New Books Celebrating Walt Disney World's 50th

Walt Disney World is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and all the new merchandise has been fantastic. Sadly, my favorite of all the celebratory merchandise has  been available in the parks but not available online. Read on to see how and when you can get your own copies of these fabulous reads.

Disney's 9th Annual Magic of Storytelling Campaign

Disney's 9th annual Magic of Storytelling campaign is here!

Windy City Magic is the perfect read this Summerfall!

 

Oh I am sorry, you aren't acquainted with the term Summerfall? Well let me explain.

Picturing Disney Summer Book List!

Disney Publishing Worldwide and Hyperion have always sent us the most amazing books for review and giveaway! We have a huge stack we are working on at our house! Keep up to date with our weekly updates on the Instagram account (we usually share to Facebook as well so make sure you follow us everywhere)!

Here's our early summer favorites for the whole family!

For the littlest littles:
Dream by Matthew Cordell

 As you might remember from our Book Review of Wish, we LOVE Matthew Cordell! Be prepared for this to be a favorite to read to the babies in your life, whether that is your own children, siblings, nieces, nephews, or that you might even want to grab a copy to give to your big kids becaust it is SO beautiful!

Next up, we have Night Night, Groot by Brenden Deneen.

As huge Guardians fans in our house, we all love this but its perfect fun for your smallest baby groot fans! I think younger elementary grades would love it most- Kindergarteners to 2nd graders would likely be most entertained.

And our 8 year old (3rd grader)'s pick for the best summer book: Star and Marco's Guide to Mastering Every Dimension

If you have never seen Star vs. the Forces of Evil, it is a true Disney gem and you should enjoy it with your kids when you have some down time on rainy days. This book would would be great for any kid who loves the show and I think the best target audience is somewhere around 8-10 years old!

And the cover picture for this article is featuring my very favorite book of the summer so far:

Wildman by J.C. Geiger

This young adult novel is a beauty! I read it in a day, the words flowed together as the perfect coming of age summer story. It is everything I love about summer reading: a great setting, real characters I can relate to and watch evolve, and of course a little bit of love! This might be classified as YA but I recommend to teens and adults alike! 

And finally, for all those lovely ladies looking for a little guided path to self discovery, check out Choose to Matter by Julie Foudy. This one is especially great for a plane ride or beach grab. Its easy to work through and gets your thinking hard about changing your habits and being the best you that you can be! We have actually used some of her "team" exercises with our family and they worked wonderfully! 

Happy Summer!

Regina Rising- Once Upon A Time Book Review

Hey Oncers... do you love Regina or love to hate her?
Either way I've got a book for you!

We are "certain as the sun" that you will love these new Beauty & the Beast products!

 

We are pleased to see our favorite tale reinvented beautifully as a live action film for new audiences to adore. 

A whole new world of Beauty & the Beast fans have emerged! 

Beauty & the Beast Bookworm Breakdown!

If you grew up like I did... 

Happy New Year of Great Books to Read from Disney Publishing!

Disney Baby has a bunch of adorable new books coming out.

Welcome Moana to your Disney family this holiday season!

I loved the feeling I had when I left the theater after seeing Moana!

LeSportSac Moana Weekender Prize Pack!

LeSportSac has sent us this beautiful bag/cosmetic bag combo to share with YOU dear reader! 

I adore the new Moana collection. 

This weekender bag is just fantastic! I have multiple sizes in the weekender and I use them for everything from sleepovers for our children, to carry on luggage on planes. I have used my Monster's Inc one over and over and it remains in as good as new shape! 

The Giveaway:

In addition to the fabulous Moana weekender bag I am going to throw in a Pirates of the Caribbean Inspired Wish Bracelet from my Etsy shop and some surprise books from Disney Publishing!

The contest runs from 12/16/16 to 12/22/16  (U.S. only).
Use the rafflecopter links below! 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fall into Reading this Autumn with Disney!

Disney has outdone itself with the amazing art and stories this season! 

