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Great Gifts for the Holiday Season, Bur Bur and Friends Children’s Products Now Available in Eden Prairie Mall

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

"Bur Bur Throws Out the First Pitch" book cover (From the award winning Bur Bur and Friend's children's book series) Bur Bur's Fishing Adventure children's book cover. Winner of the iParenting Media Award and Silver Mom's Choice AwardBur Bur and Friends Award Winning Product Extensions created by JoAnne Pastel and Kakie Fitzsimmons: Cultivating self-esteem and inspiring fitness for kids using characters that reflect the human rainbow. Bur Bur and Friends are based off of real life children!Anna Goes Hiking Book Cover (From the award winning Bur Bur and Friends children's book series)"Bur Bur's Boating ABC's" book cover (From the award winning Bur Bur and Friend's children's book series)    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (Eden Prairie) – The outlook may not be so rosy for retailers – the National Retail Federation is projecting 2009 holiday sales to be one percent lower than 2008 – but some local entrepreneurs have high hopes for the holiday season.

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Join us Fridays at Gaviidae Market Downtown Minneapolis

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

Bur Bur and Friends featured at the Gaviidae Market

Gaviidae Market was created as an effort to respond to consumers who have shared they are looking for practical gifts this year. It was inspired by local farmers markets and wants to attract consumers by featuring local businesses. They anticipate the Holidazzle Parade will bring people in as well.

 When: Fridays between now and December 18th 10:00AM – 8:00PM
 What: Gaviidae Market on Nicollet Mall, Downtown Minneapolis

Bur Bur and Friends will be featured at the Gavidae Market. Gavidae Commons is a high end retail center that includes prestigious names that include as Niemen Marcus, Saks 5th Anvenue, Ann Taylor, Cole Hahn, Aveda Lifestyle, Juut Salon. Talbots and more

 

Our award winning products are fun and educational for children ages 2-7. We will be signing our books and selling Bur Bur and Friends products that include books, dolls, puzzles, apparel and more. Please stop by, bring friends, send friends to meet the authors and see what we have to offer. Are you on Facebook? Please consider being a fan of our characters on facebook. http://tinyurl.com/yzcc7wa

 Thank you for your ongoing support. Please don’t keep us a secret!

Bur Bur’s Boating ABC’s Book Cover - 2008 Teacher’s Choice Awards and iParenting Media Awards winner and Silver 2008 Mom’s Choice Award recipientBur Bur’s Fishing Adventure Book CoverBur Bur Throws Out the First Pitch Book children’s book cover - iParenting Media Award winner and Silver 2008 Mom’s Choice Award WinnerAnna Goes Hiking Book Cover - iParenting Media Award winner, Silver Mom’s Choice Award WinnerBur Bur and Friends Award Winning Product Extensions created by JoAnne Pastel and Kakie Fitzsimmons: Cultivating self-esteem and inspiring fitness for kids using characters that reflect the human rainbow. Bur Bur and Friends are based off of real life children!

Book Covers and other products from the award winning Bur Bur and Friend’s children’s book series: Bur Bur and Friends is a cast of multicultural characters who help kids cultivate their self-esteem and talents by teaching them about sports, outdoor exploration and active play though their experiences. Bur Bur and Friends characters are based off of real life kids like yours!

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What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving?

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Home made thanksgiving art from a young child

The sound of laughter from children, seeing them have a desire to learn and explore new things, seeing the light bulb turn on in their little minds, teaching them, learning from them, watching them have a desire to be part of something larger than themselves, etc. These are just a few things out of so many to be thankful for.

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Alumni Success Stories: JoAnne Pastel: Charting a New Path

Friday, November 6th, 2009

 Alumni Success stories from MCTC - "JoAnne Pastel: Charting a New Path" JoAnne is President and Founder of Farmer's Hat Productions, a children's product company that is internationally known and inspires kids to cultivate self-esteem by educating them about sports, outdoor exploration and active play.

 Six years ago, JoAnne Pastel was at a turning point. After nearly a decade working in sales and as a stockbroker, the MCTC alumna had recently given birth to her first child and knew she didn’t want to go back to the corporate world. “My heart just wasn’t in that life anymore,” she said. “But I wasn’t sure what to do next.”

Fast-forward to 2009. Today, Pastel is the award-winning author of the Bur Bur and Friends line of children’s books. She runs Farmer’s Hat Productions, a growing, Wayzata-based company. And she’s got big plans—the company has garnered national attention and is well positioned for future growth. (more…)

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Top 10 Ways to Teach Kids How to Make Friends

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

Learning to make friends is different for every child. Teaching them how to make friends as well as how to be a good friend has to start at home. These kids are 3 of the real life characters in the award winning Bur Bur and Friends children's book series. Bur Bur and Friends is all about friendships and communit. It helps kids cultivate their self esteem though teaching them about sports and outdoor exploration

A while back I posted a link called “A Lesson in Letting Go: A Story About Encouraging Kids to Make New Friends.” It was a story about a situation we dealt with when my son was younger.

As parents, it’s normal to have anxiety about how our kids will make friends. We know some will jump right in and others aren’t so sure. Perhaps we turn to parents, siblings, educators, friends or community resources for advice. Others research the internet to see what kind of information is at our fingertips. Teaching young kids how to make friends and participate in their community has to begin in the home. As a resource to get started, we came up with a mini starter-kit. Our hope is it will be a reminder of the things we already know, but need to hear again from a different source.

