Archive for the ‘Parents’ Category

The many versions of The Monster on Top of the Bed embrace technology to empower children to banish monsters while they learn to love to read, write, draw and use computers.

The Magic Mantra

Blip, Blop, Bloop and monsters are gone. Well, they’re not gone, scary monsters are converted into friends. The Monster on Top of the Bed gives children the magic words, the special mantra, to banish monsters whenever they want. More than that, The Monster on Top of the Bed gives children who are not afraid of monsters, the knowledge they need to prevent monsters from robbing them (and you) of their precious sleep.

I know of no other book that banishes fear of monsters while it encourages children to:

• Write, by providing a copy of the book where a child (or siblings, or a class of children) can write their own story on pages that have the artwork, and then listing themselves as co-authors on the title page.
• Read, and foster the appreciation of language and culture, by providing the book performed by six readers in three languages, with page turning sounds.  You can download the .mp3 files for free from the “Listen” tab.
• Draw, and encourage older and younger children to work together, by making a multi-media edition available where a child, sibling or a class of children can draw illustrations and upload them to an e-book whether their drawings are displayed while the story is read.
• Develop acting skills by taking advance of the Playscript version

The various editions of the book keep children entertained for hours, and make it easy for parents, grandparents to spend quality time with children, and save money.  For less than the cost of going to a movie, buying soda, popcorn and candy, you can purchase the book and enjoy many hours together. There’s even an optional weekly e-mail that will provide activities that will continually entertain and delight children.  It comes free, with the Value Bundle.

The Monster on Top of the Bed is a “Next Generation” product that children can enjoy totally different way, some of which are not even books.

The Golden Rule

The words, “Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you,” are never said in the book, but your children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, students–anyone who emulates the “Golden-Rule behavior” that Suzy and Karrit model will discover a way to make friends. Bye-bye loneliness!

A Love of Language and the Beauty of Different Cultures

In the process, children develop a love of learning and language. That’s because The Monster on Top of the Bed is a book that you can read, your kids can read, or six different people can read for you, and those six different people are just waiting for you to download mp3s of them reading the story. In fact, you can download the readings right now and play them for your children on an iPod, computer or .mp3 player without ever buying the book.

Delight your child, or your class, and get them the big book and small booklet and CD. There are slight differences between the editions, and children love to go through and find those differences. They consider it a challenge, in the same way that they consider a puzzle a challenge.

The opportunity to relate a story is truly cherished by grandparents , parents and teachers.  In today’s world, parents are constantly under time pressure.  It’s hard to invest quality time when the wolf is knocking at the door and one needs to make ends meet.  Parents and grandparents willingly do so because it warms their hearts to see their children and grandchildren prospering, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually.

The primary motivation for me to write The Monster on Top of the Bed was to have a way to pass on my most cherished values to my yet to be conceived grandchildren.  As my hair turned from brown to gray, and finally to silver I began to realize that I was mortal. I wanted to make certain that any future grandchildren would understand three lessons:  (1) Following the golden rule makes it easy to feel good about yourself and to make friends; (2) Friendship trumps fear; and (3) Believing in yourself makes even the most difficult tasks possible.

As an experienced author, I knew that I couldn’t just say those things in a book.  “Boring!” would be the response.  The messages had to emerge from the story.  Children had to be able to discover them.  I also knew that the story had to have a problem, a relatively way for a child to take action to resolve that problem, and be entertaining.  Finally, I knew that I wanted to make as many children happy with the story as possible, not a simple task since what makes one child sad can make another child happy.

I considering writing a book an opportunity to relate, not tell a story. I choose to relate the story in different ways, ways that make it particularly attractive for telling by grandparents.  Hop on over and view the video of the book—it’s free. Watch for these elements:

