Today marks the fourth annual World Autism Awareness Day. Adopted by the UN in 2007, the day is an occasion to promote awareness of autism and the millions of people it affects worldwide. It’s also a great opportunity to raise money and support for continued research into the subject.

When Miriam Smith was looking for a gift for her autistic grandson Griffin, she realized that there weren’t any books out there that were suited to his particular needs. So she and her daughters Afton Fraser (co-author and Griffin’s mom) and Margo Smithwick (the photographer) teamed up to create Point to Happy, the first ever book made specifically for kids on the autism spectrum—and the perfect gift for Griffin.

Join us at 7 pm tonight for an event with the authors at Book Revue in Huntington, NY! They’ll be discussing the inspiration for the book, and how it’s helpful to kids with varying degrees of autism. Visit Book Revue’s website for details.

As a preview, check out this video of the book’s creators explaining why the vibrant photographs and grippable pointer are so valuable to autistic children, who often benefit greatly from visual support.

To learn more about autism and what you can do to celebrate World Autism Awareness Day, visit AutismSpeaks.org.

Here is a list of a few things that kids love, in no particular order:
1.       Gross stuff

2.       Making a mess

3.       Making things explode

4.       Experiments

When you combine all of these, and throw in some pictures and facts, you have the most dynamically explosive and dangerous book, perfect for boys and girls who want to make things and learn about them too. We give you, THE BOOK OF POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC SCIENCE by Sean Connolly. Sean made his way through five cities and six schools last week, wreaking havoc and demonstrating some of the best experiments from his prize-winning book.

Those watching learned a little about friction with Newton’s Science Friction and got messy with the crowd-pleasing Edward Jenner’s Germ Experiment. In the photo you can see a group of 4th, 5th, & 6th graders from Knapp Forest Elementary School in Grand Rapids, MI, with their eyes glued on Sean.

The tour ended in Washington DC as Sean accepted the 2011 AAAS & Subaru SB&F Award for Excellence in Science Books in the hands-on category presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Quite the honor!

On Sunday, Sean appeared at the AAAS Family Science Day, where he presented the great video made by the Workman Studio and demonstrated more of his dangerously cool experiments. Even The Washington Post took notice!

Cheers to our friend for bringing a first-place prize back home to the UK and representing Workman children’s authors!

Watch Anne Byrn today on Good Morning America with cakes from her latest book, The Cake Mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free. Today she’ll share an amazing gluten-free take on a chocolate pound cake–visit her website (CakeMixDoctor.com) for the recipe.

Old-Fashioned Chocolate Pound Cake with Peppermint Drizzle

As someone who still remembers all the words to Hippos Go Berserk! at age 28, spending the day with Sandra Boynton was akin to having a kitchen full of freshly baked cupcakes at my disposal. In a word: Amazing!

At 10am last Saturday I arrived at Books of Wonder, a nearly unrivaled children’s bookstore in New York to find my Workman colleagues already hard at work. The Main Event would take place from 12-2pm, and would be kicked off with live performances of songs from Boynton musical classics Philadelphia Chickens and Blue Moo. At 10 the stage was still being assembled, the lighting tweaked and the mics sound-checked. My cohorts and I stuffed goody bags for the kids while the marvelous Books of Wonder staff ran around making sure they were ready for the impending crowd.

By 11:30 a few curious onlookers had started to make their way to the back of the store to claim a prime spot near the stage. The stacks of Boynton titles started to slowly disappear, the plush chickens, cows, ducks, and aardvarks were tucked one by one under an arm or into stroller for purchase, and the craft table where I was stationed drew the attention of young people barely tall enough to see over the top. We were all surrounded by a gallery of Boynton art, including an entire wall of prints from Amazing Cows!, portraits of some very serious farm animals, and rather suspect assembly of eavesdropping chickens.

We were welcomed at noon by Peter, our host and Books of Wonder’s proprietor, and by Sandra, who was lovely and welcoming. They introduced the musical acts, which began with a group of slick dudes signing “Be Like a Duck”, a fan fave from Philadelphia Chickens. They were followed by Sandy’s daughter Caitlin performing her perennial hit “Faraway Cookie”, another tune from the Philly Chickens album. The lovely Sparklets closed the set to an enthusiastic crowd with their hit “Blue Moo” from the book and album of the same name.

