Macmillan Children's Publishing Group invites everyone to join "Team Moon Bear" in its effort to raise $10,000 to adopt Mac the moon bear. The publisher will match the first $5,000 raised through mackids.com/TeamMoonBear.
The Team Moon Bear site connects visitors to both the Animals Asia and the Macmillan Children's Publishing Group sites, and is the home base for the "Moon Bear Bucks" campaign. In addition to matching $5,000 in gifts to the campaign, Macmillan will donate a portion of the proceeds of the book sales from Moon Bear to Animals Asia, an organization founded by Jill Robinson that is dedicated to rescuing and healing captive moon bears. With this $10,000 goal, Animals Asia will be able to rescue and care for one moon bear, and children everywhere can be a part of the effort to save these bears from a life of captivity. The Team Moon Bear Web site offers downloadable ideas for fund-raising activities, from organizing a talent show to planning a bake sale, as well as a video featuring Ed Young's illustrations from the book and footage of rescued moon bears at play.
Moon Bear will be a featured title in both trade and consumer advertising, including PBS.org and National Geographic Kids; a national publicity campaign in TV, print, radio and online outlets; and author/artist events in Seattle and New York bookstores. The Bronx Zoo will feature Moon Bear prominently in its "Animal Tales Extravaganza" promotion, and Ed Young will give a special presentation on May 23. He will also be on hand to sign books. Posters with activities and Moon Bear Bucks fund-raising suggestions, plus art prints signed by Ed Young (in limited quantity), will also be available. Moon Bear was featured at the ABA Winter Institute and ALA Midwinter, and will be featured at an NYC Librarian Preview, TLA, IRA, the ALA Annual conference and NCTE.
[Photo courtesy of Animals Asia.]