Berry Berry Special is a celebration of ALL children--sweet and juicy in their own way. When we bring fruit home from the supermarket we wash it, but before we can sink our teeth into its juicy goodness, we must peel off the sticker. Berry Berry Special presents children as their labels are peeled off--raw and real. They are children we all know and love. They are children who need to know how Berry Berry Special they are--exactly as they are! Berry Berry Special is for the shy child. It's for the awkward child. It's for the child who feels like a misfit. It's for the foster child, the adopted child, the child from a large family or poor family. It's for the child with many expectations placed on them. It's for every kid stuck in those awkward years called: childhood. It's also an invitation for the parents of those children to embrace them in the fleeting years of youth and instill in them how Berry Berry Special they are and always will be!
About the Author: Creating stories and stage plays has been Stefanie's passion since an early age. In first grade she and her sister presented an original play to their combined classes. The memory makes her cringe as she recalls creating the entire plot as they went. Even still she is thankful her teacher allowed her the opportunity, instilling in her the freedom to dream. Today Stefanie has published several plays: Clueless at Christmas, The Great Race, An Angel Unaware, and A Light Halloween Tale, as well as a poem titled, To the Other Side of my Belly Button. Enter SNAIL, artist and now--friend. Stefanie and SNAIL quickly discovered that they both have hearts for children and the deep desire to encourage and inspire kids through the wacky years called: childhood. SNAIL's art is captivating and SNOONAN has a way of drawing in the reader. With mutual admiration for the other, SNAIL & SNOONAN was birthed. Their mission is to blend inspirational writing with vivid, sensational art targeted at older children who have outgrown board books and now find themselves bored with chapter books where color only exists on the cover. Berry Berry Special is their first full-color collaboration. It's the story of peeling labels off children in order to see into the heart of the child. It's to encourage the kids who may not fit into the box of society's expectations. So we shouldn't be surprised that Berry Berry Special is as much an out-of-the-box production as the theme itself. Not only does it dare to put color in big kid books, but the story was created in reverse of the norm. SNAIL first produced the artwork and then SNOONAN created the story. SNOONAN likes to say, The book wrote itself. It's her belief that the story wanted to be told. Stay tuned... Soon this team will release, Bury the Bully, a coming-of-age story unlike any book on bullying that exists today. Until then, please enjoy Berry Berry Special!