• A story that is easy to almost memorize – you can look at the Italian ice-cream parlor artwork by Maneula Pentangelo and recall most of the story without reading. This is on purpose, because one of my goals is to motivate children to write their own story.  That’s why we have an edition of the book that includes the major artwork only, without the words.  I pictured myself, sitting down reading and re-reading the story with my grandchildren, and then challenging them to write their own version of the story.  I pictured the child excitedly writing their version of the story, and then putting their name on the front cover of the book as co-author.  Can you picture yourself doing this for your grandchildren?
• “Do unto others as you would want others to do unto you,” is the desired behavior that is modeled by the characters. The Golden Rule is never mentioned. Children don’t like to be taught, they love to discover.  They get it.  Want proof? Watch the story with your grandchildren, and then ask them something like, “What did Suzy do to make it easy for Karrit to be her friend?”
• Captivating artwork that appeals equally to both boys and girls. The artist and I spent two years tweaking everything from the colors used in the characters to the Kung-Fu ponytail that makes Karrit very appealing to boys, as well as girls.
• Discussion Questions – They’re built right into the book, at the end.  This feature makes it easy to spend quality time discussing the key lessons of the book with children.
• A CD (or free .mp3 file download) of the book in different languages, so that children are exposed to different languages and cultures.  Children will listen to the same page in different languages, many times.  Grandparents enjoy having fun discussions with their grandchildren after asking a question like, “which reader did you like best?” or “what did you think of the story in Spanish?  Was it as much fun as English?”

You don’t need high-technology to enjoy a book, but for grandparents who are tech-savvy there are many formats that children enjoy, such as being able to listen to the book on an iPod while shopping, or the ability to download a multi-media version that works on a computer. As you turn the pages, the book reads the story, and you can even ask your grandchildren to draw their own illustrations, take a digital picture of them and upload their pictures into the e-book.  The book will read the story while their pictures are displayed. They can even e-mail the e-book to friends, family and classmates.  Order the version that best suits your needs.

Multiple formats of a book can inspire children to love to learn in different ways

The opportunity to make children happy comes from many things, but one thing is certain:  What makes one child sad can make another child happy.  That’s one reason why The Monster on Top of the Bed is available in many different formats. A few examples:

• Some children enjoy drawing. They can draw, and have a teacher, parent or sibling upload their drawings into an e-book that they can print out or share with family, friends and classmates by e-mail.   It’s great for their self esteem.
• Some children prefer to write.  A version of the book that features artwork without words is available, and children write their own story in the book.
• Others like to perform.  We have a play script version of the book.

All of these high-tech and low-tech features, and many more are available because children have different emotional intelligences. They are inspired by different things.

Perhaps you’d like to hear an interview with Glenn Hahn, on a radio show.  It’s an interesting 25 minutes. Listen to Alan being interviewed by on The WIFI Tech Show

Referrals are the lifeline of Day Care

For pre-school day care centers, the trick to getting more business is to build referrals.  Business comes from three main sources:  (1) parents of students; (2) centers of influence whom people trust (such as insurance agents and real estate agents);  and (3) referrals agencies.  There are over 700 local child care resource & referral (CCR&R) agencies is over 38 states.  These help families, child care providers, and communities find and offer affordable, quality child care.

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A Special Tool Naturally Generates Referrals

There is one tool that can create referrals from all of these sources:  a sponsored version of children’s book that helps young children resolve a problem.  One of the biggest problems young children face is the fear of monsters.  You can help them to allay their fears.

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Unique Aspects of The Monster on Top of the Bed

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Be a Hero

The reviewers love this book.  So do parents.  Help children, their parents, their grandparents to get a good night’s sleep, and build your business.  Referrals naturally flow when you help someone resolve a problem, especially when you help them implement an easy, fun solution.

Day care centers get a continuing source of quality referrals when they sponsor a book that resolves children's problems, like The Monster on Top of the Bed

Some of the many ways to use this sponsored publication are:

• Display the book in your day care and sell a copies to parents who love the artwork and the story.  Tell them how to download the .mp3 files so they can listen to the story in different languages with their children.
• Give it away to parents, grandparents, etc. who enroll a new student
• Mail it to parents as a “thank you.” (White catalog mailing envelopes are available.)
• Donate copies to local hospitals. Many of the children there will need day care after they are better.
• Donate it to a service club (Rotary, Kiwanis, etc.) and suggest that they sell it as a fund raiser.  Each copy that they sell, promotes your business.
• Give away copies for a holiday present.
• Hold workshops on helping to banish monsters, give the book away (or sell it) and go over how to use the discussion questions.

Waikoloa Village was a Wheel of Fortune vacation destination. This is tasteful marketing. The Monster on Top of the Bed can provide tasteful marketing.

In a sponsored edition of The Monster on Top of the Bed, we can customize the back page of the book to include information about your day care. We can also modify page 33 of the book, or one of the front pages. Here are a few examples of how you might use this page:

• Discussion questions that relate your day care and the book
• A personal letter
• Share your mission statement

Wheel of fortune awards vacations that people discuss for years. You can give out a sponsored book that will have parents talking about your day care for years.

