Press Release Fun: Viral Video Leads to Toy Donations

Folks, alongside my co-writers Jules from 7-Imp and Peter of Collecting Children’s Books I am currently in the midst of some pretty serious editing of our Candlewick book.  So in the next few days my blogging will a touch spotty.  To fill the time here then is a press release of the charitable persuasion.

7-YEAR-OLD STAR OF THE BRONTE & FRANK TRAVEL BOOKS SERIES ATTRACTS WORLDWIDE ATTENTION FOR CHARITY

Child collects 4,000 stuffed animal toys for Phillipine flood victims

Bronte Henfling, the inspiration and star of her mother Megan Worthy’s travel book series for children, is helping put a smile on 4,000 childrens’ faces after the losing their parents, siblings, homes and belongings to the destructive Phillippine floods.

Bronte originally had a goal of collecting 1,000 stuffed animal toys, but as donations began rolling in, she quickly quadrupled her goal in just a few weeks.

Her YouTube video plea for help (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGWE6qxFpDE) went global. The hotel in Manila, where she is staying while her father shoots the Bourne Legacy movie starring Jeremy Renner, joined the child’s cause by hanging up posters and inviting area media to interview Bronte. Her second grade class in Beverly Hills collected 1,000 toys. And the charity received donations from Japan, UK, Canada, USA and Australia.

Bronte and her mother will travel to the affected area and deliver the toys in person. The Phillipine Daily Inquirer calls Bronte a “7-year-old angel” in a recent news story (http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/35793/how-do-you-raise-a-7-year-old-angel-like-bronte).

Why’d she do it? Little Bronte knows first hand how comforting a plush toy can be when she’s sad or scared. Frank, the other half of the Bronte & Frank traveltivity guides, is her teddy bear, companion and hero.

For details on the project, click on the big red heart at http://www.bronteandfrank.com/.

About the book series: Megan Worthy’s new charming and whimsical children’s traveltivity guide™ Bronte & Frank go to Moscow takes readers on a fun-filled adventure around the Russian city. Each copy includes educational activities, stickers, a postcard and metro map, photo pockets, insider recommendations, stunning illustrations, and even a bonus CD featuring songs, stories and Russian translations. A family of expert travelers – Bronte and Frank have been to four of the seven continents, hung out in over fifteen countries, and toured countless cities – it’s no surprise they won the 2011 Condé Nast Traveler A-Z Family Travel Contest. Bronte & Frank go to Moscow was also named Best Children’s Picture Book: Hardcover Fiction with Audio CD, and a finalist for Best Travel Guide by USA Book News in 2011, and earned a spot as one of the best children’s books in the NABE Fall 2011 Pinnacle Book Achievement Awards. The second book in the series releases this spring and is set in Beverly Hills. The author is planning follow up books in Central Park and Manila. Available online and in select bookstore and specialty outlets worldwide, the Bronte & Frank series supports orphaned and disabled children through The Diema’s Dream Foundation in Moscow. ISBN: 978-0-615-38138-1 • $24.95 US (Hardcover, Reinforced Binding) • 42 pages • Ages 3 & up • Publication Date: May 5th, 2011

About the author: A native Australian, Megan Worthy has spent the last 20 years in the international film business, working on movies like “The Green Hornet,” “The Matrix” and “Where the Wild Things Are.” The debut author and her American husband George Henfling continue to take Bronte and Frank on spur of the moment adventures around the planet and hope the Bronte & Frank Travelivity Guides ™ might make life a little more fun for families following similar paths.

Filed under: Press Release Fun