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Apple Valley Magazine – An interview with Kakie Fitzsimmons, an entrepreneur, single mother and co-author of the award winning children’s book series, Bur Bur and Friends.

By Valerie Tukey – Apple Valley Magazine
January, 2008

Seven years ago, when her son, Isaiah, was born, Kakie Fitzsimmons began to write. As a single mother of a biracial son, she started a journal full of her thoughts, values and struggles in hope of giving it to Isaiah someday. Little did she know that her love for writing personal letters soon would bloom into a career of creating children’s books. (more…)

People often ask how we came up with personalities of the characters in our award winning children’s book series Bur Bur and Friends. Although the characters are based on our kids and their friends in real life, that still doesn’t mean it has been an easy process. When JoAnne came up with the idea of creating a cast of multicultural kids who educate children about sports , outdoor exploration and active play, it was only the beginning. Farmer’s Hat Productions came to life. From there, concept grew on us and evolved into a process that we consider for all of the books that we develop . We began by, creating a general profile of each child/character. As we write each book, we incorporate some of the qualities we see in our kids. Through that process, we came into the realization that we could have an impact on the lives of many children that we most likely will never meet. (more…)

Please join us for story time and a book signing at the Minnesota Children’s Museum in downtown St. Paul on Saturday, May 3, 2008 from 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Come on a reading adventure during story time with co-authors JoAnne Pastel and Kakie Fitzsimmons, who will read tales from the award winning Bur Bur and Friends™ children’s book series. These books use a cast of multicultural characters who teach kids about sports, being active and exploring the outdoors. This theme compliments the Minnesota Children’s Museum’s all-new traveling exhibit Run! Jump! Fly! Adventures in Action, which was designed to discover the fun in being physically active in a non-competitive environment. After story time, head down to Kid Spark, the Museum gift store, for a chance to meet the authors and get your Bur Bur and Friends books signed.

Pastel and Fitzsimmons are founding partners of Farmer’s Hat Productions™, a children’s media company that inspires children to develop an interest in sports, outdoor exploration and active play.

CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT MUSEUM HOURS, DIRECTIONS CONTACT AND PARKING INFORMATION

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Kids who love Bur Bur and Friendsâ„¢ have been sending us coloring pages from all over the country and we appreciate that! Clearly they are having fun and are excited to show us their talent. Below are a few coloring samples children have shared from the Sun Country Airlines In Flight Activity Books featuring the Bur Bur and Friends characters. We thank kids from everywhere for sharing their gifts. Bur Bur and Friends is a cast of multicultural characters who educate kids about sports, outdoor exploration and active play through their experiences. Feel free to leave your comments below.

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Technorati Profile

By Kakie Fitzsimmons, VP and founding partner of Farmer’s Hat Productions, Co-author Bur Bur and Friends children’s book series which educates kids about sports, outdoor exploration and active play.

The other day, I received an email from Amy Bowllan at the School Library Journal. The School Library Journal is the worlds largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teenagers. On this website, Amy has this amazing blog which I subscribe to. Last November, she interviewed my dear friend, co-author and business partner JoAnne Pastel and I about our children’s book series, Bur Bur and Friends. Since that time, Amy and I have stayed in touch on occaision. In the note she sent me, Amy asked me for my thoughts around unspoiling our kids. I sent a note back to her and thought nothing of it.

So early this week, the traffic on our three websites: Farmer’s Hat Productions, Bur Bur and Friends and Bur Bur and Friend Blog was really high and I couldnt figure out where it all was coming from. Then, I found this post Dated March 31st called:

Kakie Fitzsimmons – Growing Kids Through Diverse Learning Experiences

Seeing her post, linking to my post, reminded me of why I enjoy blogging about the things we teach our kids and they teach us. As an author, blogger and writer, when I center my craft around what is important to me, things seem to fall into place. That is true for all of us. When we follow our passion, doors open, plans are revealed, what was unclear comes into focus. We understand our purpose.

Please don’t keep us a secret. We would be humbled and honored if you would consider passing this along to 2 or 3 others you know We love it when people to help spread the word about the good work we are doing and let us know what you think about it.

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Technorati Profile

The view from JoAnne Pastel’s living room window really does remind you of a storybook world. Trees frame the winter shoreline of Long Lake, sparkling in the sunlight that illuminates the ice on the branches. Look for a moment, it isn’t hard to imagine long summer days where a family fishes together from the shore before taking a stroll through a quiet lakeside neighborhood. It’s quite literally a scene from a children’s book. Several books, in fact.

Pastel is the founder of Farmer’s Hat Productions and the co-author of the company’s four Bur Bur and Friends books. Designed to introduce preschool children to outdoor exploration and active play, the series includes a cast of multicultural characters created to help any child find themselves in the stories. “Early on in the development of Bur Bur and Friends, we tested products at a day care,” Pastel says, “The teacher that worked with us pointed out that the kids wanted to know more about the characters that looked like them. We started to see that while kids do not see color, they do see their identity in the characters. That’s why many of the characters are based on actual kids – we wanted our books to reflect what a real group of children look like, in the real world.” (more…)