www.MomsChoiceAwards.com

One of the things that makes the  Mom's Choice Awards unique is that you don't have to wait until a specific deadline to know whether or not your product is an award winner. When the evaluations come back from the judges, they are processed right away, and then we can get the results to you.

We take the same approach in celebrating your accomplishments and inducting you into our group of honorees. After we've notified you, then we publish your winning product on the Mom's Choice Awards website. The full index will be available in January after all evaluations have been returned.

Once that index is done, we'll publish it here. To see who has won so far, be sure to visit the Celebrate! page on the website. We will also begin announcing the winners via Twitter ... so be sure to follow @MomsChoiceaward to learn more.

If you are an honoree, now is the time to start connecting. Be sure to carefully read the Checklist for Success and begin building an unstoppable platform for your award-winning product.

Congratulations!
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On , MCA Founder Tara Paterson talked with Donna Marie Seim, a 2009 Mom’s Choice Awards® honoree. We are reformatting and republishing this interview as part of our Alumni Spotlight.

I recently conducted an interview with 2009 Mom's Choice Award's® honoree Donna Marie Seim. Donna's book, Where is Simon, Sandy? won a gold award in the Children's Picture Book - People, Places, and Culture category.

Donna began her business career with the Dragon’s Nest Toys, a specialty toy store in Newburyport, MA. She still resides in Newburyport and shares a home with her husband 27 years ago. The store is now owned and operated by her daughter Kristin, and when Donna is not traveling to promote her book, she works at the store with her daughter. I asked Donna a few questions about her book and here is what she had to say.

Tara:What was the inspiration for your writing?
Donna: I came from a large Irish American family and had the fun of growing up with lots of cousins, loving parents and grandparents, whose doors and arms were always open to us kids. Our holidays and Sunday’s were filled with our families getting together; people were always around and so were their stories!

My daughter Kristin pushed me to write down some of my stories. My first book was dedicated to my Kristin and it was at this point that I decided to take up writing as my second career.

Tara: When did you first come up with the idea for your book?
Donna: My husband and I took a trip to visit two of the undeveloped islands in the Turks and Caicos Islands. During the trip we were told many stories, one of which was the story of a little donkey that wouldn’t quit. This is the true tale of a donkey that continued to walk his route delivering water to every gate in town, even when his master was no longer able. I was so touched by the faithful little donkey that I decided to mold it into a children’s story, happy ending and all!

Tara: What a great source of inspiration for a children's book! Did you have an aha moment; was it inspired by something you were doing or someplace you were visiting; a person in your life?
Donna: To answer honestly, I must admit I have experienced many aha moments; I think my life has been a series of them! But the most poignant of these was the very first time I read, “Where is Simon, Sandy?” to primary school children in the Turks and Caicos. The intensity of their faces as the story opens and their smiles and applause at the end, were the most rewarding gifts I could ever receive. I knew this was what I wanted to do forever.

Tara: Children have such a way of bringing out the purest of joy from our hearts, don't they? Who would you say has been your greatest source of support; why?
Donna: I have a tremendously supportive team to work with, but the greatest of these is my husband, Martin. Without his encouragement and true delight in my stories I don’t think I could have accomplished half as much as I have. He has been my greatest source of moral support and a willing travel companion to the islands and places of research. He is also a superb photographer, a kind adviser, a consoler, a listener, a cheer leader, a savior of unfortunate events, and my dedicated copy editor!

Tara: Donna, you are blessed to have such an amazing husband who has supported you through the many ups and downs that can come up when you're following your passion. If you could offer one piece of advice to someone who is thinking of venturing into this line of work, what would it be?
Donna: My one piece of advice would be- Be true to yourself and write about what you know and love.

Tara: Well put. What has it meant to you personally or to the success of your product to have been honored with a Mom’s Choice Award?
Donna: When I learned Where is Simon, Sandy? had earned the Mom’s Choice Award®, Gold, for the category of Peoples, Places and Cultures, I felt a great surge of pride in my work. It meant a tremendous amount to have my work validated by the Mom’s Choice stamp of approval, for excellence in children’s media. Both the Turks and Caicos National Museum and Publishing Works, our publisher, have taken great pride in the award. They have sent out press releases and publicized the fact we have won this grand award.

Tara: Donna, I am honored you feel so strongly about our award. It was the reason I began this program- to bring works to the forefront which may otherwise not be recognized. I love to hear these stories! What are your future plans; what’s next for you as a writer?
Donna: I plan to continue promoting Where is Simon, Sandy? to raise money for the children’s program of the Turks and Caicos National Museum. I have many planned events coming up this spring and summer for Where is Simon, Sandy? as well.

