It’s no secret that we love dogs. Pretty pups, bad doggies, and those that need a little training to bring out their best–by which we mean all of them. And now we’re welcoming a new breed into the mix: My Dog! A Kids’ Guide to Keeping a Happy and Healthy Pet. It’s the ultimate family owner’s manual that teaches everything you need to know about your pet, from choosing a family dog to training, care, feeding, games, and more.

So, what’s the first step? Figuring out what breed might be right for your family. Let’s turn to the expert, author Michael J. Rosen, who breaks it down in a handy little video to help you learn about different breeds for different needs.

Unless you DO plan on asking your dog to herd reindeer or rescue you from a snow drift, any well-trained dog should fit perfectly in your family! Now go out there and adopt the large/tiny/fuzzy/hairless/regal/smush-faced pup you’ve always wanted!

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For even more tips, crafts, recipes, and games, check out the official My Dog! website. And make sure to like the My Dog! Facebook page and follow Michael J. Rosen on Twitter (@fidosopher) to keep up on all the latest My Dog! news.

What fan of Judy Garland’s hasn’t once coveted something sparkly and ruby red?

If you’re in the market for an authentic icon of Oz paraphernalia, you can take a chance at your very own pair of Dorothy’s slippers when this rare gem goes to auction on December 15.

According to the article, the slippers up for grabs are “one of only four pairs of screen-used ruby slippers known to have survived since the making of the 1939 film. One pair is at the Smithsonian, one is in private hands and a third pair was stolen from the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minn.” My stars!

But if you’re looking for something with all the sparkle but sans the hefty price tag, may we present to you the glittery and glam Wizard of Oz: A Scanimation Book, by Rufus Butler Seder, which debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list at #5 (on 10/9; it will make its appearance for the second week as #9 on the 10/16 list)! Check out the video below to see the collector’s item in action.

And now, the test: Can you click your heels and move the pages of this book at the same time?

We’ve brought you lots of stories about all sorts of unlikely animal friendships: Elephant dotes on dog. Deer protects goose. Puppy plays with pony. But today’s story, which comes to us from the U.K.’s Daily Mail, takes things to a whole new level. Not only is Jack the sheep best friends with a sheepdog—he thinks he is one!

Watch below to learn the story of Jack, a lamb who was born on a farm and raised alongside his owners’ springer spaniel named Jesse. Just like his canine brother, Jack loves to chase sticks and go for walks on a leash. He even helps out when it’s time to herd the other sheep!

For more awwww-inspiring stories of interspecies buddies, pick up a copy of Jennifer S. Holland’s New York Times bestselling book Unlikely Friendships.

Brace yourselves, folks: Here comes yet another adorable video of an unlikely friendship in the animal kingdom! This time we’re celebrating the bond between Herbie the pit bull puppy and Jabby the horse.

Jabby seems happy to have a playful visitor at the stable, and clearly Herbie is ecstatic at having made such an enormous friend! I didn’t think anything could even come close to “too cute” until I got about 20 seconds in to this video. A horse and a puppy—snuggling! It’s puppy love indeed.

For even more sweet videos and photos of interspecies bonding, check out the official Unlikely Friendships website—and pick up a copy of the New York Times best-selling book by Jennifer S. Holland!

Have you met Oscar? Oscar is a little kid with a BIG friend—a giant one, in fact! When Oscar discovers a very big, VERY hungry giant in his backyard, he knows he has to do something. But what? How do you feed a hungry giant? Would he like an enormous pizza, or a gigantic quesadilla, or a humongous pile of chocolate chip cookies? How much food can one giant eat?!

These are the key questions in How Do You Feed a Hungry Giant? by Caitlin Friedman, with illustrations by Shaw Nielsen. Check out the book trailer below and watch the adorable pop-up book come to life!

As a baby, Themba the elephant lost his mother to a terrible accident. When no other female in the herd adopted him, vets at the South African nature reserve where he lived found him an unlikely companion: Albert the sheep. Although initially wary of one another, the two soon bonded. They napped in tandem, played together, and Themba even rested his trunk on Albert’s woolly back as they explored their enclosure.

