Blue Lake Children's Publishing NEWS RELEASES

The Tessy & Tab Reading Club Teams up with Moonjar to Offer the Preschool Money Manager Toolkit

Experts agree children should learn about money as soon as they learn to count. The Preschool Money Manager Toolkit features kid-favorite characters, Tessy & Tab, who demonstrate how to Save, Spend and Share using their Moonjar money bank. The toolkit also provides parents with a guide that includes a 7-step program to build early financial skills.

Portland, Oregon, November 27, 2007 – – Blue Lake Children’s Publishing (Blue Lake), publisher of The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, has partnered with Moonjar to create the Tessy & Tab Preschool Money Manager Toolkit which provides parents and children with a system to learn three basic money concepts: where money comes from, what money is used for, and that money management is fun.

According to the National Association of School Psychologists, learning how to manage money responsibly is one of the most important skills young people need for successful adulthood. By giving young children an early start at using their own money and teaching them to evaluate and decide what to buy, children build a solid base for managing their future finances. 

“Too many kids are taught that you “save to spend”, but real saving is the money you never spend and you watch grow,” said Blue Lake CEO Judy Johnston. “With this toolkit, parents can teach their children to save for the future, spend wisely, and share with worthwhile causes.  Solid financial management skills will become second nature to a child when you make it fun and easy.”

The Preschool Money Manager Toolkit offers parents a 7-step program to teach their preschoolers early financial skills including:

1. Review the “cost of living” and “extras” charts so children begin to understand that items such as a house and toys cost money
2. Determine weekly allowance using the allowance calculator chart
3. Make setting financial goals fun by using the Save, Spend and Share goal posters
4. Make an earnings plan
5. Make pay day a weekly ritual
6. Count and distribute earnings using the Moonjar money bank
7. Celebrate success!

“Parents can use this Preschool Money Manager Toolkit to instill values of hard work, thoughtful decision making and strong financial ethics,” said Moonjar CEO Eulalie M. Scandiuzzi. “Parents are looking for tools to help their children incorporate strong financial values and practices into their daily lives.”

The Preschool Money Manger Toolkit contains:

• Parent’s Guide:  7-step program to build early financial skills
• Two Tessy & Tab books that teach money concepts
• Moonjar 3-part bank: Save, Spend, Share boxes and passport to keep track
• Starter set of printables: allowance guidelines and calculator, goal posters, and job chart

Parents can print the allowance guidelines, calculator, goal posters, and job charts to personalize for their own family and purchase the Preschool Money Manager Toolkit for $19.95 at www.preschoolmoneymanager.com.

About Blue Lake Children’s Publishing

Founded in 2002 and based in Portland, Oregon, Blue Lake Children's Publishing creates magazines and learning toolkits with engaging characters and innovative formats that capture the imagination of today's media-savvy children. The Tessy & Tab Reading Club combines a children’s magazine subscription with tools for parents to help their preschooler get ready to read. This reading program builds early reading skills in children ages 2-6 and was developed to support the Six Skills for Early Literacy endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education. For more information call 1-800-921-3284 or visit www.tessyandtab.com.

About Moonjar

Founded in 2001, Moonjar LLC is a Seattle-based company that supports youth financial literacy around the world. Winner of the Global Learning Initiative Award and the National Parenting Center Seal of Approval, Moonjar creates products that are the teaching tools helping families gain financial literacy and life skills. Moonjar is committed to creating products that enhance family life – encouraging the communication skills of talking and listening and empowering children to reach goals and build dreams by learning about money through Saving, Spending and Sharing. For more information call 888-323-0001 or visit www.moonjar.com.

Contact:

Linda Collier, Blue Lake Children’s Publishing

503-267-8373

linda@bluelakepublishing.com

www.tessyandtab.com

Blue Lake Children’s Publishing Promotes Kathryn Shimabukuro to Chief Executive Officer

With more than 20 years of marketing, sales and business development experience, Kathryn Shimabukuro assumes the top leadership role setting her sights on growth and market leadership for the publisher of children’s magazines designed for progressive age groups.

Portland, Oregon (PRWEB) September 17, 2007 – Blue Lake Children’s Publishing (Blue Lake), publisher of The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, announced today that Kathryn Shimabukuro will lead the company as Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. The leadership transition allows founding CEO Judy Johnston to focus efforts on new product development and strategic partnerships.

“Blue Lake is poised for growth as the demand for early childhood development products, especially in the area of reading, continues to grow significantly,” said Judy Johnston. “I have mentored Kathryn as a business professional for the last year and she has what it takes to manage a high growth company. Kathryn combines a passion for measurable programs with a relentless focus on the revenue ramp. “

Kathryn first met Judy and the Blue Lake team in 2003 and recognized the company potential.   She became an investor when the company began raising capital.  In 2006, she joined the Blue Lake team serving as vice president of marketing and sales. She quickly proved herself, managing the analysis of Blue Lake’s first marketing efforts and leading the development of new, more cost-efficient channels to reach today’s savvy mom.

