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…)

MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – The Minnesota Lynx, Farmer’s Hat Productions, Minneapolis Public Schools and General Mills are partnering through ‘Lynx Fit,’ a four-week program to educate youth about the importance of living a healthy and active lifestyle. (more…)

Tune in to channel Minneapolis NBC affiliate Kare-11 on June 11th at 6:20am and 4:00pm to see Kakie Fitzsimmons, co-Author of the award winning Bur Bur and Friend’s children’s books, as she reads the fourth book in the series, “Anna Goes Hiking” to the kids from St. Vincent DePaul elementary school in Osseo, MN. “Anna Goes Hiking” is a recipient of the Mom’s Choice Awards and iParenting Media Awards.

Below is a note about the annual event at the school from teacher, Brenna McDowell: (more…)

Vote Daily until July 15th for Bur Bur & Friends Blog
for Nickelodeon’s Parent Picks

Check us out! Bur Bur and Friends Blog has been nominated for Best blog Minneapolis / St. Paul in Nickelodeon’s Parents’ Picks Awards! We need your help to win! You can vote for us once a day, every day, from now until July 15 at
http://gocitykids.parentsconnect.com/parents-picks/minneapolis-st-paul-mn-usa/best-minneapolis–st.-paul-local-blog

Thanks for your support! (more…)

JoAnne Pastel and Kakie Fitzsimmons are facilitating a featured break out session called: Following your Passion Around Education and Childhood Literacy at The 17th Annual Hubbs Children’s Literature Conference on February 28th. The conference is an annual event hosted by the University of St. Thomas and is for teachers, librarians, parents and anyone interested in quality children’s literature. (more…)

To read the article in pdf format please click here: MarineMax Magazine Interview with Author JoAnne Pastel, bring Bur Bur’s Boating ABC’s to a real life adventure By Betsy Clayton for MarineMax Magazine

Children and their imaginary friends get blamed for lots of things, But JoAnne Pastel’s son, William, and his made up buddy, Bur Bur, are different. They got credit for nudging William’s family toward the boating lifestyle aboard a Sea Ray 320 Sundancer.

Bur Bur, in fact, has gone from imaginary to being a character in Pastel’s multicultural children’s book series, Bur Bur and Friends. An illustration of the outdoorsy kid is displayed on the stern of the boat Pastel and her husband, Bill Dunlap, share on Lake Minnetonka. (more…)

Our own Kakie Fitzsimmons was recently interviewed by Christina Rodriguez, who is an award winning illustrator and member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators (SCBWI)

Kakie Fitzsimmons is the Vice President and Co-Founder of Farmer’s Hat Productions, an independent publishing company for her brand, Bur Bur and Friends. Her company strives to encourage childhood learning, early literacy, and active play through exciting, educational products featuring culturally-diverse characters. I personally love Anna Goes Hiking for the lively pictures of animals, nature exploration, and the whole family enjoying the great outdoors. Kakie, who also co-authors the Bur Bur and Friends books, graciously let me interview her for this week’s Art Crush Wednesday.
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What was the motivation behind the Bur Bur and Friends series?

Click here to read the rest Art Crush Wednesdays: An Interview with Kakie Fitzsimmons
(more…)

JoAnne Paste and Kakie Fitzsimmons, creators and co-authors of the award winning Bur Bur and Friends children’s book series were guests on St. Paul/Minneapolis 107.1 FM radio on the segment called; “Cool Women doing Cool Things” with Stephanie Hansen. Listen to the Podcast in the link below. (more…)

JoAnne Pastel, Founder and President of Farmers Hat Productions and co-author of the award winning Bur Bur and Friends children’s book series, will be interviewed on the St. Paul Minneapolis television show, Crossroads , a weekly, 30-minute show that focuses on the Twin Cities’ minority community, will highlight the many cultural happenings in our area. Crossroads can be seen every Sunday at 7:30 a.m. on Channel 45 (that’s Cable Channel 12).

The interview with JoAnne will broadcast on November 16th at 7:30 a.m. on Channel 45

A New Chapter On Realism : JoAnne Pastel is creating children’s books that mirror social diversity. by Carolyn Will

Art imitates life, or so JoAnne Pastel thought until she went looking for books to read with her young son, William. “I didn’t find anything out there that reflected real-life characters living in diverse families like ours, or portraying multi-cultural traits, like my son’s African-American hair,” says Pastel. Any books she found typically used animal characters to show diversity. Click here to read the full article (more…)

The School Library Journal is the world’s largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children and teenagers. Amy Bowllan, writer for The School Library Journal, recently commented on our new book, Anna Goes Hiking, on her blog. (more…)

It is no secret that the prices for gas have exploded and families are feeling the pain. Recently, Kayak.com, the world’s largest travel search engine, surveyed its consumers about what they plan to do over the summer. More than 64% responded that in order to keep it affordable, they would be staying closer to home.

In response to the survey, “KARE-11’s News on Saturdays” will be interviewing co-author, Kakie Fitzsimmons, (more…)

Recently, Kakie Fitzsimmons, Farmer’s Hat Productionsâ„¢ VP/Founding Partner and co-author of the award winning Bur Bur and Friendsâ„¢ children’s book series, was interviewed by BusinessWeek Journalist, Jennifer Fishbein and quoted in an article titled “Readers Voice Their Workplace Problems Here are the six things that are driving BusinessWeek readers nuts about their jobs”

The magazine conducted extensive surveys of workplace issues that were important to their readers, (work-life balance, time management, etc.). In response to the results, BusinessWeek has recently launched six blogs on the workplace issues based off of online surveys they conducted. A total of 8494 readers responded. (more…)

Local Burnsville-Eagan TV’s Access to Democracy, hosted by Barb Daily and Alan Miller, recently conducted a 28 minute interview featuring Farmer’s Hat Productionsâ„¢ Leadership team, JoAnne Pastel and Kakie Fitzsimmons. The interview was conducted by Barb Daly. (more…)

Farmer’s Hat Productions Founder featured in the Minnesota Women’s Press.
Click here to read full article
“We want to show reality and what the world truly is like.”
- JoAnne Pastel

by Erica Marston: Minnesota Women’s Press

When JoAnne Pastel couldn’t find storybook characters that her 2-year-old biracial son could identify with, she decided to do something about it. “I was just not seeing a lot of diversity. There were no characters who looked like him, which I felt was really important in helping to build his confidence.” (more…)