Below, check out a clip from the National Geographic TV show “Unlikely Animal Friends” that captures their special relationship, from awkward first encounter to best-friends-forever.

This is just one of 47 spectacular—not to mention adorable—stories of interspecies companionship featured in Jennifer S. Holland’s Unlikely Friendships. Pick up a copy today and let the awww-ing commence!

This weekend, champagne corks popped and wedding bells chimed—around the world, to be sure, but they were especially loud here in the state of New York, where the Marriage Equality Act officially went into effect and same-sex marriage became legal. Hundreds of couples flocked to their local marriage bureaus to tie the knot in front of family, friends, and the whole world.

Emily and Nathan share the love.

Some of us Workmanites were lucky enough to be right in the middle of the action on Sunday, when we headed down to the City Clerk’s Office in Manhattan and joined in the festivities. Last week we wrapped up copies of Steven Petrow’s Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners in true wedding-gift style. Then on Sunday morning we donned our tissue-paper boutonnieres and met up outside the government building to greet the revelers.

What we found was spectacular! There was a real spirit of celebration and camaraderie in the air as people lined the sidewalks to cheer the happy couples emerging from the City Clerk’s Office with marriage licenses in tow. People hugged and took lots of pictures, and there was music coming from everywhere. We even ran into NY State Senator Tom Duane, the lead sponsor of same-sex legislation in New York. He was clearly proud to be there amongst the people for whose rights he had been fighting for so long—especially because the law has a direct effect on his own life: Joked his partner Louis Webre, “We had an 18-and-a-half-year engagement!”

Senator Tom Duane and his partner Louis Webre.

Couples, family, and friends wait outside the Marriage Bureau.

One of my personal favorite parts of the day was when two women got married under a rainbow-colored chuppah. After they were officially married by the state, they came out to the park and were married by a rabbi. Then much singing and dancing ensued, and their kids got piggy-backed all over the place. I had never been to a Jewish wedding before, and now I can say that not only have I been to one, but that the ceremony was performed on the streets of New York!

Maggie gets REALLY into the celebrations. (No, she didn't actually get married.)

So fun was had by all, as they say, not least by those who got married. We all had a great time congratulating the newlyweds and handing out wedding gifts—such a great time, in fact, that as you read this blog post, we’re there doing it all over again! Feel free to stop by and say hello this Monday morning, and grab a copy of Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners while you’re at it. Plus check back later for more photos and maybe even some video of the happy scene here in Manhattan.

The gang, with books.

AND! If all this talk of marriage has you worrying about your own love life, be sure to watch Steven Petrow’s latest video on 365Gay.com, where he tells us once and for all if it’s really that big of a deal to lie on your online dating profile (Hint: Yes!).

As if we needed more evidence of the wonders of the animal kingdom, the early success of Unlikely Friendships–a book that tells of 47 remarkable, heartwarming animal friendships–proves that unconditional love exists across all boundaries–race, gender, even species. The book debuts at #6 on the New York Times Best Sellers Trade Paperback Nonfiction list and is #22 on the Combined Hardcover & Paperback Nonfiction list.

In celebration, we’re posting the video of a particular pair–Tara and Bella, the elephant and the dog–who came together at an Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee and whose adorable story (via CBS Evening News) fast became an internet sensation. They’re featured in the book, along with famous gorilla Koko and her kitten, All Ball; the hippo Owen and the tortoise Mzee; and Kizzee, the Greyhound, and Murphy, the tabby, who prove that cats and dogs really can get along!

If this video leaves you with the need to coo at some more inter-species pals, check out the article and slideshow that Parade magazine put together about the book to further indulge in the wonder of it all.

Welcome to another installment of Inside the Author’s Studio, where we give you a peek into the minds and studios of your favorite Workman authors.

Today, to celebrate the release of his new book–and just in time for two events notorious for inspiring sucky video (graduations and weddings)–we venture into the studio of Steve Stockman, author of How to Shoot Video that Doesn’t Suck. Let’s hope he can save us all.

