Mudpuppy Salutes PBS' Reading Rainbow

Yes, I’m a nerd. To me, LeVar Burton is a celebrity because for 25 years he’s hosted the Public Broadcasting Services show Reading Rainbow. It seems most people know him from Star Trek: The New Generation!

Reading Rainbow was one of my son’s and my favorite shows in the mid-90s. Just be thankful you can’t hear me sing the theme song. You know…"Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high…..Take a look, it’s in a book…a Reading Rainbow!"

So I was pleased to see that Reading Rainbow is alive and well and sponsoring their 15th Annual Young Writers and Illustrators contest for children Kindergarten through Third Grade.

According to the contest rules, stories may be fact or fiction, prose or poetry and must include at least five original, clear and colorful illustrations, which may include original photographs, collages, or 3D art. Stories may be dictated to adults, and invented spelling will be accepted. But that’s just a summary. As the kid reviewers used to say on Reading Rainbow, “but don’t take MY word for it” check out the Reading Rainbow web pages on the PBS site.

Here’s the link, or should I say "Take a Click, Do Quick"; or maybe "It’s really keen, it’s on your screen": http://pbskids.org/readingrainbow/contest/about_the_contest.html. But do have a look right away: the entries must be submitted by March 27.

We at Galison/Mudpuppy are dedicated to encouraging creativity everyone, not just children. Galison blank writing journals work for personal journaling, record-keeping, or creative writing.

Mudpuppy interactive journals encourage children to write and draw and create with prompts such as themes on travel or camp. Mudpuppy locked diaries encourage writing all sorts of thoughts and feelings--and one style even shows a butterfly in the sky!   

If your children enjoy reading, consider a gift of a Reading is Cool interactive journal from Mudpuppy:

Have a look at Reading Rainbow’s contest and encourage children you know to enter!

---Susan

William Morris, Lipstick Jungle, and Galison Home Office

Our Galison Creative Director Juanita Dharmazi recently sent an inter-office email:

I was watching lipstick jungle (one of my favorite shows), and suddenly there was a scene where Victory Ford's assistant was shown holding our william morris pink file folder.

  Oh my goshh.... i was screaming like crazy... we didn't expect the product placement at all ... and really, they show the file folder quite clearly!

Thank goodness this is on DVR, so I could rewind and pause....

Anyone who is watching lipstick jungle... pay attention, this was the recent Friday show (October 31) (the day of Victory's store opening)...

fabulous

As you can see, Juanita is enthusiastic about NBC's Lipstick Jungle and about Galison's William Morris Home Office accessories like file totes, file folders, magazine organizers, weekly organizers, sticky note sets, and more.

Galison offers other William Morris patterns, too! So thanks, Lipstick Jungle prop people, and now, stay tuned...

---Susan

Chrysanthemum Time at Galison

It seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the Cherry Blossom festivals, and now it's time for Japanese chrysanthemums--at this rate it will be Christmas tomorrow!

Saturday seemed like a good day for an excursion to the Bronx to the New York Botanical Garden for the opening day of the Kiku: The Art of the Japanese Chrysanthemum show, which will run through November 16, 2008. The exhibit explains and displays the extremely cultivated displays of chrysanthemums, for example, this display, which is the result of training one single chrysanthemum:        

In addition to chrysanthemums, there is a display of bonsai and other Japanese plants in the Enid Haupt Conservatory. In one courtyard, there is an imposing sculpture made of bamboo by the artist Tetsunori Kawana--with the help of volunteers! It is meant to evoke clouds over the bamboo, and here's a photo I took with the real clouds above! 

But chrysanthemums aren't only in the Bronx: here are some at the promenade (leading to where the Christmas tree will be) at Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan:  

 

Here at Galison, we have lots of Chinese and Japanese flower images applied to note cards, journals, and more. Have a look at our  Asian Art Collection to see images like this "Chinese Butterflies" box of cards:   

Mudpuppy Talks Like A Pirate

Belay the skepticism and join in the fun. We can’t all look like Johnny Depp's Captain Jack, but we can talk like pirates, for September 19th is once again…

TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!

So avast, me beauties, and check out how Mudpuppy celebrates our favorite annual event!

Young pirates can while away the hours they aren’t on deck by playing with Mudpuppy pirate themed puzzles and activities:

A 100-piece Collectible Tin Puzzle            Pirate Sticker Set Play Scene

Pirate Sticker Set Mini Play Scene                              Pirate Floor Puzzle

   

We even have a Mudpuppy pirate locked diary, urr, that is, Pirate Captain's Log in the works!

But that’s for later. For now, learn how to talk like a pirate and more from the holiday’s founders, Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers, John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baur at the official Talk Like a Pirate Day website.  Keep track of their latest adventures at their blog, The Ship’s Log o' the Festerin’ Boil  Too old to enjoy Mudpuppy pirate games? Check back with the Talk Like a Pirate website to learn how to pick up a pirate! 

And if you’re pirate-lingo challenged, there’s even an applet for the i-Phone, called, of course, the Aye-phone!

---Saucy Susan

Mudpuppy Goes Wild for Wilde--Oscar, that is

As you might expect from a small company located steps away from Manhattan’s fabled Theater District, Galison/Mudpuppy employs a fair number of people who came to the Big Apple to make it as musicians, actors, comedians, dancers, and choreographers.

Nice as it is to work here in our pleasant, collegial office, let’s face it: we didn’t dream of coming to New York to answer customer service calls or to stuff envelopes for marketing mailings. Give us the bright lights!

So I thought it would be nice to let you know when some Galison and Mudpuppy colleagues strut their stuff outside the office.

To start with, our publicity director, Brenda Bell, heads her own theater company: Literally Alive Children’s Theatre. Don’t let the “children” in the company name scare you off—this is professional theater!

Brenda decided to write a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s fairytale The Selfish Giant, and she collaborated with composer Michael Sgouros to bring it about in time to kick off the company's fall season.

Please have a look at the Literally Alive website to learn more about her 2008-2009 season, and especially The Selfish Giant, which opens on Saturday, September 6 at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street (between 3rd & Bleeker Streets), in Greenwich Village.

Performances are Saturdays and Sundays at 10 AM from September 6th through October 26th.

Step into Oscar Wilde’s imagination as the story unfolds through music, dance, storytelling, and puppetry. Plus, this play was chosen to be part of the First Irish New York City Play Festival.

In addition, there will be a special late afternoon/early evening gala and benefit performance on Saturday, September 13. The benefit will include a reception with wine, cheese, and treats and the chance for prizes through a raffle and a silent auction, as well as a performance of The Selfish Giant, of course.

The Galison/Mudpuppy connections:

Brenda Bell, of course, in her dual role as Galison publicity director AND Literally Alive Company director AND playwright and librettist!

Brenda also worked with Mudpuppy to create our popular and award-winning Sticker Set Play Scene, Fairytale Theatre.  ("Be the playwright, design the sets, collect the props, make the costumes, and put on a show in your very own theatre. Keri Smith has illustrated the makings of princesses, witches, mermaids, fairies, sailors, and kings, just to name a few, all ready to be part of a play that you direct!")

One of our favorite Mudpuppy illustrators, Gilbert Ford, illustrated the show’s poster. You can read a spotlight on Gilbert in an earlier Galiwag post and you can find Mudpuppy journals and stationery illustrated by Gilbert by going to our Galison website and searching on "Gilbert", too!

Plus we quote Oscar Wilde on the spine of one of our popular accordion organizers (the "candy dots and stripes" pattern): "I can resist everything except temptation."

So, Brenda, I look forward to seeing the show on Gala evening! I hope some of you readers will be there, too.

--Susan