors (and growing) from all over the world...Incidentally - they had to close their submissions page 2 years ago due to the volume of authors wanting this genre of book to be published

13. And finally - as a leader in identifying and publishing children’s spiritual books they’re proud to offer ‘Other Books’ on their website. People have asked why they would offer to sell competitors books...Well they are different. They believe in abundance, co-operation and collaboration. They want to make it easy for everyone to find ‘Spiritual Books for Children’...this is their quest, our passion and if they can help other publishers, and self publishers, then they are walking our talk and ultimately helping the wonderful messages get to their earth angels (their children)

Kudos to Pick-a-WooWoo. We'll keep you updated with more news on our collaboration in the next couple of months!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Office paper made of Australian wheat - A green solution for the Aussies, and here?

We reported here in the past on the challenging task of establishing wheat straw as an alternative source to paper that comes from trees. One major landmark was the release of the Canadian National Geographic magazine's 2008 June issue, which was printed using 20% wheat straw. Now it looks like another landmark is achieved when 100% wheat straw paper becomes available for office use.

Springwise reports on an Australian company, Nature's Paper, which provides eco-friendly A4-A3 Copy paper made from Wheat Straw. Their promise is very simple:

"Our wheat straw paper looks, feels and performs like standard copy paper and is priced similar to standard copy paper."

Firstly, we have to clarify that when we say wheat we talk about the straw, which is usually considered residue, and not the grains that are typically used for products such as flour and cereal. Nature's Paper collects the wheat straw that is typically gets left in the fields to decompose and converts it to a quality paper pulp.

Why they do it? they explain on their website:

"We looked at our options and we were alarmed at the massive amount of trees cut down to make paper in Australia each year. 17 trees are cut down and wood chipped for every tonne of paper used in Australia and with 1.6 million tonnes of paper per year produced in Australia alone, that’s tens of millions of trees wood chipped in paper production each year.

By producing a high quality product for everyday use in printing emails, reports, flyers, invoices, plans, schedules etc that costs the same or less than you may currently be paying, AND places your business in a more environmentally conscious position, Nature’s Paper hopes to save millions of trees every year without it costing you the earth."

They are definitely right in choosing to focus on wheat, as wheat's carbon footprint is not only smaller from wood-sourced paper, but also from other agricultural residue options. The Canadian organization Canopy, which is committed to promoting the market development of papers using agricultural residue fibers, did a comparison between the carbon footprints of couple of options and found the following results (the footprint is per hectare):

Wheat straw - 0.8-1.2

Wood (Aspen) - 2.3-2.7

Flax straw - 2.3 -2.6

Wood (Spruce) - 3.9- 5.7

With these figures it looks very clear why wheat straw should be considered as an eco-friendly alternative to wood as the source of paper. And if it has the similar quality and pricing as "regular" paper, is there any reason your office shouldn't take it at least for a trial?

Well, if you're in Australia, definitely not. But what happens if your office is in the U.S. or Canada, where you can purchase the wheat straw from their local distributor, Enviro Green? Is the paper's footprint still significant lower after making all the long way from Australia to North America? I'm not so sure about it.

When the special National Geographic issue was printed, Canopy explained that the wheat straw used for it was imported from China because they couldn't find the large volume required for such a project in North America. Nevertheless, they explained that importing the wheat straw from China wasn't a sustainable solution and their vision is to help building the necessary production capacities in Canada and North America. I think the same logic applies to office paper made of wheat as well, so I hope that we'll soon have a local source of 100% office paper made of wheat straw in North America that will be a true sustainable alternative for local offices (at least those who are not paperless yet..).

If such a local source already exists, we'll be happy to hear from you. Please add a comment with the details.

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Pick-a-WooWoo Publishers, an Australian publisher, is going green with Eco-Libris!

We are happy to announce a new collaboration with the Australian publishers Pick-a-WooWoo Publishers!

We will work with Pick-a-WooWoo to green up children's books they publish by planting trees, starting with "The Boy Who Was Born To Love Frogs" by Jacqueline Nicoll, which was released on Wednesday!

Based in Western Australia, Pick-a-WooWoo Publishers are publishers of Mind Body Spirit books for children. Their inspirational books are designed to help children connect with their intuition and inner guidance, develop their awareness skills and enhance their Mind, Body, Spirit connection.

Their goal is to help children create a sense of strength and sense of belonging in this world by teaching them of their connection to everything in the web of life.

We're happy to start this partnership with the beautiful book "The Boy Who Was Born To Love Frogs" - 625 trees will be planted with our planting partner for its first edition and you can find our logo on the book!

Here are some more details on the book:

Author: Jacqueline Nicoll

Illustrator: Gabriel Evans

What it is about: All children have a gift. One boy, through his love of nature, makes a plan and is helped by the magical realms to share his wisdom and inspire others. This story celebrates the healing light that is within us all. Jacqueline believes that this book will help empower children with its message... that they too can make a difference with their individual gifts and talents.

The book will be available soon at http://www.pickawoowoo.com, where you can also find more information on the other books published by Pick-a-WooWoo Publishers!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: promoting sustainable reading!