I have just finished Charley, my second novel for children ages 8-12, and I will be busy marketing it to publishing houses. I guess writing for children is my future plan!

Tara: Is there anything you would like to add?
Donna: I would like to thank David Bowen, Director of Culture of the Turks and Caicos Islands, for all of his incredible help and support. He is now writing a musical play, based on the story, for the children of the primary schools to perform. I would also like to thank Susan Spellman, our illustrator extraordinaire, who captured the people, the vibrant colors, and the essence of these beautiful islands.

It has been an enormous honor to win a Mom’s Choice Awards® Gold! Thank you!

Tara: It's our honor and privilege Donna! We appreciate your work and look forward to what you have coming out next!












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The Alumni Spotlight is a periodic feature of the Mom’s Choice Awards® blog. It is part of our ongoing effort to “shine the spotlight” on our honorees and their contributions to promoting excellence in family-friendly media, products, and services. We share their stories not only to celebrate their accomplishments, but to give you an opportunity to see the benefits of being part of the Mom's Choice Awards family of programs.

Co-authors Patricia Raya, RN, C, MBA & Corine Mogenis wrote Medical Tips from the Inside: What You  Need to Know! as a way to help people better manage the healthcare system ... and ultimately have a more satisfying relationship with their providers. Having helped lawyers with medical malpractice case reviews, they could see just how little patients knew about their rights.  They pooled their talents and experiences to create their first book ... that ultimately landed them their own local television show. Please welcome author Corine Mogenis to the Alumni Spotlight.

MCA: Can you please tell us about the inspiration for your book?
Corine: We met many years ago while working on medical malpractice case reviews for lawyers.  We saw a significant amount of people complaining that they did not know they had certain rights or could ask questions of their doctors, get copies of their medical records, request second opinions etc. People did not know how to traverse the complexities of the healthcare system.  It occurred to us that with our professional experience, we could write a book that was easy to understand, and would address these concerns.

Merit Publishing International published our book; we have been very pleased with how well it's been received since being released in April 2008. We have met many wonderful people who truly felt the book has provided them with guidance and a sense of comfort when dealing with the health care system. We believe if we can help ONE person in all of this, it was worth it!

MCA: What are your goals for your
Medical Tips You need to Know! launched in September 2009.




Some days we look around to see if its really US living this life or just a dream! It is a true testament to “hard work and dedication really DOES pay off!” It has far surpassed what we had hoped for and now the sky is the limit!  What surprised me most, was when I held my first copy in my hands…it didn’t seem real. And the response from readers has been extremely positive.  Add to that receiving the Mom’s Choice Award®
Mom's Choice Awards® Honors

2009, Silver Medal, Adult Non-Fiction






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On , MCA Founder Tara Paterson talked with Vanessa Van Petten, a 2009 Mom’s Choice Awards® honoree. We are reformatting and republishing this interview as part of our Alumni Spotlight.

I had the pleasure of interviewing a friend and colleague of mine, Vanessa Van Petten, about her Mom's Choice Founder's Award for her book You're Grounded. I first learned about Vanessa through a social networking web site SelfGrowth.com. I immediately connected with her mission and ideals. Her book caught my eye because as an intuitive mother of four children, this young woman was speaking my language and doesn't yet have kids of her own.

Vanessa lives in and has an incredible background working with tweens and teens from a very raw or what she likes to call a "radical" approach to what parenting looks like to many of these young people. I dug a little deeper to learn more about Vanessa's personal background and here's what she had to say!

Tara:Tell me about your family.
Vanessa: My parents are divorced. I was raised in one Jewish household as an only child and one Christian household as one of four with one step brother and two half sisters! Complicated, right?!

: Vanessa, you have such a great personality and are such a real person, I can only laugh when I go back and read some of our interview together. Can you share with us what the real inspiration for your book was?
Vanessa: I was so tired of fighting with my parents and I knew other teens must be going through what I was going through. I wanted to let them know they were not alone and there were things they can do to shift the patterns with their parents. I also wanted to give parents some insight into the teen mind and why we do what we do so they don't feel so alone either.

Tara: Great insight from such a young person. Now there's a real story to how you came to write this book. Can you share your story with our readers?
Vanessa: I was grounded and very, very angry at my parents. I could not talk on the phone, be on the internet... nothing! Luckily, I decided to put practical application to my anger and my lack of freedom.