Prior to joining Blue Lake, Kathryn spent 20 years as an executive in marketing, sales and business development with top financial companies: KPMG, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. An active angel investor, Kathryn founded the Women’s Investment Network in 2003 and is currently serving as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network (OEN).

“As I step into this leadership role, I join a talented and creative team dedicated to bringing the best reading products to market,” said Kathryn Shimabukuro. “We are creating more than children’s magazines; we are creating programs for parents and their children to build critical reading skills in a fun and engaging way.  I am proud of our products and am passionate about sharing them with parents and children worldwide.”

About Blue Lake Children’s Publishing

Founded in 2002 and based in Portland, Oregon, Blue Lake Children's Publishing believes that books and magazines can compete in a world saturated with electronic media. In an environment where children spend an average of four hours a day watching television, Blue Lake levels the playing field by delivering fresh, relevant and fun reading experiences.

Blue Lake’s first product is The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, which combines a children’s magazine subscription with tools for parents to help their preschooler get ready to read. This reading program builds early reading skills in children ages 2-6 and was developed to support the Six Skills for Early Literacy endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education. Blue Lake will have four magazines designed for progressive age groups. Future magazines include: the basics of social behavior for ages 6-9; a puzzle monthly for ages 8-11; and serialized literature for ages 10-13. For more information, call 1-800-921-3284 or visit www.tessyandtab.com.

Blue Lake Children’s Publishing Co-founder and CEO, Judy MacDonald Johnston, Nominated for OEN Entrepreneurship Award of Individual Achievement

Blue Lake Children’s Publishing Co-founder and CEO, Judy MacDonald Johnston, Nominated for OEN Entrepreneurship Award of Individual Achievement

A veteran entrepreneur, now on her third start-up venture, Judy MacDonald Johnston creates and builds successful companies that focus on making life better for future generations. Her latest venture, The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, builds early reading skills in children ages 2-6 and was developed to support the Six Skills for Early Literacy endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education. Portland, Oregon –

September 10, 2007 – Blue Lake Children’s Publishing, publisher of The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, announced today that co-founder and CEO, Judy MacDonald Johnston, has been nominated for the “Entrepreneurship Award for Individual Achievement” presented by the Oregon Entrepreneur Network (OEN) . OEN recognizes the best and brightest of Oregon’s entrepreneurs at the statewide entrepreneurial community’s biggest gathering of the year-- the 2007 OEN Entrepreneurship Awards.

“Judy has always been interested in children, education and entrepreneurial pursuits,” said Rosie Welch, who has started three companies with Judy. “She has an exceptional ability to identify market opportunities and a passionate drive to bring product ideas to life.”

In 1995, Judy left her successful career at Hewlett Packard to pursue her entrepreneurial idea, PrintPaks – a children’s software company. Under Judy’s leadership, PrintPaks, produced 22 award-winning products in eight countries. In three years the company reached $11M in sales. Judy successfully built the company to profitability and sold PrintPaks to Mattel Inc., one of the world’s largest toy companies. In 2000, Judy was approached by a venture capitalist to be a co-founder and leader of a company called Kibu. The company was a social networking website for teen girls. Although the concept was years ahead of its time, the technology bust was inescapable. Judy realized that the existing environment would not support an early-stage start up. She made the bold choice to return money to the investors and shutdown the company.

Along the way, Judy developed a reputation for sharing her entrepreneurial knowledge. She is a frequent speaker on the topic of women and entrepreneurialism and often meets one-on-one to mentor budding entrepreneurs. “If I had to describe Judy in one word it would be generous,” said Kathryn Shimabukuro, one of Judy’s mentees and VP of Marketing for Judy’s current venture, Blue Lake Children’s Publishing. “She gives so much of herself to help others by offering her counsel, networking connections and creative skills.”

Judy’s current entrepreneurial idea began while Judy volunteered at the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Judy quickly noticed that kids who were too young to read to themselves were spending too much time watching television. These kids were not actively engaging their minds. An avid reader and strong believer that early literacy is the key to a lifelong love of learning, Judy set out to create a children’s magazine that would capture a child’s attention with modern characters and settings, and encourage independent reading with a illustrated story design that builds critical pre-reading skills. Today, thousands of parents and children across the country and around the world enjoy The Tessy & Tab Reading Club.

