Climb on aboard and your world will expand. We’ll include all we find in this grand Land of AND!
As you float down the river that rolls and rumbles through Land of AND, you'll get the chance to join up with new and interesting characters you may not have thought to include in your plans before.
You'll learn that even those who seem scary or different at first may bring something great to your journey; whether it's a special skill, a wealth of experience, or even just a unique sense of style! You'll have to watch out for the Yabbut, who tries to keep your odd and unusual new friends from coming aboard. But with help and wise advice from your trusty river guide, you'll make sure that everyone gets to come along!
Land of AND is for ages 5 and up, and is intended for everyone!
Powerfully affirmative books on a vast range of qualities.
The true test of whether a new children’s book hits the mark is the kids’ call for repeat reads. Using this standard, and I might add with two bilingual (English/French) grandchildren aged 5 and 7, the author and illustrator of both Land of AND and Land of OR have themselves two winners by enthusiastic acclaim.
The unprompted requests to have these handsomely large volumes read to them over and over again, announces a list of compelling reasons why these gorgeous tomes will become classics with a wide age range of tiny citizens.
Youngsters are so alive in their sensory life, so that any book placed in front of them, particularly at this point in time with the plethora of media devices competing for their eyes, must have a certain magic to attract them, and added value mystique to do it a second time, then repeat curtain calls thereafter.
The illustrations by Toby Allen in both books, are at once powerful, playful, original, and likeable, quite a recipe for succeeding with a progressively hipper and more discerning audience. My grandson and granddaughter both love the illustrations, so this is a remarkable feat in and of itself.
Much as in a dramatic feature film or memorable documentary, the most successful offerings place unforgettable characters in front of us, and we simply must return to them over and over.
In Land of AND, we meet alluring characters such as “The Guide”, “The Kid”, “Yabbut”, “Handi”, and so many more, then in Land of OR, a very different cast arrives in the forms of “Happy”, Patience”, “Timid”, “Playful”, “Grateful”, “Strong”, and my personal favourite “Skittish”.
Author Katie Mullaly is a selfâconfessed lover of rhyme, rhythm, and reason, and if I could make copies of her to place in every school under the sun, we would have a much kinder, more serendipitous populace.
These are powerfully affirmative books on a vast range of qualities, and just like the very best entertainers in the world; if they make it look easy on stage, you know a ton of work has gone into their performance.
So it is with Katie Mullaly and Toby Allen, I feel the love and professionalism these two artists invest in these important works, and all I can say in the end is: encore, encore, encore.
Why We Love This Book:
- Teaches children that our uniqueness makes us special
- The rhyme in the book reminds us of many a Dr. Seuss book with it’s delivery
- The illustrations are amazing – you will spend more time looking at the pictures with your kids than you ever thought possible
- The characters are overly adorable and make you not want to turn the page, but the story does, so you may be in a quandary
- This book is not just for children – adults alike will LOVE it!
- Your kids will ask for this to be read to them over and over
- There is web interaction with a Travel Guide to help you and your young travelers navigate through the Land of AND
- There are descriptions of all the fun characters as well as printable guides to use as daily reminders of the journey.
The life lessons Mullaly concentrates on in both her books are the foundation of an upstanding human.
When I sit down with my kids and open a new book; in the back of my mind I think, wouldn’t it be amazing if this book could be entertaining, smart, colorful, funny, have captivating pictures and thought provoking content for young children. Rarely does a children’s book capture all of these criteria.
Katie Mullaly’s writing and Toby Allen’s artistry in the Land of AND is all of the above and more! It is an extremely creative and innovative travel book. It appeals to both children and adults. It is something special when you can read a book over and over and still learn something during your last read. You open the book and your first page is the Map of AND. I don’t know about your kids, but when mine see a map they get really excited and immediately assume a travel adventure is about to begin. Even though we stayed in the same seat and were covered by the same blanket the whole time; this book immediately catapulted our imaginations to a level that needs to be visited more often.
Mullaly’s is also the author of Land of OR. In my opinion, this book has the potential of becoming the next Oh the Places You Will Go by Dr. Seuss. Millions of parents and Life Guides have given Dr. Seuss’ book to high school graduates, teenagers at a crossroad, young adults finding the transition from child to adult tough as a friendly “guide” for life. I believe Land of OR will soon take its place and can be given and understood earlier in life.
Mullaly teaches about choices and obstacles you may come up against and persuasions (for example the family favorite the Yabbut) that may get in your way. My daughter, age 6 was fascinated by this story, completely engaged and full of questions during our reading and after.
Land of AND is Mullaly’s second book. Its theme focuses on inclusion and acceptance. As I said before, I have a 6 year old girl as well as a 4 year old boy. It is startling to me that my young children are already dealing with inclusion/exclusion and acceptance/disapproval. This story is beautiful; the pages are filled with color, wonderful characters and life lessons regarding kindness, self worth, empathy, respect and companionship. My 4 year old son was concentrating on the pictures and the adventure of the characters (his favorite continuing to be the Yabbut) and my 6 year old daughter would recap the ideas after a few pages to keep the story straight in her mind. While I believe they are on the young side of the “age appropriate” spectrum, they absolutely understood the themes Mullaly is outlining in a fun and creative way and will grow up continuing to read, learn and practice what she is preaching.