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Resources for Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15- October 15th. It is this month that celebrates the anniversary of independance from 5 Latin American countries that include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatamala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared it’s independance day on September 18th, and Chile on September 15th. (more…)

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Teach kids how to make $1,000,000 in 30 days with pennies!

Monday, October 5th, 2009

At Farmer's Hat Productions, we believe that teaching kids the value of saving money is important

In this economy it is a huge opportunity for us to educate our kids about money. Rumor has it, if you take a penny and double it each day for month using compound interest you could have more than $1,000,000 by the end of 30 days. (See the example below)“Compound interest” is a way of adding accumulated interest back into the principal so that interest is earned on interest right away. (more…)

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September is National Literacy Month – Free Resources!

Friday, September 11th, 2009

 Numerous studies have concluded that a leading contributor of academic success for children is parent involvement, regardless of socio-economic background. Research also indicates these children are more motivated, get better grades and are happier. We believe the award winning Bur Bur and Friends children's book series is a great place to start!

September is back to school time and National Literacy Month. We wanted to provide you with some free resources to help in nurturing literacy for the kids in your life:

 Last April, we published a post called: Commentary on Literacy, Raising a Book Lover. And then did another at the beginning of the summer called Make plans to read with your children this Summer. They list great ideas to promote getting kids engaged in reading. We invite you to take a look at it! (more…)

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Read President Obama’s Back to School Speech

Monday, September 7th, 2009

 Barack Obama and Family

It seems as though there is so much controversy over Barack Obama’s back to school speech.  For skeptics, it may be easy to forget he is a dad first. Based on the text below, it seems to us that he is sending a positive message to all kids, including his own.   

Prepared Remarks of President Barack Obama Back to School Event  

The President: “Hello everyone – how’s everybody doing today? I’m here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we’ve got students tuning in from all across America, kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’m glad you all could join us today.  (more…)
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Back-to-School Means Time to Immunize

Friday, September 4th, 2009

Bur Bur and Friends promotes self esteem and healthy living. As our kids prepare for the new school year, we encourage immunization for the well being of all children.

by Dr. Roger Muller senior medical director at UnitedHealthcare of the Northwest Region

Every summer, as school approaches, a common theme rings across the land: make sure your child is fully immunized.  One reason for the plea is that children who are not immunized may not attend school. In fact, we’ve heard the cry to immunize so often that the tendency of some is to simply ignore it. (more…)

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Bur Bur and Friends Blog is a WINNER of Nickelodeon Parent Picks!

Friday, August 21st, 2009

Local Blog
Minneapolis

Minneapolis, MN (Press Release) Bur Bur and Friends Blog is a winner of Nickelodeon Parent Picks award for best local blog in Minneapolis, MN. This award is affiliated with ParentsConnect, an online resource for parenting advice and community. ParentsConnect comes from the same group that brings Noggin, Nick Jr. Nickelodeon, Nic@Nite and The N to audiences everywhere. (more…)

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FanChatter: The new face of sports via social media

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

FanChatter social media is the new face of sports. It allows Scoreboard Photo Sharing and ChatterBox are engagement technologies that inspire and amplify fan-generated content to drive site traffic, sales, sponsorship revenue, and CRM. Since our award winning Bur Bur and Friends children's books teach kids to cultivate their self-esteem through sports and outdoor exploration, we think this is a great way for families to enjoy events and create memories together.

Recently we found out about something we think is thrilling! We want to tell you about FanChatter because it is so relevant to social media and sports. FanChatter is a Y-Combination recipient. Y-Combination is a Venture Capital Firm company that specializes in funding software and web-service companies. FanChatter combines social media and sports and was founded in 2007 as a mobile social media network for sports enthusiasts. (more…)

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Hey parents, teachers and caregivers! GREAT ideas to get kids moving

Friday, August 14th, 2009

As we begin the school year we want to encourage parents with creative ways to keep kids moving. The award winning Bur Bur and Friends children's books are one way to do that. Bur Bur and Friends uses a cast of multicultural characters who encourage kids to cultivate their self-esteem through educating them about sports and outdoor exploration through their experiences.

At Farmer’s Hat Productions, we know you inspire strong minds and help inspire strong bodies for our children. We want to find a way to thank all of the wonderful educators out there who make such a strong influence in the lives of our kids. Bur Bur and Friends was created as a way to get kids and families active. Below are some things that may help you as you prepare for the school year: (more…)

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QUICK! List 15 Books That Will Always Stick With You

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

Exposing kids to books at an early age encourages literacy

Please comment below and tell us fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. Do the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Don’t take too long to think about it. It should be no surprise that most of mine are classic books for kids. We are interested in seeing what books our friends choose. (These are not necessarily favorites, but ones that stick with me). This list is in no particular order. (more…)

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First African American Princess: Walt Disney Presents: “The Princess and The Frog”

Friday, August 7th, 2009

“The Princess and the Frog,” is a Jazz Age story featuring Disney’s first African American princess and set in New Orleans’ French Quarter, opens in theaters Dec. 11.” LA Times

(more…)

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