About Blue Lake Children’s Publishing Founded in 2002 and based in Portland, Oregon, Blue Lake Children's Publishing creates magazines with engaging characters and innovative formats that capture the imagination of today's media-savvy children. Blue Lake’s first product is The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, which combines a children’s magazine subscription with tools for parents to help their preschooler get ready to read. This reading program builds early reading skills in children ages 2-6 and was developed to support the Six Skills for Early Literacy endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education. For more information, call 1-800-921-3284 or visit www.tessyandtab.com.

Contact: Linda Collier, 503-267-8373, linda@bluelakepublishing.com

Blue Lake Children’s Publishing Announces Early Reading Program Designed to Build “The Six Skills for Early Literacy”

Blue Lake Children’s Publishing Announces Early Reading Program Designed to Build “The Six Skills for Early Literacy”

The Tessy & Tab Reading Club program for preschoolers and their families builds early reading skills in children ages 2-6. The child receives a new magazine in the mail twice a month containing real-life adventures with Tessy the duck and Tab the kangaroo. The Parent’s Guide to Building Early Reading Skills provides parents with tips and tools to foster reading skills at every age level, and online learning tools and activities complement and enhance the child’s reading experience.

Portland, OR -- August 20, 2007 – Blue Lake Children’s Publishing announces The Tessy & Tab Reading Club – an early literacy program for children and parents to build the Six Skills for Early Literacy. Research concludes that learning to read and write starts at home, long before children go to school. The Tessy & Tab Reading Club provides simple, fun tools to begin weaving language and literacy into your preschooler’s life, blending elements of both ‘whole language’ and ‘phonics-based’ approaches.

Numerous studies confirm that children should learn many things about reading before they actually learn to read. This is often referred to as “getting ready to read.” The Tessy & Tab Reading Club is designed to help your child build the Six Skills for Early Literacy at every age level.

The Six Skills for Early Literacy are:

1. Print Motivation: Showing interest in books and knowing that books are fun
2. Print Awareness: Understanding how books work
3. Vocabulary: Knowing the names of things
4. Narrative Skills: Being able to tell stories
5. Letter Knowledge: Recognizing and naming letters
6. Phonological Awareness: Knowing about letter sounds, rhyming, syllables and sentences

These Six Skills are based on the expertise of Blue Lake Children’s Publishing’s educational advisors and work published by The American Library Association, PBS.org, The National Institute for Literacy, The Early Literacy Initiative, and the U.S. Department of Education.

“In a world saturated with electronic media and in an environment where children spend an average of four hours a day watching television, it is more important than ever that young children build a foundation for reading print material such as books and magazines,” says Judy Johnston, CEO and co-founder of Blue Lake Children’s Publishing. “Many children's magazines exist, but only a few are effective at getting young children interested in reading. The Tessy & Tab Reading Club is designed for kids ages 2-6 to read all by themselves, with simple story lines and modern characters kids love.”

About Blue Lake Children’s Publishing

Founded in 2002 and based in Portland, Oregon, Blue Lake Children's Publishing creates magazines with engaging characters and innovative formats that capture the imagination of today's media-savvy children. Blue Lake’s first product is The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, a reading program that builds early reading skills in children ages 2-6 and was developed to support the Six Skills for Early Literacy endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education. For more information visit www.tessyandtab.com.

Contact: Linda Collier
503.595.6651 office
503-267-8373 cell
linda@bluelakepublishing.com
www.tessyandtab.com

Kindergarten Preparation Checklist Now Available

KINDERGARTEN PREPARATION CHECKLIST NOW AVAILABLE

The Tessy & Tab Reading Club offers parents a comprehensive checklist to help their preschooler get ready to start the first day of kindergarten. 

Portland, Oregon – August 20, 2007 – Blue Lake Children’s Publishing, publisher of The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, announced today that parents can download the complete Kindergarten Preparation Checklist at www.tessyandtab.com.

The Kindergarten Checklist provides parents with tips such as:
* Visit the school with your child. If possible, arrange a meeting with the teacher. Learn where the bathrooms are and how they work – especially urinals for boys.
* Prepare to ride the bus by ensuring your child knows the bus number and/or the driver.
* Practice a sleeping schedule for school. Begin putting your child to bed 10-15 minutes earlier each night, and waking them earlier in the morning so their sleeping schedule will be in place when school starts.
* Make a list with your child of what can be packed for lunch and snacks as well as what should be in your child’s backpack each morning.
* Plan a special “First Day” family dinner. Make a fun meal and use the meal time for discussing the first school day.
* And many more.

Parents can download and print the checklist at www.tessyandtab.com.

In July, Blue Lake Children’s Publishing and Educational Productions announced the Kindergarten Countdown Toolkit to help parents and preschoolers make the transition into Kindergarten as easy as possible. The toolkit contains an award-winning 18-minute DVD, five Tessy & Tab magazines about school-related activities and the Kindergarten Checklist. Due to an overwhelming interest in the checklist, Blue Lake Children’s Publishing has decided to make the complete list available to parents as a complimentary download.

