“It doesn't stop being magic just because you know how it works.”

Pumpkin Time!

By Erzsi Deak, art by Doug Cushman

For rights queries, please contact Rachel@amusebook.com

“In author/agent Deak’s kooky harvest-themed story, an overalls-clad girl named Evy doesn’t have her head in the clouds, but rather in the soil”

           — Publisher’s Weekly

“PUMPKIN TIME! offers my favorite mix in a picture book: the fanciful and fun mixed seamlessly with the productive and practical. While the animals frolic and play around her (in awesome illustrations) young Evy is busy at work in her garden. The text’s playful refrain will have even the youngest kids searching for Evy on every page and identifying what she’s up to. What a fun, visual romp of a book!”

— Amazon customer

Description: Evy pulls on her spiffy gardening boots and heads out to the garden with Turkey (in his own spiffy gardening boots) to get — panting! They begin in the Spring (planting/grown), move into Summer (maintain/growing — weeding!); and then into the Autumn (harvest); and more quietly into Winter (ordering seeds). Through it all, the seasons tumble along in Doug Cushman’s humorous illustrations and Evy doesn’t notice: She’s only focused on her gardening and the upcoming feast. Her loyal sidekick, Turkey, watches in wide-eyed wonder at what Evy does NOT see, growing ever bigger until he takes his place at the head of the table (but not as the main course!). A great feast and a pumpkin surprise is the grand finale where everyone, animals and humans alike join together to celebrate the garden harvest. (And start again.)

Urban Crayon Paris: The City Guide for Parents with Children

By Sheridan Becker, Kim Barrington Narisetti and Erzsi Deak

Description: Paris city guide for families traveling with kids. Family-friendly and budget conscious, this city guide reveals how to have fun with young children in France’s famed capital city. Conveniently organized in 12 sections, this sourcebook features fun things to do outdoors; activities geared for boys, girls, and the whole family; the locales of the best free playgrounds; the most kid-friendly sightseeing; hip inns that offer real value for the money; and great places to eat. A handy tips section provides a range of helpful tidbits such as embassy locations, seasonal temperature ranges, key phone numbers, listings of babysitting services, museum and store hours, which electrical adapters to use, and a conversion chart for children’s clothing sizes.

Period Pieces: Stories for Girls
An anthology compiled by Erzsi Deak & Kristen Embry Litchman

Stories by these award-winning authors:
Carmen T. Bernier-Grand
Erzsi Deak
Johanna Hurwitz
Florence Johnson Jacob
Bobbi Katz
Uma Krishnaswami
Jane Kurtz
Kristin Embry Litchman
Linda Sue Park
Dian Curtis Regan
Cynthia Leitich Smith
Rita Williams-Garcia

For rights queries, please contact Rachel@amusebook.com

“An honest, touching, sometimes hilarious collection.”

— Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools, School Library Journal

“As these 13 culturally diverse selections prove, the arrival of a first period makes a great story, whether it happened at school, while wearing favorite white pants, surrounded by nosy siblings…Whether or not they have experienced the arrival of their first “George,” “Auntie,” or “Dona Rosa,” girls will enjoy these stories—funny and self-deprecating, frank and reassuring—which may encourage them to shed embarrassment and take ownership of their bodies.”

                          — Gillian Engberg, Booklist

Description: A baker’s dozen of real-life short stories that focuses on the fears and, sometimes, the sheer embarrassment of menstruation — without scientific diagrams. No matter what you call It, or what you say about it, getting your period is a big deal, whether you can’t wait for it or hope it never arrives. Engaging, empowering, and sometimes hilarious, these stories share the life-changing experience common to all of us girls.

Wild Strawberries

Short story by Erzsi Deak
Featured in Lines in the Sand: New Writing About War & Peace

Description: We wanted to lay a wreath of heather for Thea. The Dogwood trees were in bloom, their elliptical leaves casting wavy shadows across the trail winding above the city. Blossoms of white burst forth; shut tight for the long years. Trunks blackened and straining out from the hill like a crooked old man reaching for the sun… But Jez had stalked the enemy, unraveling their defenses. And now she was back. I hoped she’d stay…

Envelope Thief

From They Only Laughed Later
Essay by Erzsi Deak

Description: This collection of essays is the product of a series of ‘Women On the Move’ conferences, which brought together expatriate women from over twenty countries. Their concerns were mutual : to share experience in meeting the challenges that confront women who move to strange lands in pursuit of their own or their husbands’ careers. Some of this experience is resumed in this collection of essays, many of them written by published authors, all of whom were fresh from one or more assignments abroad. While there may seem precious little to laugh about in the midst of so much mobility, the truth is that hilarity lurks in the corners of most moves. Aspects of expatriate life evoked in the book include general culture shock, homesickness, language confusion, change of climate, adaptation to cultural differences, and repatriation. They Only Laughed Later is a pat-on-the-back and a keep-up-the-good-spirits to all the women who have made and are making the most of living abroad. It is a gentle prod, an outstretched hand, a go-for-it to those who find coping abroad scary and insurmountable. Each of the 30 essays is a heartfelt cameo taken from the real-life experience of an expatriate.