Have you ever seen the TV show Wheel of Fortune? This show gives away vacations. People watch the information about the vacations, when they would normally turn off to a commercial. If you include tasteful information in a sponsored edition of a book that helps children stop being afraid of monsters, the book will be shared with many people, and that will build referral business.

Also, we can create videos that explain why you’ve sponsored this edition, that can be uploaded to YouTube and other video directories to help new patients find you.

For additional information, please use our contact page, or
call and ask for Alan Jordan
Pacific Time (GMT-8).
Country Code 01

You do not have to buy the book to answer most of these questions, you can look at the video and then answer them.

1. Who is the monster on top of the bed? Why?
2. Do you like reading this book while you play the .mp3 files or listen to the CD?
3. Is it fun to listen to the story in English, Spanish and Italian as you read the book?
4. What is the word for “bed” in Italian and in Spanish?
5. Why is Karrit’s nose blue sometimes?
6. When does Karrit’s nose change color?
7. Why do Karrit and Suzy become best friends?
8. What is the word for “critter” in Italian and in Spanish?
9. ” Does the story sound different when Virginia Castleman reads it than when Iiyah Isha reads it?
10. ” Which reading do you like best? Why?
11. ” What can we learn about people by listening to the book in different languages?
12. When does Karrit’s nose change color?
13. Why do Karrit and Suzy become best friends?
14. Would you like to draw some illustrations and ask someone to upload them into an
    e-book that reads the book to your pictures?
15. Did you learn anything from reading the book?
16. What size is Karrit?
17. Do you think that Karrit has friends?
18. Would it make sense for Suzy to visit Karrit’s home?
19. What would Suzy find if she visited Karrit’s home?
20. Why do animals move around the room?
21. What is your favorite illustration? Why?
22. Do you see any differences between this book and the booklet that came with the CD?
23. What .mp3 file or track on the CD is your favorite? Why?

Take advantage of the many different ways that you can use The Monster on Top of the Bed, which is virtually more than a book.  As an example, you can enjoy:

• The big book (8.5″ x 17″) when open
• The small booklet (4.75″ x 9.5″ when open)
• The small booklet PLUS a CD that reads the story in three languages
• An e-book version that can be printed out or projected onto a screen (great for school and library use)
• An e-book license that allows libraries to put the book into their on-line catalog (e.g. Overdrive or NetLibrary)
• An iPod version
• A dnl multi-media e-book version in English and in Italian with English translations.
• A .pdf version “play format” that children can use to put on a play, at home or in school\
• On line access to a variety of features
• A Give-the-Gift-of-Love in which e-mails are sent to you that you can forward to a child: daughter, son, grandchild, student, nephew, niece, etc.

No other book that we know of, anywhere in the world, offers all of these features.

I’m excited and want to order

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The Monster on Top of the Bed is a book for children aged 2-7 that adults

Reading the full-sized book is fun with several children.

love too, and it is much more. It is also available as an e-book, booklet/CD and many other options.

An optional accompanying book, My Monster on Top of the Bed, empowers children by showing only the illustrations and allowing the child and their parents to literally write their own story!  (You know that they believe a story if they write it!)

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Order either the large book or the CD/booklet version of The Monster on Top of the Bed and receive a free download of the .pdf e-book (Adobe Reader) along with a free download of six artists performing the story in English, Spanish and Italian.

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The problem

At some point, every child has insisted there’s a monster under the bed. Well-known author, Alan Jordan, has taken that premise and written a book, The Monster on Top of the Bed! The book looks at the situation from the monster’s point of view and allows children to help vanquish their fears.

Karrit, the monster under the bed, gets up the nerve to meet what he sees as the monster on top of the bed, a little girl named Suzy. The two treat each other with respect, become friends and banish the fear of monsters. Manuela Pentangelo illustrated the book with brightly colored, non-threatening artwork that’s sure to appeal to any youngster age 4-8.

One Solution:

“Like the Pixar movie, “Monsters, Inc., the book allows children to discover the fact that a monster might be as afraid of them, but it does it in a very different, almost cerebral way,” said Jordan.

Mantra: “You’re welcome to stay, until I say ‘nay,’ then it’s time to go, and you can’t say no.”

For many children, night fears are a very real problem. Simply telling children there’s no such thing as monsters doesn’t work. The Monster on Top of the Bed allows children to see the issue through the eyes of a tiny little monster that isn’t threatening at all. The book provides a fun, interactive way for children to exile monsters, dragons or anything else they think are hiding under their beds. The book also includes a phrase children can say to themselves to eliminate the monsters – “You’re welcome to stay, until I say ‘nay,’ then it’s time to go, and you can’t say no.”