Sandy then took her place at the signing table and awaited the hoards of fans young and old. We manned the craft station for the duration of the event, handing out paper templates for “udderflys” (yup, cows with butterfly wings) and “cowlidescopes”, all the while humming “Blue Moo” and dancing with varying degrees of talent.

By 2:30 Sandy had met with each and every audience member and had signed loads of Amazing Cows! for some very happy readers. We sent the last of the udderflys sailing home, as families went off to shop for holiday gifts and Christmas trees. It was a lighthearted day filled with great music, good company, and a lot of cows. I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the holiday season. Many thanks to Sandra Boynton and her entourage for making such a spectacular appearance!

If you haven’t bought your copy of Amazing Cows! yet, do so without delay. I guarantee that when your kids turn 28, they will still remember every word.

Saturday, December 4th, Sandra Boynton will be celebrating the publication of AMAZING COWS! at Books of Wonder.

Not in NYC? Tune in here to watch Sandra Boynton and Michael Ford present a 15 minute stage show of three songs from their bestselling gold-certified book/CD sets Philadelphia Chickens and Blue Moo.

Click here at noon on Saturday to watch the show!

Thank you to the cows and chickens out there who are also bringing Sandra Boynton and Amazing Cows! to their world:

Motherhood Later
Confessions from Household six
Imagination-Cafe Blog
Multi-testing Mommy
MommyBlogExpert
Dad of Divas
Little Shindigs
Results Not Typical Girl
The Working Writer’s Coach
The Fashionable Bambino
Mommy Young at Home
Reviewed by Mom
NoMomSense

Okay. You’re going to think I’m obsessed with Maker Faire. And maybe I am. Or maybe the crafty holiday spirit is to blame. Around this time of year, I like to give gifts with a handmade touch — be they cookies, knitted goods (points for effort?), toys, or any number of household items crafted from repurposed fabric. So my apartment inevitably turns into a miniature Santa studio…. And what is Maker Faire, really, but a giant workshop bustling with high-octane elvish makers?

Relive the highs via this video by Workman designer Kevin Davidson. Featuring! Allen Kurzweil and son Max demonstrating laws of physics and optics in Potato Chip Science! Megan Nicolay transforming a T-shirt from Generation T: Beyond Fashion–while someone is actually wearing the T-shirt!

Perhaps they will inspire you to make something (explosions? fashion?) this holiday season. Back at the Workman compound, we’re busy making books to make all those things possible!

Meet Sandra Boynton, watch her musical stage show, and see her amazing artwork exhibition, all this Saturday from 12-2 at Books of Wonder (18 West 18th Street, New York, NY)

It’s getting chilly out there, which of course means ’tis the season for colds and flu. But it doesn’t have to be—not if you’re armed with The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick! Gene Stone’s new book reveals the surprising and sometimes unorthodox ways that twenty-five perpetually healthy people stay that way. From yoga to yogurt, from chicken soup to cold showers, and even the power of a positive attitude, the people who never get sick all swear by their individual methods.

Think you know the secrets of people who never get sick? How prepared are you for this year’s flu season? Take the quiz below to test your knowledge! (Hint: You may want to watch Gene’s appearance on Fox and Friends first…)

1. According to the book, which of the following is NOT a secret of people who never get sick?
A. Dousing one’s head in hydrogen peroxide
B. Eating nothing that ever had a face or a mother
C. Avoiding food that has dirt on it
D. Munching on a raw clove of garlic

2. Blue Zones are places in the world where most people are unusually healthy. Which of the following is NOT home to a Blue Zone?
A. A suburb of Los Angeles
B. An idyllic spot in Greece
C. A peninsula in Central America
D. An arctic village in Sweden

3. Which of these terms means “diseases that can be caught from animals?”
A. Zoonoses
B. Neuroses
C. Toxoplasmosis
D. Giardia

4. Mysophobia is a condition characterized by the fear of:
A. mice.
B. facial hair.
C. germs.
D. secrets.

5. The following herbs have all been shown to aid health except:
A. cayenne pepper.
B. ginseng.
C. cinnamon.
D. none of the above; all of these are beneficial.

