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SUMMER LIBRARY GRAND GIVEAWAY

6/19/2013

by Alexa Rosselli

Librarians have always been some of our greatest supporters, and this summer, we have a giveaway just for you! One lucky library will receive a "Something for Everyone" Hardcover Gift Set - a $90 retail value - FREE of charge!

Here's how to enter for your chance to win:

1) Print out this flyer we have created just for the promo (click to download) and write in the name of you library in the blank:

2) Email us at [email protected] to let us know the name of the library as you have written it on your form, so we can track entries.

We will notify you via email whenever someone enters your library for a chance to win, and then one lucky library will win a set of 7 beautiful hardcover TOON Books - a $90 value! Good luck!

For those who want to enter their library for a chance to win, we have some great deals available exclusively in the shop on the TOON website.

First, for parents looking to help their children boost their reading levels this summer, we have three special summer packs. Each of these packs targets a specific reading level (TOON levels 1, 2, and 3, read more here) to focus efforts and maximize improvement. Each pack comes with three paperback TOON books, at an unprecedented 33% savings.

For classrooms, librarians, and those looking to bolster their impressive book collections, we have the TOON hardcover gift sets. The "Discover Comics!" Hardcover Gift Set features a number of our level 1 and level 2 readers, as hand-picked by our own Francoise Mouly. This set is great for introducing beginning readers (or curious toddlers!) to comics, reading, and high-quality books. The "Explore Comics!" Hardcover Gift Set" features a selection of our level 2 and level 3 readers, ideal for young readers exploring on their own. These books will help kids who are learning to read learn to love to read. Finally we have the "Something for Everyone" Hardcover Gift Set, which reaches across all TOON bounds, and provides a sampling of each of our levels, as well as our more advanced graphic novel, The Secret of Stone Frog.

These sets also enjoy the deep discount of 33%, available exclusively in the shop on the TOON website. And for a limited time only, orders of these hardcover gift sets will receive free shipping to anywhere in the United States! With all these savings, it's a great opportunity to delve into summer reading with TOON, and to help your library out in doing so!

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A Weekend to Remember: TOON rings in its 5th year with BEA, author events, and a great party

6/5/2013

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TOON Books display at BEA.

by Alexa Rosselli

2013 marks the fifth year since we launched TOON Books, and we could not be more thrilled with how far we've come. Our catalog holds almost 30 titles -- all high-quality books that help teach kids not only how to read, but just how fun reading can be. This spring alone we garnered three starred reviews and three Eisner nominations. And we were honored to be cited by Heidi MacDonald as one of the driving forces behind making graphic novels the most popular section in the library.

Naturally, we felt we had cause to celebrate. And what a week to do so! BookExpo America was here in New York last week, bringing more people from the publishing industry to the city than during any other time of the year. As an imprint of Candlewick Press, we set up a vivid display at the Candlewick booth, where we were warmly received by attendees.

TOON authors Frank Cammuso and Geoffrey Hayes made appearances on Friday morning to sign copies of their new books, both due this fall. The line for signatures wrapped all the way around the Candlewick booth. Though the authors were only scheduled for an hour, they stayed late to meet everyone who had come out. We're grateful to Candlewick for letting us bombard their booth, and even more grateful to our fans for doing the bombarding! We wouldn't be where we are without your support and enthusiasm.

"I was amazed by the turnout at BEA. Who knew there were that many comic book fans?"
--Frank Cammuso

Frank and Geoffrey at the signing. See them in action in this awesome vine by Raquel at Candlewick: https://vine.co/v/bYQzZbehIJT

Waiting in line for signed copies of new books by Frank Cammuso and Geoffrey Hayes

The undeniable star of the TOON party, and Barry's real life best buddy - Lola

"It was exciting to have such a large, enthusiastic crowd at BookExpo made up of people who know and love my characters.
From the feedback, it's clear that we at TOON are succeeding in our goal of turning kids
on to reading."
--Geoffrey Hayes

For that reason, we invited you all to celebrate our anniversary with us. A number of you came out to Brooklyn to ring in the next five years of TOON Books with us at Bergen Street Comics. The Bergen Street staff was friendly and welcoming to the whole TOON family, and we got to meet a number of new fans, as well as reconnect with and commemorate a number of peers who have helped make us what we are today. Among the crowd was Lola, pictured here, who professed herself to be Barry's actual Best Buddy. Her mom, Meg Lemke, a valued colleague of ours, claims to have read the book to her at least 30 times, and Lola is still rolling with excitement about it.

Lucky for her, the party marked an opportunity not just to celebrate the book, but to meet the book's author! Renee French, with her partner Ron in tow, brought her fantastic personality to the TOON party that night. And she wasn't the only one! Frank and Geoffrey, fresh off their sting at BEA, came to rub elbows with fans. Frank Viva, celebrated author of A Trip to the Bottom of the World with Mouse, came with his wife as well. And of course, what would a TOON party be without Francoise Mouly and Art Spiegelman?

All of our authors were eager to interact with fans. A few unsuspecting comic readers even came to the store just looking to buy some good books and were blown away by what they found. One teenager in particular stumbled in and gasped, "Woah, Art Spiegelman!" and stood in awe for a few moments before approaching him for a conversation with him later in the evening. I even met someone walking into the party who had never heard of TOON Books before -- what a way to find out! He walked out a couple hours later with some new books in tow.

The turnout was fantastic. So many people showed up that we spilled out onto the sidewalk for much of the evening. Attendees included bloggers, librarians, publicists and other creators as well. I cannot think of a better way to commemorate a long run of raising the bar for comics and early readers alike than to spend a night surrounded by other people who work on and enjoy the same thing.

For those of us who did not want the party to end, there was still more in store for TOON fans that weekend. Frank Viva hosted a reading and signing of his new book A Long Way Away on Saturday morning. Later that day, Renee French followed up her appearance at the party with an intimate reading and Q&A on her spring title Barry's Best Buddy at BookCourt in Brooklyn. The reading was particularly special to author Renee because a young fan who loves the book offered to read the book aloud for fans, with assistance from her father. She followed it up with a dinner with some of her adult fans in attendance, warmly capping a TOON-tastic weekend.

The past five years have marked quite a journey for us at TOON. We are so lucky to have so many supporters, and to have these opportunities to meet you all in person. Thanks to everyone who came out to any of our events this weekend! We look forward to making the next five years even more memorable!

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SUMMER LIBRARY GRAND GIVEAWAY

A Weekend to Remember: TOON rings in its 5th year with BEA, author events, and a great party

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