Book Review for Tweens, by Tweens: Sara Shepard's The Amateurs

Book Review: The Amateurs by Sara Shephard

The Art of The Jungle Book Giveaway

If you are a fan of the latest The Jungle Book film, you are going to love  this giveaway!

But just in case, definitely check out our honest review on Disney's latest live action film here.

There was a lot of love and care placed into the live action adaption of Ruyard Kipling's The Jungle Book by Director Jon Favreau. Favreau's innovative new spin on the classic tale includes state-of-the-art CG and motion-capture technologies. Inspired by Disney's beloved animated movie, this adventure explores iconic characters such as Mowgli, Baloo, Bagheera, and Kaa, but also focus on the jungle itself. Amazingly, a lot of the beautifully designed elements and ideas used to help create the film are jam packed into one spectacular book, The Art of The Jungle Book.

This book takes an in-depth look at the making of the film. It showcases the dazzling concept art, behind-the-scenes photography, CG designs, and insightful interviews with the cast and crew. There are also full-color images and gorgeous spreads to illustrate the technological magic behind the art of the film. 

We are so excited that Insight Editions has offered a copy to one of our lucky readers. This stunning coffee-table book provides a fascinating look at how Director Jon Favreau and his team created the films striking visuals and provided an enthralling experience for fans of all ages. 

Click HERE to enter for your chance to win this fabulous book. 

 Good Luck!!

Check out our review of Disney's latest live action film here.

Attention Foolish Mortals: A New Haunted Mansion Book Coming Soon!

This is not the final cover, but a draft, and is presented to mimic the final cover.

I receive an advanced proof copy of the new middle grades book based on Disney's Haunted Mansion ride (a favorite of mine coast-to-coast). I was so excited to get this book! It was precisely the kind of thing I would have read in 5th grade (when my Goosebumps and Are You Afraid of the Dark? obsessions were at a peak). 

I have read many proofs in my day, but this disclaimer is by far the best I've ever seen! 

The book was written by John Esposito with some illustrations by Kelley Jones. Check out my review (and follow me) on GoodReads! And be sure to grab your copy this July when the book hits stores in all its purple-wallpapery glory! 

Article By:  Melissa Beeman 

Disney Publishing Winter Fun Guide!

We have kids from ages 7-11 in our home and they are on very different reading levels with very different interests.  As always, Disney reaches all of them (and even their father and I who are both 32).  We can always seem to find books that grab us and pull us into the story (with a little tugging of heart strings as well).

Our 7 year old loves...

Cloud Country: This is one of the Pixar animator showcase books and as you could guess the imagery and imagination make it an instant hit with our outgoing, never-stops-singing girl. 

Our 9 year old loves...

The Princess, the Scoundrel and the Farm Boy: A classic retelling of the first saga the world ever laid eyes on from the greatest space opera of all time.  Star Wars, A New Hope, is just one of the books in this series.  Perfect for fans (especially those who are anxiously awaiting the release of the newest movie!

Our 11 year old loves...

Star Darlings: This is the first in a series where each book introduces new characters.  We first spotted this book on a shopping trip to Justice and I saw it catch her eye.  The cover art is beautiful and the whimsical tale made for something we could probably have read aloud to both girls. 

I've got my sights on...

Black Widow Forever Red:  I love Marvel and love the new expansions now that Disney is the happy owner of the franchises, however, I tend to gravitate towards movies that are a little more legend-based and books that are more realistic.  This is a nice mix about a character I knew very little about! I have only just cracked it open but it seems to be in the tradition of the Mary Jane book released back when I was in college. 

Their Fractured Light:  Thanks to a preview copy Disney sent me of These Broken Stars I am hooked on this series! I am actually setting off re-reading the first book before I dive in.  I can't wait and will post all my thoughts to both books on my Goodreads account!

We ALL love...

Olaf's Night Before Christmas: Everyone Loves Olaf!

Once a weekend we are usually taking a long car trip thanks to our lovely location in the middle of the woods in northwest CT.  We generally have reading time or read aloud before bed but books on CD are awesome ways to break up the monotony of a car trip.  This one is fabulous because its an adorable Olaf-spin on a classic and everyone's favorite snowperson narrates!

