For Immediate Release 
Contact: Susan McLennan
Phone: 416.699.1846
Email:     susan@reimaginepr.com 

New Animated Videos Help Kids and
their Families Navigate COVID-19

Children’s TV writers partner with The Government of Canada, Toronto Public Library, CHEO, UPSTREAM and others to get life-saving Info out about the pandemic 

Toronto, April 29, 2020: COVID-19 requires millions of families to adopt new life-or-death habits, but as the pandemic wears on, families are starting to tire of the restrictions and some are rebelling against what we all need to do to stay safe. Two decades of working in children’s television taught regional Emmy Award-winning Mike Erskine-Kellie and Susan McLennan that if you want to change the world, you go bottom-up, through the kids, and not top-down, through the parents. So they teamed up with doctors, parenting experts, hospitals and other organizations on the Coronavirus front lines to create a new animated series of short videos that are designed to help kids keep their families safe. 

Spike & Toody is aimed at 3-7-year-olds and consists of 5 x 4-minute videos that cover a range of COVID-19-related subjects, including physical distancing, how to be a good helper, worry, good hygiene, and things to do when isolated. The project has been made possible [in part] by the Government of Canada and was done with the help of various partners who came on to advise on and/or distribute and support the project, including CHEO, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, UPSTREAM, Caremongers, and The Toronto Public Library. Medical advisors include Dr. Gary Bloch from St. Michael’s Hospital and Dr. Nisha Thampi from CHEO. Parenting advisors include parenting book authors Ann Douglas and Sara Dimerman, who is also a psychologist. A list of partners and a list of experts can be found on the Spike & Toody site.  

“If you need people to adopt new behaviors right away, go straight to the children. If they understand what they have to do and why they must do it, they will ensure everyone in their household does it correctly too,” said producer and writer Susan McLennan. “It’s how recycling, anti-smoking and seatbelts were adopted, and it’s kids who will ensure we stay the course when we all start tiring of what we have to do to stay safe during this pandemic.” 

This project has been made possible [in part] by the Government of Canada. It is created, written, and executive produced by regional Emmy Award-winning Mike Erskine-Kellie and Susan McLennan and produced by Susan McLennan and Fergus Lowry. The director is Chris Earle, a frequent mainstage director at Second City.  Erskine-Kellie and McLennan are the authors of the recently released Kids Can Press Book: I Got You A Present! (April 7, 2020) and have written for PBS, CBC, Disney, and TVO and other broadcasters around the world. A digital project they created, wrote and produced was selected for inclusion in the Library of Congress.                         

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 PUBLICATION DATE:    April 7, 2020

nEW CHILDREN’S bOOK HELPS KIDS
UNDERSTAND RESILIENCE WITH THE
HELP OF A WELL-MEANING DUCK

In a world where children are increasingly suffering from anxiety disorders, a funny new kids’ picture
book called I Got You a Present! helps
3-7 year olds learn about resilience

and friendship through the lens of something everyone has: birthdays!   The book is published by Kids Can Press, (April 7, 2020: $16.99 US; $18.99 CAD), and is also very popular with the under-4 set.

Written by a husband and wife team, Regional Emmy Award-winning Mike Erskine-Kellie and Susan McLennan and illustrated by Cale Atkinson, the picture book follows the hilarious adventures of Duckie, a wide-eyed and loveable mallard who is on an epic quest to find the perfect birthday present. But nothing works out, not even an apple-juice fueled jet pack, a 10-scoop ice cream cone, or a magic kit that disappears -- nothing, that is, until Duckie finds the very best present ever, possibly of all time, and maybe even in the history of the universe!  

“Hey, I’m a resilient duck,” said Duckie, the book’s web-footed and wise-quacking hero. “Read the book and you’ll see that every new amazing birthday gift I give is a failure, but I use each setback as a launchpad to a new idea – and an even greater failure! But remember, I’m Duckie, so I always get back up and try again! In the end, I learn a pretty valuable lesson: that presence is more important than presents. And you can quote me on that. Quack! Quack!”

“The duck doesn’t lie. One of the many great things about kids is that they have built-in aptitudes that lend themselves to resilience,” said Susan McLennan, the book’s co-author.  “They love to laugh, they’re naturally curious and they mimic what they see modeled by others, even characters in a book. Through the story and Cale Atkinson’s fabulous illustrations, ‘I Got You a Present!’ leverages some of the aptitudes kids need to use to ride out a setback while giving the adults in their lives a chance to have conversations around failure, resilience and the true meaning of friendship.” 

The book is anchored in the couple’s philosophy of helping kids live in a  F.I.E.R.C.E. world, one filled with Fun, Integrity, Empathy/respect, Resilience, Creativity and Exploration.  

Erskine-Kellie and McLennan are doing Zoom readings of their book  and also have a short, highly interactive birthday Zoom show that take kids on a journey to Planet Birthday Party where they read them the book.

Regional Emmy Award-winning MIKE ERSKINE-KELLIE and SUSAN MCLENNAN are writers for children’s television. I Got You a Present! is their debut picture book. A husband and wife team, they live together in Toronto, Ontario.

CALE ATKINSON is the illustrator of many highly acclaimed picture books, including If I Had a Gryphon and To the Sea, which he also wrote. He lives with his family in Kelowna, British Columbia.

For more information, please contact:

Michaela Cornell at 416-479-6766 Please send reviews or mentions to mcornell@kidscan.com

To reach Mike Erskine-Kellie and Susan McLennan directly (Spike and Toody), please contact
susan@reimaginepr.com or call 416.568.5974

I Got You a Present!

Written by Mike Erskine-Kellie and Susan McLennan

Illustrated by Cale Atkinson

Ages: 3 – 7 / Grades: PreSchool – 2        

8” x 11”/ 32 pages / © 2020

ISBN: 978-1-5253-0009-7 HCJ

$18.99 CAN / $16.99 US

Publication Date: April 7, 2020