Our Official "Monkey See, Zebra Do: A Zoo Party" Press Release!

For: Shankman & O’Neill Children’s Books Release: At Will

Date: 2/26/20 Contact: Ed Shankman, 908.310.0857

NEW RELEASE BY AWARD-WINNING CHILDREN’S BOOK DUO

“Monkey See Zebra Do” is the Latest Offering by Shankman & O’Neill

Verona, NJ—The award-winning team of author Ed Shankman and Illustrator Dave O’Neill have introduced their latest children’s book: Monkey See. Zebra Do. Like Shankman and O’Neill’s previous 10 offerings, Monkey See, Zebra Do is a rhyming picture book intended for children 2-7 years of age.

According to Shankman, the book is about a party during which the animals take turns playing host. “Each animal entertains the others in its own way,” Shankman said. “The kangaroo gives everyone a ride in its pouch. The monkey teaches them all to climb trees. The ostrich invites them all to bury their heads under the sand and serves them dinner there.”

O’Neill adds that the book has a deeper meaning. “It helps kids understand that we should value the things that make us who we are and appreciate those things in others,” he said.

Shankman agrees. “Ironically, the fact that we are each unique is one of the things that we all have in common,” he said.

Monkey See, Zebra Do closes with the following lines:

“I guess the truth is, when all’s said and done

Friendship is always the best part of fun.

Every beast has a name and its own favorite game

But look into our eyes and we’re all just the same.”

The most popular books by Shankman and O’Neill are I Met a Moose in Maine One Day, My Grandma Lives in Florida, and The Bourbon Street Band is Back. The duo has sold 175,000 books, and counting.

Monkey See Zebra Do, like all Shankman & O’Neill books, is available where books are sold.

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The Power of Boredom

The next time you’re trying to figure out how to structure your child’s time, consider this: when it comes to developing imagination, boredom is a wonderful teacher.

When we were bored as young children, we simply imagined our way out of the boredom by dreaming up something that interested us. We imagined not just fantastic creatures, places and activities, but entire mysteries, with complex plots, that grew and evolved over time! Our imaginations weren’t some isolated inner process. We lived them!

I believe the powers of imagination that we developed to fill our own empty time were the foundation for my lifelong creative explorations (including, of course, Shankman & O’Neill children's books).

Today, I’m never bored because there’s never enough time to finish my own thoughts and imaginings. So that’s what I do, happily, in every empty moment.

The next time you’re trying to figure out how to structure your child’s time, consider this: when it comes to developing imagination, boredom is a wonderful teacher.

Author Karlin Grey gets our "Five Favorites!"

Last year, we had the honor of being asked to participate in the 2nd Annual Saugatuck StoryFest at The Westport Library in Westport, CT. The Library's Children's Department hosted a day's worth of interactive experiences with picture book authors, so Ed and I brought along our newest title (at the time) "Where's the Bathroom?"

Also participating in the event was fellow children's writer Karlin Grey, who presented her title, "Serena: The Littlest Sister". Upon meeting her, she informed us that she runs a blog that hosts a Q&A section with authors and illustrators. She offered the chance to participate in her "Five Favorites" section, in which she asks guests to outline their favorite books, places to write/draw, even our mentors.

We jumped at the chance! Karlin was a pleasure to meet and love a good reason to write about ourselves!

So without further explanation or semi-relevant gifs that I simply added because Falkor rules, read our FIVE FAVORITES, here. (If you had to guess who Ed's rhyming books mentor is, who would you guess?)