I always love seeing how a franchise like Frozen isn't cheapened but continues to add magic to our home.  Happy Holidays from Picturing Disney and Disney Publishing! 

Disney Collectible Books and Snoopy LeSportSac Tote Giveaway!

Hey there PDers! Guess what we've got up our sleeve? Another lovely giveaway thanks to Disney Publishing and LeSportSac (two of our favorites)!

As you saw last week LeSportSac hooked us up with some beautiful and durable bags from their Peanuts and Peanuts Movie line.  They are incredible (as always) and we want to give away our favorite to YOU! LeSportSac totes are a teacher, mother, college students, and even kids best friend! I love them! I still use Small World one featured a couple years ago for my go-to work bag! Easy to clean, lots of compartments, comfy to wear, and adorable prints- what more could you ask for?

The Snoppy bag we are giving away comes with not one but TWO brand new collectible books from Disney Publishing!

All Aboard: The Wonderful World of Disney Trains (this book came out last month to rave reviews!)
& Before Ever After: The Lost Lectures of Walt Disney's Animation Studio (this one won't officially be released until October 20th and is sure to be an instant must-read for any Disney fan- I couldn't put it down!)

Both of these books are both beautiful and just filled with exciting and interesting information!!
Only one thing left to do! Enter below! Good luck!! xoxox

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fall Fun from Disney Publishing!

As soon as the Disney Publishing package arrived on my doorstep the kids of the house were raring to go reading the newest books Disney has in store! Slated for release this month and next there is a wide variety of fun new items for kids of all ages!

The tween in our house was thrilled to see a Liv & Maddie tie-in and my nieces were stoked about the new step into reading books.  The almost-7-year-old was just smitten with the new Frozen tales and these two bad boys have rarely made it to the bookshelf (the bed, the car, the floors, yes-- bookshelf not so much).

The Disney Junior books honestly had me a little smitten, I love this new watercolor art style and with new stories from everyone's favorite Pet Doc and young Princess these are SURE to please! The softcovers even came with great little freebies! The Doc McStuffins Pet Vet story came with stickers and Sofia the First's Let the Good Times Troll came with a DVD! I can honestly say these are just bonus in our house and we tend to do a lot more with just the books but its nice to know there are bonuses abound! (Nice Disney touches!)

By far the cutest (and my favorite) even though they were young for the kids in our house (10, 8, 6) we all looked through the new Frozen reindeer book and Figaro Touch & Feel. 

These are so adorable and clever.  I love the new Disney pets theme and we have a lot of princess pals so its nice to see an old furry friend making their way to Disney books and it looks like this is just the beginning with the "Disney Tails" emblem in the corner of "Figaro's Halloween Surprise". 

The great thing about the adorable "Reindeers" book is how creatively every character dons antlers as the book goes on! It was giggle-able and brought a smile to the kids of all ages here in my house!!

By far, however, my favorite of the pack was this last one which reminded me that Aladdin on blu ray is just around the corner! Although I know the story (and the words to every song) we still played this in the car on a road trip.  Thanks, Disney Publishing for reminding me I am always a child at heart!

Star Wars Golden Books Collection

Some of our Golden Books Collection

Some of my fondest memories from childhood involve reading Little Golden Books.

Get ready for the Descendants!

The gang here at Picturing Disney is excited to watch the premiere of Disney's Descendants on The Disney Channel July 31 (8pm)!

To get to know the enchanted offspring a little bit before the premiere, we have been enjoying these great books by Disney Publishing!

Descendants

The Isle of the Lost

Mal's Diary

Mal's Spell Book

You can watch the trailer for Descendants below.
Once you do, we are sure that you will want to go and check out these great books in person!

http://video.disney.com/watch/disneychannel-descendants-arrive-trailer-51482158e42595cb386e8869

Wish by Matthew Cordell- Book Review

Have you been looking for the perfect Father's Day gift?  Perhaps you need something for a baby shower or a christening?  I am a big fan of giving books as keepsakes.  Once in a while a book comes along that is so special it has the power to speak to everyone.