The life lessons Mullaly concentrates on in both her books are the foundation of an upstanding human. The earlier children learn these traits the better. With the focus of our future in technology, it saddens me that personality characteristics are losing their luster. I believe Mullaly is just the author we need to build our children’s self esteem and comradery and for that I thank her.
There are so many new things to experience when we open ourselves to inclusion.
The Land of AND is the sequel. Humph, I think, they seldom measure up to the first. But, I was wrong. We manage to drift along the river of life gathering, adding, and expanding as we go. There are so many new things to experience when we open ourselves to inclusion. The artistic rhythm again carries the enchanting little craft as it grows, accommodates, and teaches acceptance. I found the maps of the lands inside the book covers to be a unique and winning feature. Two thumbs up for these great additions to any family library.
Local author Katie Mullaly had a specific goal in mind when she published her first children's book, "Land of OR," five months ago. "I wanted to create an atlas for living," Mullaly said during an interview with The Park Record. "The goal of the book is to provide children with tools for mindful living, and I see this whole big set -- 'Land of OR,' 'Land of AND,' 'Land of 'WHY,' 'Land of BECAUSE. -- so when kids read the books or when parents read the books to their kids, the messages transcend through the families. As the kids grow, they are able to maintain and use these messages and tools and they can refer to these books if they need help."
A few days ago, Mullaly released her new book in the series, "Land of AND," which is available at Dolly's Bookstore, Atticus Coffee, Books and Teahouse, J.
W. Allen & Sons at Redstone, Cole Sports, Samak Smokehouse, St. Regis and Montage at Deer Valley and Weller's Bookworks at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City. The book can also be purchased by visiting www.landofchildrensbooks.com.
Mullaly will be at Dolly's Bookstore on Saturday, Dec. 19, to sign the book from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.
"I'll have copies of 'Land of OR' there as well, so people can get a set," she said.
"Land of AND" is about different ways people can include others, according to Mullaly.
"[Readers] find they can do this, whether it's listening to others' stories, or acknowledging them or seeing that even though someone seems big and scary, they are not," she said.
"I created different creatures that went along with each different type of inclusion."
Mullaly enjoyed going from the "Land of OR" to the "Land of AND."
"'Land of OR' was a very specific journey and in the book, the reader would go from this point to this point to this point," she said. "'Land of AND,' on the other hand, is based on a river trip. I wanted a situation or setting that was more organic and flowing to fit the concept of inclusion. So as readers go along, I wanted them to feel as if they were inviting the other characters to join their travels. So, the river fit the flow metaphorically and physically."
When Mullaly sits down to start writing one of her books, she has the name and concept ready, but not the setting.
"When I started writing 'Land of AND,' I couldn't help of thinking about the setting as a river," she said. "So, I came up with the idea that the readers would get into this bland boat and as they read on, the boat and the pictures get more colorful and the characters become more fun.
"It seemed like a good metaphor for life," she said. "When you include more, you have more fun. This is about accepting and embracing."
As with "Land of OR," Mullaly worked with artist Toby Allen, who is based in the United Kingdom.
"It's funny because we have yet to talk in person," Mullaly said. "All of the things we have done with these two books have been done via the Internet."
One of the characters from "Land of OR,' the mischievous Yabbut who tries to thwart the journey with questions, returns in "Land of AND," but it's of a different species, Mullaly said.
"When we started doing illustrations for 'Land of AND' we discussed if we were going to keep the Yabbuts," Mullaly said. "Well, we decided to create a slew of them. So the Yabbut in 'Land of AND' is different than the one in 'Land of OR.'"
Another constant in "Land of AND" is a map, much like the one in "Land of OR."
"I always wanted to do the maps and in both books, you will see a map inside the front cover and inside the back," Mullaly said. "The front map has no place, names or characters, but the one in the back is completely filled in. That way, when people finish the book they can see that they completed the journey.
"I've always loved maps and kids love maps," she said. "So why not add one more level to these books to give a visual journey of where the readers have been."
The maps serve an additional purpose.
"They can look at the maps and then go back and look in the book to see where these places are and that kind of creates the foundation for the travel guides that are online for all of the books," Mullaly said. "The maps give different discussion points in the journey and a fun way to keep the story going."
The online guides are found by visiting www.landofchildrensbooks.com .
Another visual touch in the art is more personal for Mullaly.
"The main character wears a hat and it's a reference to my childhood," she said.
"I grew up in Vernal, so my family spent every weekend on the river and that hat is my father's river hat."
Mullaly is already working on her new book, "Land of HOW."
"This book is about problem solving and the reader will travel through a land to get from point A to point B," she said.
Dolly's Bookstore, 510 Main St., will host a book signing for Katie Mullaly, author of "Land of AND" and "Land of OR," on Saturday, Dec. 19, from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.landofchildrensbooks.com or www.dollysbookstore.com.