Recent book you loved/learned from

Loved City of Lost Girls by Declan Hughes/learned from The Information by James Gleick/always recommend  The War of Art by Steven Pressfield.

Favorite bookstore

I’m glad you asked.  I’m having a contest to figure that out right now.  It all revolves around shelf display for my new book…. But while that contest is underway, I’ll give a shout out to our great local book store Village Books in Pacific Palisades, CA.

Hidden talent

Would you call forgery a talent or a craft?  Hmmmm.  I’m also a pretty good cook.

Bookmark, dog-ear, or virtuality?

Dog-ear if it’s mine and my wife is unlikely to read it, else bookmark.

Book you are most ashamed never to have read

I took a course in college called “Proust, Joyce and Faulkner.”  Read all the Faulkner.  Skipped all but one of the Proust with no regrets whatsoever.  Still sorry I never read past page 20 of Ulysses.  And still have an incomplete in the course.  I think the professor retired this year.

Most frequent form of writerly procrastination

My real job.

Favorite childhood book

Follow My Leader by James Garfield

Alternate ambition (i.e. If you weren’t a writer, you’d be…)

I’m a director, but what I’ve always really wanted to do is act.

Your perfect meal

A giant loaf of hot Greek-Italian bread from the Columbus Bakery in Syracuse, NY, and some awesome cheese.

Big dream

A line of “….That Doesn’t Suck” books.   That I don’t have to write, but that I still get checks for.  Not sure if this is a “dream” or a “fantasy.”

Super power of choice

Immortality probably has its downsides, but I don’t think I’d notice them for the first few hundred years.

What viral video do you wish you had shot?

I’m very fond of “Where the Hell is Matt?”  I like its spirit.  I talked about it in the book (page 114) and did a blog post about it here:  What in the Hell is Unity?

For those of us hitting the air conditioning hard this summer, what are your recommendations for the top 5 films to line up in the ol’ Netflix queue?

I got to do my top 100 or so titles in the back of the book, which was a blast.  So from that list, here are 5 good summer flicks from that list that you may never have seen, or forgotten and need to see again:

-Animal House (1978) School’s out.  Really out. The father of raunchy R-rated pics like The Hangover.  

-Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) For the 4th of July: A fast-moving catchy musical that time travels you back to America’s 20th century war efforts.

-The Empire Strikes Back (1980) The best, by far, of the six Star Wars movies. If you haven’t seen it lately or shown it to your kids, do it! 

-The Sixth Sense (1999) An intelligent horror movie that will scare the hell out of you and make you cry? Yep. A must-see even if you know the surprise ending already. 

-Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) Tarantino again. Why aren’t there more female action heroes? This should be a trend. I count this as one film. 

What Workman book would you like to receive as compensation for your involvement?

I still haven’t got around to reading Water for Elephants.  And I promise it won’t be like Ulysses.

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Steve Stockman is a writer and director of commercials, short films, music videos, and TV shows–and the author of How to Shoot Video that Doesn’t Suck.

I recognize how highly unlikely it is that any of you missed the totally epic 2 minutes and 21 seconds on April 26, 2011 during which members of Workman Publishing and the independent sales reps teamed up at our annual spring sales conference to set the new world record for the Longest High-five Chain. But, on the off-chance you did, let me extrapolate: We topped out at 96 high fives, which was more than enough to break the previously held record of 66, set on March 13 of the same year. (If this event had a soundtrack, it would launch into “We are the champions, my friend…”)

Click below to bear witness to the record-setting spectacle:

The only thing that could have made it sweeter? If it had taken place 5 days earlier on National High Five Day!

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The RecordSetter Book of World Records: 300+ Extraordinary Feats by Ordinary People by Corey Henderson and Dan Rollman (those yellow-suited fellows who you may recognize from their regular appearances on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon or their popular website) is due to hit store shelves in October 2011. But if you simply can’t wait till then, visit the Workman booth (#4152) at BEA in the Javitz Center at 11:00 next Wednesday morning (5/25) to be part of record-setting history!