6. The following odd treatments have been or are currently being investigated for their health benefits. Which one has now been approved by the FDA?
A. Urine therapy (drinking one’s own urine)
B. Maggot therapy (using maggots to heal wounds)
C. Wearing copper bracelets (for curing arthritis)
D. Trepanation (drilling a hole in one’s head)

7. One of the worst things you can do for your health is to:
A. sit still for more than 45 minutes.
B. pick your nose.
C. take more than one nap a day.
D. have sex.

8. Prior to 1847, vegetarians were called:
A. Pythagoreans.
B. vegebites.
C. rosicrucians.
D. lunatics.

9. True or false? Much proof exists that all the following can help either ward off or relieve the symptoms of a cold.
- vitamin C
- vitamin D
- zinc
- Echinacea

How do you think you did? Check your answers below to find out how much you know about staying healthy—and how much you have to learn.

Answers:

1. C. In fact, the opposite is true: Being exposed to a little dirt every now and then can help bolster your immune system.
2. D. Oddly, none of the six Blue Zones discovered so far are in northern climates.
3. A. Zoonoses can be dangerous, but a well cared-for dog or cat shouldn’t cause any problems.
4. C. Mysophobes are people who are terrified of catching colds from other people’s germs. Famous mysophobes include Howard Hughes, Glenn Gould, Andy Warhol, and Howie Mandel. And by the way, the fear of facial hair is called “pogonophobia.”
5. D. All of them are beneficial, plus hundreds more. Add herbs and spices to your diet!
6. B. Maggots can clean and heal wounds as well as—if not better than—man-made preparations. Trepanation, however, is no longer practiced.
7. A. Studies show that sitting still for more than 45 minutes is highly injurious to your health. However, some scientists say picking your nose might actually be good for you. Taking two naps is also beneficial, as long as they aren’t more than an hour each. Having sex, too, seems to be good for you, especially for your heart.
8. A. The great Greek philosopher Pythagoras was history’s first vegetarian. (Some meat-eaters may feel D is correct as well.)
9. False. There is some evidence supporting the efficacy of all the above, but the jury’s still out on whether any of it can make a huge difference to your health. That said, many people swear by vitamin C, including Susan Rennau, whose secret is #24 in the book!

Author Gene Stone visits Fox and Friends and shares what he’s learned by interviewing 25 unusually healthy people of all ages and all walks of life for The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick, including four surprising health secrets. Watch the video below.

Wow. That’s pretty much the temperature in the Workman offices this morning after last night’s Pitchapalooza at the B&N on the Upper East Side. Wow. Wow. Wow. It’s not just that Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry totally rocked it, in general and more specifically with a choreographed routine(!). It’s not just that they filled the expansive (150 seats) room almost to capacity. It’s not just that it was H-O-T-T in there. (Literally.)

Things get off to a rollicking start. Authors Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry with Workman Group Publisher Bob Miller (left).

It was, frankly, just awesome.

Awesome to see how passionate people were about sharing their stories and turning them into books.

Awesome to see how hungry they were for the very real information offered up by Arielle, David, and their panelists, agent Larry Kirschbaum and Workman’s own Bob Miller.

But most awesome of all were the stories. People had stories. The winning pitch in particular is one none of us who attended have been able to stop talking about. (I won’t give it away now. In a few years, Oprah will be telling you about it. Seriously.)

It was one of those special New York City nights, where you remember why so many of us put up with this place. The people! The stories! The umm, crowds! And from my perspective, it’s a rare treat for an editor to be able to connect her work so tangibly to its purpose.

So thank you Barnes & Noble, Arielle, David, Bob, and Larry. And thanks to agent Jim Levine for snapping the pics.

For more info on The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published, head over to www.thebookdoctors.com.

The runner-up (IMHO!) giving a pitch too good to spoil--you'll just have to wait for the book!

Agent Larry Kirschbaum (right) breaks it down with Pitchapalooza winner Verne Hoyt. None of us have any doubt that Verne's amazing story will one day be a Very Big Book.

Books were signed.

More books were signed.

The happy panelists, all stories and smiles.