The book is available in a number of formats. You can download a copy of the book that comes with an audio book with 98 .mp3 files so you can use it immediately. Children who are old enough to use a computer will be thrilled with the book and the opportunity to use and learn computer skills. You can also choose to order a hard copy of the 36-page book and audio book on CD. The third option includes a copy of the CD and the booklet that fits inside the case, and a copy of the full-sized book that provides you with access to the member only site and bonus materials.

The book is extremely useful for parents, grandparents, childcare providers or anyone with a special child in their life. It also makes a great gift. The book provides schools with an inexpensive way for educators to implement multi-media elements in the classroom or library at an easily affordable price. The eBook can present the story in English, Spanish and Italian. The generous bonus materials offer additional appeal and can help create a life-long love of reading.

Watch the book trailer. Peek insider the book, or order from http://www.Monbed.com/order

The Monster on Top of the Bed can be a unique gift to a child from a parent, grandparent, teacher, librarian or friend because it can keep on giving, motivating a child to love to read, and letting them hear how much you love them. Here’s how it works:

1. We ship a book to you, along with special instructions on how you can call a phone number and read the book to your grandchild.  Don’t worry.  You only record one set of pages at a time, and if you make a mistake, you can start that page over.
2. You call the phone number, and record the book in your own voice.  (More than one person can record the book too.  You can take turns reading pages, of different people can read different character’s roles.)
3. Don’t worry about making a mistake when you’re recording the book.  Each page is recorded separately, and if you make a mistake, you can start that page over, as many times as you want.
4. When you are done recording the book, we prepare two CDs of you reading the book to your grandchild, and send them to you.
5. You give the book and the CD to your child or grandchild.  Keep one for yourself, just in case the child damages the original one. The child can then listen to you reading them the book, even if you are be living in a different part of the world. This is a great gift for people who are in the service, and want to read a story to their children. It’s also a wonderful present for parents who must travel frequently for work, aunts, uncles, and parents who are living apart from their children, like service people living overseas or non-custodial parents.
6. If you are not comfortable recording the book, another option allows you to send a weekly message.  Each week for a year, you’ll receive an email with information that motivates children to read, write or draw. Simply forward the e-mail to one or more children. Youngsters love receiving email the same as adults do and will eagerly await their weekly “message from Grandma,” “message from Nana,” “message from Pop-Pop,” etc.

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I’m excited about The Monster on Top of the Bed, and I’m good to go!

Select from our order options.  Or, leave a comment for more information on the Gift of Love.

In Part 1, we reviewed three ideas to draw children in, and encourage them to read when reading to them was not enough to inspire a love of reading. Here are three more ideas. For some children, they convert reading from a task into a challenge. These suggestions work well with one child, a child and their friends or siblings and with a classroom filled with children.

• Select a book that is available in a standard and “illustrations only” edition – Show them both editions, and say something like, “We’re going to read this story several times. The first time, or two I’ll read it. Then you can read it as many times as you want. I’ll help you if you want. Then, when you’re ready we’ll use this book that only has pictures ,and you can write your story to go with the words. I’ll bet we can come up with a better story than the author.
• If the book that you have is also available in an audio book that is read in several different languages (like a read-along CD or a .mp3 files) say something like, “Let’s read the book together and then listen to different people reading the book. We can talk about which performer you like better. We’ll talk about why one reader is better than another reader. Then, if you want to I’ll use a computer to tape record and edit your reading the story. When we’re happy with the story that you’ve recorded, we’ll make a CD (or .mp3 file) that reads the story as you turn the pages.
• Make up discussion questions for the book and tell your children or class something like this, “Today, we’re going to do something very special. We’re going to read a book and talk about it. After we’ve talked about it, we’re going to do an “Talk Show interview.” That’s where I ask you questions and you answer, like they do on TV or the radio talk shows. If we’re not happy with the interview, we’ll edit it until we are happy with it, then. Then, we’ll upload it to a special web page people from around the world can hear our interview as an Internet radio show.”

If the children in your class or your child or grandchild seems to require the kind of stimulation that they get when playing video games, get your child involved in a variety of ways with these solutions, as well as the ways suggested in Part 1. The Monster on Top of the Bed comes in a variety of formats that empower parents and teachers to implement these suggestions, and other ideas. Order now. If you want to know more about how to record or upload your child or class reading, simply leave a comment.