About Blue Lake Children’s Publishing
Founded in 2002 and based in Portland, Oregon, Blue Lake Children's Publishing creates magazines with engaging characters and innovative formats that capture the imagination of today's media-savvy children. Blue Lake’s first product is The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, which combines a children’s magazine subscription with tools for parents to help their preschooler get ready to read. This reading program builds early reading skills in children ages 2-6 and was developed to support the Six Skills for Early Literacy endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education. For more information, call 1-800-921-3284 or visit www.tessyandtab.com.

Contact:
Linda Collier
Blue Lake Children’s Publishing
503-595-6651 office
503-267-8373 cell
linda@bluelakepublishing.com
www.tessyandtab.com

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PARENTS OF PRESCHOOLERS GET READY FOR KINDERGARTEN WITH NEW TIPS AND TOOLS

Contact: Linda Collier, Blue Lake Children’s Publishing
503-267-8373
linda@bluelakepublishing.com
www.tessyandtab.com

Toolkit for Parents
Kindergarten Countdown DVD and The Tessy & Tab Reading Club Magazines Help Parents and Preschoolers Prepare for Kindergarten

Portland, Oregon – July 18, 2007 – The countdown to the start of the school year has officially begun. Preschoolers getting ready to start kindergarten may feel a little anxious as they get used to new routines, teachers and friends. Blue Lake Children’s Publishing and Educational Productions have created a toolkit for parents to use to make the transition as easy as possible.

The Kindergarten Countdown Toolkit, answers the questions preschoolers most want to know, such as, “How will I get there? Who is my teacher? What do I do at kindergarten?” The toolkit contains an award-winning 18-minute DVD, five Tessy & Tab magazines about school-related activities and a Kindergarten Checklist.

“Education experts agree that it is important to help preschoolers imagine what kindergarten will be like by telling school-related stories, viewing videos or reading books about going to school, and rehearsing for kindergarten through pretend play,” said Judy Johnston, CEO of Blue Lake Children’s Publishing. “This toolkit provides practical tools for parents to help prepare their preschooler for the first day of school.”

Designed for parents and children to watch together, Educational Productions’ Kindergarten Countdown DVD is a great conversation-starter that walks through all the steps of going to kindergarten. “It shows children getting on the school bus, meeting teachers, figuring out how to finding the bathroom, and doing typical activities like listening to stories, playing outside, and making new friends,” explains Linda Freedman,
CEO of Educational Productions. “Seeing children just like themselves helps preschoolers trust that starting school is going to be a good experience."

Parents can use The Tessy & Tab Reading Club New School magazine as a fun visual explanation for what kinds of things to expect on their first day at kindergarten. They will also receive Love to Share, Favorite Fruits, Ouch! and Checkup Time, each focusing on different social skills and other important school-related activities.

The Kindergarten Checklist gives parents tips such as:
• Visit the school with your child. If possible, arrange a meeting with the teacher. Learn where the bathrooms are and how they work – especially urinals for boys.
• Prepare to ride the bus by ensuring your child knows the bus number and/or the driver.
• Practice a sleeping schedule for school. Begin putting your child to bed 10-15 minutes earlier each night, and waking them earlier in the morning so their sleeping schedule will be in place when school starts.
• Make a list with your child of what can be packed for lunch and snacks as well as what should be in your child’s backpack each morning.
• Plan a special “First Day” family dinner. Make a fun meal and use the meal time for discussing the first school day.
• And many more.

The Kindergarten Countdown Toolkit is available for purchase online at www.tessyandtab.com/kindergarten for $29.95.

About Blue Lake Children’s Publishing
Founded in 2002 and based in Portland, Oregon, Blue Lake Children's Publishing creates magazines with engaging characters and innovative formats that capture the imagination of today's media-savvy children. Blue Lake’s first product is The Tessy & Tab Reading Club, which combines a children’s magazine subscription with tools for parents to help their preschooler get ready to read. This reading program builds early reading skills in children ages 2-6 and was developed to support the Six Skills for Early Literacy endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education. For more information, call 1-800-921-3284 or visit
www.tessyandtab.com.

About Educational Productions
For 25 years, Educational Productions (EdPro), based in Portland, Oregon, has been producing video training materials that are widely used throughout the U.S. and Canada to enhance the skills of adults who work with young children. EdPro training is used in colleges and universities and by trainers in parenting education, child care, preschool, and Head Start programs. The hallmark of these award-winning programs is teaching how to support each child's unique development and ways of learning. For more information, call
1-800-950-4949 or visit www.edpro.com.

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