Tara: What a great way to manage your anger and something I am sure you have shared with the many young people you mentor today. Did you have an aha moment? Was it inspired by something you were doing or someplace you were visiting, maybe a person in your life?
Vanessa: My aha moment was when I was in China, talking to Chinese teen rappers about why their rap music was so angry. I was writing my thesis on Underground Chinese Hip Hop and Urban Youth and expected them to say they were upset with the government and repression, instead they told me—“we are mad at our parents.” I thought that it was the universe’s way of telling me I was supposed to help teens everywhere.

Tara: What a great aha moment! Not only because you thought to ask the question, but you took the message and acknowledged it as a way you could serve young people through your own experiences.

Who would you say is your greatest source of support; why?

Vanessa: Scott Edwards is my boyfriend, my best friend, my internet guy, my reality check and my rock. I am so grateful to him for all of his help. He has been with me since I decided to publish my book!

Tara: Any other thoughts you would share with people reading your story?

Vanessa: Dream really big, work really hard and you will get there.

Tara: What has it meant to you personally or to the success of your product to have been honored with a Mom’s Choice Award?

Vanessa: It is such an honor! I love moms and it is so nice to have mom’s love what I do. The Mom’s Choice Awards are such a great brand and stamp of approval, I am so grateful to them and to Tara Paterson, the real force behind the Awards!

Tara: You are the power behind your award. Your work speaks for itself and is the reason I recognized your book for such an award. I am so impressed by your tenacity and confidence in your mission. I know with people like you in the world, our children will have great role models and to me that means more than anything!

What are your future plans; what’s next for you as an author/ writer?

Vanessa: Professional blogger? I am working on lots of projects; as I say we have lots in the oven. I am working on several more webinars now so I can bring my "in person" work to people all over the world in easier formats.

Tara: Ah yes, check out Vaness and my webinar- Radical Parenting Using Intuition!!

Anything you would like to add?

Vanessa: I am so grateful to all of our readers and to the Mom’s Choice Awards, I am a true believer in heart resonance and think that the more people who are doing good things, the more joy there is.

Thank you Vanessa, I believe that too!!


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The Alumni Spotlight is a periodic feature of the Mom’s Choice Awards® blog. It is part of our ongoing effort to “shine the spotlight” on our honorees and their contributions to promoting excellence in family-friendly media, products, and services. We share their stories not only to celebrate their accomplishments, but to give you an opportunity to see the benefits of being part of the Mom's Choice Awards family of programs.

From the beginning, Jeanette Ramnarine and her husband knew they wanted to teach their children financial responsibility. What began as a personal project at home to help her son understand saving, has now become an award-winning multi-media product line. She started Four Piggies Publishing in 2007 and her debut picture book, The 4 Little Pigs chronicles her son's story about saving, spending, and sharing his allowance. Now, in 2009, The 4 Little Pigs has become the cornerstone of a program that will soon include piggy banks to complement the story and ultimately a chapter book for kids who need more advanced financial skills. In addition to winning a Mom's Choice Award®, The 4 Little Pigs also won a 2008 Moonbeam Award in the Nonfiction-Picture Book category.



MCA: Hi Jeanette, welcome to the Alumni Spotlight. With all you've got going on and the launch of your new project, I'm so glad we could get together. Let's get started ... Can you please tell us about the inspiration for The 4 Little Pigs?
Jeanette: Thanks for having me. This is a great ideas. My book The 4 Little Pigs; A Financial Values Book for Children was inspired by my children Caleb and Maya. Teaching them financial responsibility from a young age was something that my husband and I had always planned to do. When we started giving my son an allowance to teach him about money, we divided it between four piggy banks, each with their own name: Spending (pocket money), Saving (for a bigger purchase), Sharing (to be used to give back and help others), and Schooling (savings for post secondary education). We thought the information could be useful to other families and the result is The 4 Little Pigs, a financial values book for children.

MCA: What are your goals for promoting The 4 Little Pigs in the next year? Jeanette: We have just finished developing The 4 Piggies Kit, a financial values kit for children which contains the award-winning book The 4 Little Pigs and the four piggy banks. We will launch the project on the 4 Piggies website in November 2009. We are launching a campaign for the Christmas season to spotlight the Sharing and Schooling piggy banks by giving 10% of the proceeds from sales on our website to Pennies for Peace, the organization founded by Greg Mortenson. Greg is also an MCA honoree, and the proceeds from our sales go to building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Like Greg, we believe that world peace can be achieved through education. We will begin marketing The 4 Piggies Kit to the retail sector in 2010.

I am still working on the next book in the series. I am writing a chapter book using the same concepts as the children’s picture book but geared towards older children. I hope to have this complete and ready to launch next year.

