Showing my books to host Stephanie, prior to going On Air (Sonoran Living, ABC 15, January 2011)

Below you will find links to a variety of locations: blog reviews, media coverage, press releases, interviews, features and more.

• Good Morning Arizona (Channel 3, Sunday): Live segment
• Sonoran Living (ABC 15): 6 mom-created products
• Four Fun Ways to Teach Colors (article printed in The Homeschool Handbook magazine: Jan/Feb 2011)
• Business Opportunities Weblog: interview
• Mom Knows It All: feature
• Sonoran Living (ABC 15, January 2011): Live segment
• Startup Nation Mom’s in Business: eBook feature/press release
• Educhat (brief interview)
• The Baby Bottom Line: Review of a PCS book
• My Time Calendars: Review of numerous PCS books
• Living My Moment: Interview (humor)
• Examiner (People-makers): Feature
• Punflay Supermom of the Month: Website interview
• Kidlutions Preferred Products Award: Feature/Winner
• Ramblings by Nicole: Review of a PCS book
• Sue Scheff: Blog feature
• DotComMothers: Website interview
• Hawaii Baby & Toddler Magazine: Small feature (page 2)
• Baby Center: Quoted in a parenting article
• Articles Base: Feature
• Leading Moms in Business winner (one of 200): 2009
• Leading Moms in Business: Press release
• Bing Note: Feature
• Buy By Mom: Website interview
• Chic Galleria: Feature
• Blog Talk Radio: Radio interview
• Recent Ramblings: Review
• AZ Family: Small mention
• Our Journey Thru Autism: Feature
• The Arizona Republic: Working Parent of the Year runner-up
• Autism Twitter Day, 2009: Small feature
• Regionz Kidz: Feature
• Bookmans Bookstore: Press release
• Arizona Mama: Website interview
• Raising Healthy Children: Feature

*For more links and features, visit the Mommy Perks BUZZ page.

Shara: owner of Personal Child Stories, Mommy Perks, Kids Perks, Early Childhood News and Resources and Pine Media.

What makes me qualified to write custom stories for children, you ask? Fair enough – that’s a good question.

My background includes:

• 23+ years working with kids (ongoing)
• 16+ years as a nanny
• A background in education and early childhood
• Hundreds of published freelance pieces (locally, nationally, regionally and globally)
• Published work in journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, Online and more
• Three children of my own
• Taught literacy workshops at Bookman’s Bookstore, mom’s groups, YMCA outlets and more
• Library Board Member: 2011-2014

I own and run the following websites (in addition to this one):

1. Mommy Perks
2. Kids Perks
3. Early Childhood News & Resources

I love kids and I enjoy writing stories that I know will benefit each one. PCS is not a money making business. The hours of time it takes to complete each book hardly makes this a wealth-producing endeavor. I make my money in other ways. PCS, however, is a part of my heart, mind and soul. It was created based on my son’s medical situation and knowing that the books work to build self esteem brings me unmatched happiness.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

—–> Contact me via email or feel free to give me a ring (I’m dreadful about returning calls, however. You’re welcome to take your chances, though: 602-430-5808).

Remember: Every book is different. You can, however, indicate (on the order form) that you like a particular theme as seen below. Books are $30 or $60, depending on the time involved and the number of pages needed. Some books must be researched (medical stories, for instance) while others can be written more quickly.

Our two top sellers: That’s My Name and We love you…Just the way you are!

Why don’t the books look more like scrapbooks? Find out here. *See note below for further explanation.

Click any link to open a sample book and flip through (books can be ordered in ANY language or in multiple languages):

• We love you…Just the way you are!

• Baby’s first book

• That’s My Name (boy theme)

• That’s My Name (girl theme – as seen on TV)

• Counting Book (English, Spanish and ASL)

• Counting Book (English, Italian and Farsi)

• Oh, Brother!

• Alphabet Book

• New big sister!

• Remembering a pet

• Cap Catcher (recycle theme)

• People and Trees

Duplicate copies of the same book are 1/2 price.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER

Please Note:

*PCS books are not scrapbooks. You can order photo books from various Online outlets. Our books are custom written stories with the purpose of building self esteem, social-emotional understanding and emotional intelligence. We don’t fill up the pages with text or images, overwhelming the reader. Each book is designed with the intention of the text or story line being the main focus, along with the personal photos. The concepts being taught are what matter to us – more than “popular, mainstream layouts” (overcrowded pages that many people assume means a greater value for their money).

Every page is laminated and can be colored on, chewed on, drooled on, stepped on and tossed around. Pages can be written on with a dry erase marker or washable pen, and are easily wiped clean. We write, print, cut, laminate and bind the books ourselves. We do not use office supply stores to do this work because a.) they charge 3 times what we charge for a book to be printed, cut, laminated and bound and b.) the few times we did use an office store, they bound our books with pages upside down and pages out of order. We now do all work from home using our own printing/binding equipment.

We’ll then tell you how many photos we need and ask questions about your child (or grandchild, student, friend, etc). This will give us a starting basis for your book concept and get the ball rolling.

Every book we write focuses on self esteem, positive thinking, character and many times – humor. We believe that laughter is good for the soul and health – and children need that, too, yes!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER (books are $30 or $60, depending on the time involved and the number of pages.)

Send us the photos that will be inside your book.

We’ll tell you how many to send, based on your book theme.

We might need 10 photos and we might need 15 or 20. You can send the photos through email as high resolution JPEG files. You can also choose to send us to your Photo Sharing page (Snapfish, Walgreens, etc) to download from there. Either option will work.

The larger your photo files, the higher print quality we’ll generate. We may also look over your images and say, “Can you send one that shows your child riding a bike? That would be perfect for this theme.” Or, “Can you find a photo of your child sharing a toy? That’s just what this book needs, thanks!” Or, “The cover page could use a close-up image of the face. Can you send one for that, please?”

Personal photos provide a wonderful Emergent Literacy strategy and the better the photos…the better the book! If you want to know more about how personal photographs work to draw the reader in, read this brief article: Do personal photos really work?

CLICK HERE TO ORDER (books are $30 or $60, depending on the time involved and the number of pages.)

Once we have your photos and theme, we’ll begin writing your story. Every book is different because every child is different (that’s our philosophy).

You’ll receive a rough draft (PDF) for review, prior to print. You will receive more rough drafts along the way, if needed.

Once approved, the book will be created: we write, design, print, cut, laminate every page, cut again, bind and round the corners.

The process is time consuming but we do our best to have each book finished and shipped within a two week period (rush orders can be discussed, yes).

CLICK HERE TO ORDER (books are $30 or $60, depending on the time involved and the number of pages.)