Dewberry Press

This week at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, Michelle Jordan, owner of Dewberry Press, was officially named "Mother of the Year" for Texas, by American Mothers Inc.! 

See the writeup about Michelle on the AMI website here!

This is a great honor, as AMI has a long history of working to improve the lives of children and families in the US and around the globe, through activism and membership at the United Nations. 

As part of the vetting process for this award, Michelle received letters of recommendation from community leaders and organizations per her ongoing work for kids and the environment.  Being very practical, Michelle did not attend the AMI convention in NYC this week, saying it was "too fussy" and "in direct contrast with the lifestyle required to be a good mother in the first place."  However, she feels very honored to be in the company of such amazing women and to be recognized by such a prestigious/valuable organization.

Michelle was honored earlier this month at a ceremony by the Texas Chapter of AMI in Austin, Texas, where her youngest daughter shared with those in attendance her reasons for nominating her mother.  During the ceremony, an essay by her eldest daughter was read, and Michelle was presented with letters and proclamations of support by Texas Governor Rick Perry, US Senator John Cornyn, and Mayor of her hometown in Pflugerville, Texas, Jeff Coleman. 

Michelle is a writer for Dewberry Press under the pen name "Doad Michaels".  Super awesome, Doad!

Karin Hammler's Blog, Morsels and Musings, is now live!  Be sure to take a look!

Morsels and Musings

Karin is a foodie, a teacher, and a writer - you're sure to find her posts interesting and amusing!

John Dony in the news!  Great article from the Express & Star, a large regional newspaper in Wolverhampton, the West Midlands, UK.  John is pictured in the article with his two beautiful daughters.  Go John!

We're excited to announce the addition of Karin Hammler to our family of authors!

Karin is a talented writer and we can't wait to show you her work! With 25 years of experience as an educator and Master Literacy Coach, readers, parents, and teachers are going to love her style and sense of humor! 

Visit Karin's Author Page!

We're excited to announce that we will be choosing four focus groups from anywhere in the English-speaking world, made up of 4-6 kids, aged 8 - 12!  We want to encourage reading and literacy, and hope this activity will be a fun way for kids to come together to talk about books. 

As a thank you, for each book read, we will award members of the groups,

a $10 Amazon gift certificate each!

In order to be considered, we need to receive the creative name of your group and the location of each of your members, no later than May 15th. You can email the information to us at info@dewberrypress.com. We will announce our selections on June 1st!

Read more about our plans here!

We've been busy lately, for we've been promoting ourselves to retail stores for stocking our titles on their shelves!  Meanwhile, our books can actually be ordered from virtually any retail bookstore in the English-speaking world!

For those that prefer to order books online, our books are stocked and available from a wide range of stores, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and many more.

We're looking for a distributor for our e-books and hopefully, can announce their availability soon!

We're very pleased with this rave review from The Children's Book Review for Leah's Lions!  Congratulations, John!  Leah's Lions will be available for purchase on December 14th!

     "In this exciting new chapter book, Leah’s Lion by author John Richard Dony (Emily and the Spider, 2012), Nine-year-old Leah prepares to save her lion cub friends from a menacing grounds keeper, Mr. Hemmings, and his terrible shotgun. Leah’s proud gang of animal friends help her to navigate the way to a safe haven through the beautiful but treacherous landscape of Africa.

     Leah lives with her veterinarian parents on a wildlife reserve. When she discovers Mr. Hemmings' evil plan to kill the remaining pride of lions in order to gain a permit to reopen a diamond mine, there is no way in the world she will allow this to happen—even if it means taking off into the jungle accompanied only by wild animals and a dung beetle named Gio (who, might we add, packs a punch with his funny ways and Italian style). The plan to rescue the lion cubs is foiled by Mr. Hemmings and it seems that it may not only be the lions that will fall prey to his evil ways. With minimal parent interaction, hope comes when Leah’s parents discover the kind of person Mr. Hemmings truly is.

Dony—a real storyteller—has a knack for creating a believable narrative voice. This latest romp proves to be a tale of sincere determination that mixes the realism of human nature with the enjoyable absurdity of talking animals (a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down).

     Those that are looking for an easy read that still delivers a complex storyline will be happy to escape with a copy of Leah’s Lions—a wild adventure that broaches grown-up topics in a child centric way. Both boys and girls ages 8 and up will enjoy this tale and it will resonate with budding activists, especially."'

~The Children’s Book Review (www.thechildrensbookreview.com)

We're proud to announce that Tennyshoe, by Doad Michaels, will be available for purchase on December 14th!  Take a look at a recent review by The Children's Book Review, soon to appear on their website:

"Dennis Shoe is a happy-go-lucky young boy with a great smile and a winning manner. He is enthusiastic so sometimes he speaks fast and when he says his name, it comes out sounding like Tennyshoe. He’s an instantly likeable character and most readers will either identify with him or want to be like him.

Tennyshoe is surrounded by family and friends and has a fun-filled life, both at school and at his parents’ farm. He embarks on a series of adventures that lead him to discover several unexpected things about love, life and the hereafter. And while it may seem like this is a tall order to fill, Tennyshoe does it with a smile.

The writing brings to mind a love of all things rural, such as fresh air, big sky, peaceful towns and calm streets. It takes the reader back to a simpler time, before the avalanche of technology, when children could spend a whole day outdoors as long as they “came home before dark” so their parents wouldn’t worry. Though it seems like it may have been a long, long time ago, parents will still remember those carefree days. And that is the beauty of this book. It resonates with any upbringing—be it in the city or in the country—because it evokes memories that are universal in their depth of emotion.

Tennyshoe is a timeless tale about friendships, love and loss, and growing up. He discovers a lot of things over the course of this book and each reader—especially those ages 9 and older—will likely choose his or her own lesson to take away from it. For this reviewer, it was the enduring lesson that love always finds a way in the end."

—The Children’s Book Review (/www.thechildrensbookreview.com)

We're so pleased to announce our very first title is available for purchase:

Emily and the Spider by John Dony

For now, this title may be purchased in paperpack, and in electronic format (pdf, epub, & DewberrE).  We expect to have it available in hard cover towards the middle of November.  It will take a month or more for Emily and the Spider to make it into distribution channels, so it is available exclusively on our website for the next 30 days.

We invite you to take a look at the book preview here: PREVIEW

Also, we hope you'll read a recent review of Emily and the Spider by the Children's Book Review: REVIEW

We're proud to present a preview of Emily and the Spider, by John Dony, on sale October 31st!  This preview is offered in our new DeberrE format, which can be viewed across platforms, on mobile, tablets, ebook readers, pc's, and other devices.

Click here to view the preview

If you enjoy the preview, we hope you'll come back after October 31st to purchase a full copy.  Tell us what you think!