Miss Spider Spins into Bookstores Everywhere

Miss Spider Spins into Bookstores Everywhere

Callaway Announces New Titles for Summer 2005

NEW YORK, July 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Callaway Arts & Entertainment, along with Penguin Young Readers Group, is delighted to announce today the release of seven new Miss Spider books in both the trade and mass markets. These books are based on the hit 3-D CGI animated TV series Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends, which airs daily on Nick Jr.

The trade titles, published by Callaway Arts & Entertainment and distributed by Penguin Young Readers Group, include I'll Fly Away and A Cloudy Day in Sunny Patch. Both hardcover illustrated storybooks are based on episodes from Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends.

Grosset & Dunlap, a division of the Penguin Young Readers Group, will release four new mass-market titles about the adventures of Miss Spider and her family. These include Miss Spider's Family Album, a tabbed board book; episode-based paperbacks A Bug-a-Boo Day Play and All Pupa'ed Out; the Fun with Bounce color and activity book; and The Sunny Patch Friends' Picnic sticker storybook.

"The series has now come full-circle," says Nicholas Callaway, President and Publisher of Callaway Arts & Entertainment. "Miss Spider first charmed audiences through books, then television, and now books again-and this time, she is animated in 3-D and available in a variety of new formats. We are thrilled that Miss Spider is now reaching a larger audience than ever before across so many platforms."

Worldwide book rights are being negotiated by The Wylie Agency of London and New York.

Nickelodeon has ordered a second season of 20 new episodes of Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends(TM), based on the beloved book series by David Kirk. The show, a co-production from Nelvana/Absolute Pictures in association with Callaway Arts & Entertainment, premiered in September 2004. It airs regularly weekdays on Nick Jr. at 10 a.m. (all times ET/PT) to an audience of almost 1 million viewers, both boys and girls.

On July 26, 2005, Lions Gate will release episode DVDs of Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends. Each DVD will feature eight episodes plus an array of special features and activities for children.

Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends follows the lives of Miss Spider, her husband, Holley, and their eight children (five spiders, a beetle, a dragonfly, and a bedbug) -- Squirt, Spinner, Wiggle, the twins Pansy and Snowdrop, Shimmer, Dragon, and Bounce. Grandma Betty, Uncle Gus, and Spiderus add to the miniature menagerie, along with numerous other bugs that hop, crawl, and fly around Sunny Patch. The bugs strive to get along and accept each other despite their differences in shape, size, color, and personality.

Master artist and storyteller David Kirk is hailed as one of today's most innovative and exciting creators of books, toys, and products for children. Before his remarkable success in the world of children's publishing, Kirk was the founder and designer of two toy companies, Ovicular Toyworks and Hoobert Toys. His Miss Spider series of books has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. He is also the author and illustrator of the Nova the Robot adventure series released by Callaway and Penguin Young Readers Group. Mr. Kirk lives in upstate New York with his family.

About Callaway Arts & Entertainment

Callaway Arts & Entertainment is a leading creator of family entertainment properties across all media, including book publishing, animated entertainment, and children's lifestyle products. The company's hugely successful Miss Spider series, created by David Kirk, inspired the TV show Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends and the Sunny Patch(TM) line of children's lifestyle products available at Target Stores. Callaway's series of five best- selling children's books by Madonna are published in 40 languages and over 100 countries worldwide. Visit Callaway Arts & Entertainment on the web at http://www.callaway.com/.

About Penguin Young Readers Group

Penguin Young Readers Group publishes many lauded names in children's literature, such as Jan Brett, Brian Jacques, Judy Blume, Eric Carle, Tomie dePaola, Roald Dahl, Eric Hill, Don Freeman, Hardie Gramatky, Robert McCloskey, A.A. Milne, Richard Peck, Patricia Polacco, and dozens of other popular authors. Penguin Young Raders Group perennial favorites include The Little Engine That Could and the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys series.

Penguin Young Readers Group is part of international media company Pearson plc.

Source: Callaway Arts & Entertainment

CONTACT: Andy Shearer of Rubenstein Communications for Callaway Arts & Entertainment, +1-212-843-8061, ashearer@rubenstein.com

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