Oprah-inspired Books Help Parents Prepare Their Children For School

Fredonia, WI -- Cedar Valley Publishing is pleased to announce the California Department of Education Compliance Board has just approved "Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten!" as a socially, morally and legally acceptable children’s book for California schools and awarded the same designation to "Let’s Get Ready For First Grade!," the next book in the series. Both award-winning books are designed to assist parents in preparing their children for their first years in school, making sure they get off on the right foot and excel in today’s exceedingly demanding early childhood curriculum.

The recent California Department of Education endorsement essentially allows California Public School Districts to purchase these books from the educational budget, if the school has available funding.

And all this started from watching the Oprah Winfrey show.

In 2003 Stacey Kannenberg contacted her neighbor and decided to become walking buddies after watching the Oprah Winfrey show. From their walks and the show came the idea to write a children’s book for Oprah’s Big Dream Contact to help get their own kids ready for that first day of school. They were further inspired by Oprah episodes on "Self-Publishing" and "Mommy Businesses," both shows that encouraged them to start up Cedar Valley Publishing in 2004.

Three years later their books continue to garner awards.

"Let's Get Ready For Kindergarten!" and "Let's Get Ready For First Grade!" are both award winning books that have received national acclaim. One was voted 2005 Best Educational Book of the Year Award through the Adding Wisdom Award (AWA) program of Parent to Parent™; the other received the same honor in 2006. They have been a hot topic among morning TV talk show hosts, newspapers and radio. And the Kindergarten book has been awarded a Silver Addy for illustrations from the American Advertising Awards. Both books were selected by Orca Communications as one of the Top Holiday 2006 Educational Gift Pick. Most recently they received approval and endorsements from the California Department of Education.

"Most parents want to be involved in the educational process for their kids," says Kannenberg, now the sole owner of Cedar Valley Publishing, the publisher of the books. "Unfortunately, many do not know what to do. Some will be shocked at how advanced the Kindergarten and First Grade curriculum has become and unfortunately, a few will realize that they should have been working with their children at home before they entered Kindergarten and First Grade. It’s not just knowing your name, address, phone number, and tying your shoes, it’s about taking an active role in learning. It's simple -- I’m helping parents get involved in education at the core."

Both award-winning learning books give parents an overview of what children need to know for prior to entering their first years in school.

Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! introduces and recommends a list of skills that parents can work on at home and school. On the list: how to share, how to take turns and listen quietly, wait patiently and use words to communicate, recognize and know your full name, know your parent’s and/or caregiver’s first and last name, how to dress yourself; how to zip, tie or fasten your clothing; recite and recognize the alphabet, and how to use a pencil, crayons, glue and scissors.

The books introduce 6 different culturally diverse kids and a teacher to help make the core curriculum concepts fun. Children learn by following the illustrations and teachers or parents teach simply by reading each page. These books are the perfect solution for preparing children to succeed in the national "No Child Left Behind" program. Children can use dry erase markers in each book as they are printed on durable dry erase material. The idea is to have one book to prepare a child for each grade.

The Harlem Children’s Zone was so impressed by the Kindergarten book they ordered one for each child entering kindergarten. The Harlem Children’s Zone works with a 60-block area in Harlem, NY and holds a lottery system to guarantee kids that if they are selected into the program and when they complete it, that they will get a paid college scholarship.

Book information:
"Let's Get Ready for Kindergarten" (ISBN#: 1-933476-00-1, $15) and "Let's Get Ready for First Grade" (1-933476-10-9, $17) are available from www.cedarvalleypublishing.com; www.Amazon.com; www.Target.com; www.barnesandnoble.com; Borders and select Learning Express stores nationwide.

About Stacey Kannenberg:
Stacey Kannenberg is an award-winning author. Her first book, "Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten" has been a hot topic among morning TV talk show hosts, newspapers and radio and has garnished several awards. Her second children’s book in the series, "Let’s Get Ready for First Grade!" was released last March, 2006, and has already won the Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Award. She and her family live in Fredonia, WI. Her books have just received approval and endorsements from the California Department of Education.

Parent to Parent:
Parent to Parent.com is a Web site for parents by parents dedicated to good parenting. It is based on and features the syndicated newspaper column Parent to Parent™ written by internationally syndicated columnist, author and Family-Health Educator Jodie Lynn.

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Stacey Kannenberg:
Stacey Kannenberg is an award-winning author. Her first book, "Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten" has been a hot topic among morning TV talk show hosts, newspapers and radio and has garnished several awards. Her second children’s book in the series, "Let’s Get Ready for First Grade!" was released last March, 2006, and has already won the Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Award. She and her family live in Fredonia, WI. Her books have just received approval and endorsements from the California Department of Education.

Stacey Kannenberg
Cedar Valley Publishing
N6854 Cedar Valley Road
Fredonia, WI 53021
Phone: 920-994-9906
www.CedarValleyPublishing.com

This release was published on openPR.