We have some fun announcements today.

We took a little break here at A Story Before Bed over the last couple of weeks. It’s been hot here in Seattle and we needed to recharge. But… we haven’t been totally devoid of progress. For some time I’ve been promising to unveil a bunch of new books for your reading and recording pleasure, and today is the day. While we get most of our books from established high quality children’s book publishers, we saw how much fun they were having and couldn’t help but join in. Our house label has already added 15 books to our collection and today is adding ten more. Thanks to our team of talented illustrators, authors, and my partner Jenny who brings it all together into the final book you get to read, we have some fun stuff for you to look at.

Our selection is grounded in stories that you’ll most likely find familiar, but many of them have a twist that you won’t expect. For example, you all know the Little Mermaid. But in this story, the prince has to join his love in the ocean. Let the guy chase the girl this time. Oh yeah… and they’re cats (and catfish)! The illustrations in this book positively sparkle like the ocean in the sun. Check out Prince Kai and the Little Mermaid.

We’re very proud of Snow White in the City. Snow White herself is adorably illustrated with her mass of red hair. The urban setting brings new life to the story. Rapunzel is updated as well where a misunderstanding turns the story into an episode of Three’s Company (for those of you who remember that show) but appropriate for kids of course. And in this version the witch is just a touch insecure but not really evil. This version is called Rapunzel and the Missing Hare. (I just love how the title on the cover of the book is made out of Rapunzel’s hair!)

Aurora goes to sleep and eventually wakes up in this version of Sleeping Beauty – A tale of a not-so-sleepy baby, a sleepy prince, and vanilla cupcakes. And while it’s not an huge departure from the original like some of the books above, there are vanilla cupcakes and a cool Kremlinesque aesthetic in the drawings. Throw vanilla cupcakes and onion domes into any story and I’m on board. And as for the Ugly Duckling, it gets the urban treatment here (like Snow White did above) when a family of pigeons gets a new foster sibling in The Strange Squab – An Ugly Duckling Story. The illustrations are all etched in scratchboard. Cool!

Little Brown Dog, a traditional folk tale has gorgeous painted illustrations with super expressive characters. Hickory Dickory Dock goes more minimal with an animation style reminiscent (at least to me) of the Iron Giant (Brad Bird’s film prior to The Incredibles). I can’t tell if it’s the drawings or the clock itself that makes that connection in my brain, but you should judge for yourself.

Babu, the star of Babu’s Healthy Hoppy Bunny Tale, is a rabbit who doesn’t like raw carrots. His vision isn’t great, and his candy habit is becoming a serious problem. With the help of some of the other forest creatures he figures out how bringing some other healthy foods into the mix might solve all his problems (and even get the girl). This books is perfect to foster discussion with that picky eater in your family. The Button Box is like Toy Story, but with buttons. And the collages/illustrations are the perfect mix of real items and illustration giving this book a really distinctive aesthetic.

And finally, Baa Baa Black Sheep. Cause after all… where are you going to get your wool? While the other books were drawn, or painted, or computergraphicallypixeldrawn (I think that’s the technical term), those were paths well worn for Stephanie Toole, the illustrator of Baa Baa Black Sheep. She sewed her illustrations. Needle, thread, felt, fabrics, etc. Wow. The handcrafted goodness shows through on every page.

OK. The only thing I love more than getting presents… as you may or may not know is giving presents. As you may or may not know we have a subscription offer… $29.95 lets you record any book in our subscription collection as often as you like for a whole year. Up until now, our subscription collection had 15 books. Great books, and even with only 15 in the collection it ends up costing about two bucks a book if you only record them once. And even less if you record them multiple times. But we can do better! All ten books we’re releasing today are now part of the subscription collection. And if you’re already a subscriber (we love you for that) these new books are automagically included in your existing subscription. We love making the subscription offer even more valuable, especially for our early customers. (And don’t think we won’t do it again!

So… for all you folks for whom 15 books wasn’t enough in the subscription offer, there are now 25 books in the collection. For $29.95 a year, if you record them all once, that’s around $1.20 per recording (compared to the regular $6.99). And if you record them more than once, that cost goes down even further (think the same book read by grandma AND grandpa AND mom AND dad, etc.). And if you act now, we’ll throw in some Ginsu knives. Well… ok… just kidding. No knives. But certainly lots of great kids books.

Click here to see the full list of books in our newly expanded subscription collection.

Click here to see the details of the subscription offer and to place your order (if you’re so inclined).

We’re working hard on making the service even better for you as well as adding even more books. We appreciate all your suggestions and comments – keep ‘em coming and enjoy all the new books.