MCA: If someone gave you air time for a 15-second commercial, how would you entice people to read The 4 Little Piggies?
Jeanette: Financial responsibility is a skill-set that we all need as adults. The 4 Piggies Kit gives parents the tools they need to start their children on the road to making smart financial decisions throughout their lifetime. This award-winning book and the four piggy banks not only help your children with math skills, but give them the ability to think about the decisions they make and provide them with wonderful financial tools they will need in the future.

MCA: You started with an idea and now have a successful, award-winning children's book. Looking back on your journey, what was the easiest part? The hardest? What surprised you the most? Jeanette: The easiest part was writing the story that would eventually become The 4 Little Pigs; A Financial Values Book for Children. Because the story is non-fiction and shares the experience my son Caleb had using the money from each of his four piggy banks, it was easy to write. The hardest part was the amount of time it took to bring my dream of sharing our award-winning story with others to life. I teach part time and I’m a stay-at-home mom so finding time to work on this project has meant many late nights. I’m surprised at how much I’ve learned about the publishing industry over the last year. I’m very grateful that I have so many people in my life that have coached me along the way and given me some really good advice.

MCA: Since launching the 4 Piggies Program (it really is bigger than just a book), what has been your most rewarding experience in promoting or sharing it with the public? Do you have a favorite memory? Jeanette: My most rewarding experiences are the ones where I get to share the book with elementary school children on the big screen. They love to see the book come to life and I enjoy hearing their answers on how they would spend money from each of the four piggy banks. I'd say my favorite memory was an interview I did with TVO kids. They had a live “call-in” where kids could call and ask me questions about money. I spoke with a little girl name Khadijah who was saving money to buy a Nintendo DS for her little sister who had special needs. I was so impressed by her goal. I think children have a natural tendency to have generous hearts and I am forever grateful to have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the world through their eyes.

MCA: Could you please tell us why you chose the Mom’s Choice Awards® program in seeking recognition for the 4 Piggies Program? Jeanette: I chose the Mom’s Choice Awards® because I knew that my book would be judged fairly by a group of education and media experts, as well as parents. I believe the Mom’s Choice Awards® is one of the best award programs available to have a children’s product evaluated honestly and I’m honored that we are now part of the Mom’s Choice Awards® Alumni.

MCA: What does it mean to you to be a Mom’s Choice Awards® alumnus? Jeanette: Being a Mom’s Choice Award® alumnus has opened so many new doors for us. We had the opportunity to meet some of the staff when we volunteered at MCA Booth during Book Expo America in New York City. They are an amazing group of people, I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet them in person. Talking with them solidified my opinion about the organization, and I have the utmost respect for the organization and the way that it’s run.

MCA: What did you learn about yourself in the process of creating your award-winning book/kit? Jeanette: I learned that with persistence and hard work you can accomplish anything that you put your mind to. I always knew in my heart that I was a born entrepreneur. Going through the process of creating The 4 Little Pigs and expanding it so we can now offer The 4 Piggies Kit has been great. I’m starting to see the results of all the time and effort that was spent on bringing my dream to reality.

MCA: Would you recommend the Mom’s Choice Awards® to other entrepreneurs? If so, why? Jeanette: I would recommend the Mom’s Choice Awards® to other entrepreneurs because your product will receive a fair and honest evaluation. MCA judges are bound by a strict code of ethics free from any manufacturer association. Your product will be judged impartially by the same people that you are trying to market it to.

MCA: How have you/your company benefited by being a Mom’s Choice Awards® honoree? Do you have any tangible examples? Jeanette: Since receiving a Mom’s Choice Award® we have been able to get some media exposure, and that's been great. We are based in Canada and are looking forward to marketing our product in the United States, so it was a privilege to have the chance to attend Book Expo America in New York this year. We participated in the MCA autographing session, which was extremely successful; and we also had the chance to speak with many other MCA honorees.

We are so impressed with how the MCA is run that we have purchased the licensing to be able to use the MCA logo on our packaging for The 4 Piggies Kit which will be released soon. We are extremely proud to display the MCA seal of approval on the front of our packaging.

MCA: Congratulations on your success, Jeanette, and we look forward to chatting with you again to see how the 4 Piggies Kit is doing!

Mom's Choice Awards® Honors
The Four Little Piggies
written by Jeanette Ramnarine
illustrated by Franfou
published by 4 Piggies Publishing, 2008
2009, Silver Medal, Children’s Picture Book, category: Growing Up




The 4 Piggies Financial Guide for 7 and 8 yr. olds (teacher resource)
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