FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Cheryl Nesbit, Mouse Print Press
Project Manager
cheryl@mauricesvalises.com
917-553-8435 Phone/Text
www.mauricesvalises.com
WORLD TRAVELING MOUSE COMING
TO AMERICA
Amsterdam, The Netherlands—A mouse named Maurice is headed for America. Like so
many newcomers, he has heard that the streets are paved with gold—en cheese. Though
Maurice is likely to be disappointed with our paved roads, families will not be disappointed
with the new award-winning picture book series and educational App.
Maurice is no ordinary mouse, and Maurice’s Valises (Mouse Prints Press) is no ordinary
picture book series. The lavishly illustrated volumes impart universal truths through the
multicultural teachings of Aesop, Buddha, Christ, Confucius, Einstein, Mohammed, the
Talmud, Thoreau, and others. Written aboard a houseboat in Amsterdam by J. S. Friedman,
the series was recognized with a Gold Medal from the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.
The first volume, In the Beginning, was named “Best Children's Picture Book” by USA
Book News.
The books and corresponding app are illustrated by Chris Beatrice, an award-winning
children’s book artist and game designer. The app, “Maurice’s Secret Sycamore Tree,” takes
readers inside Maurice’s home in the base of a tree, where they can wander the beautiful
rooms, play learning games, and practice charity by exchanging their game points for
books given to children in need. This free, noncommercial, educational app was developed
by Fancy Pants Global, one of Europe’s leading game creators. In addition, each book in the
series will have its own app. Children can listen to an acclaimed narrator — or a loved one
— reading the story, and they will also be able to interact with Chris Beatrice’s lush
illustrations.
The latest volume, Kookoo Mountain (Maurice’s Valises: Book 5), will release in the U.S.
market later this fall. The picture book features a rather unwise king in the Alps and a
lesson on not believing everything you hear. Because of the book’s mission to model
integrity in leadership, every delegation at the United Nations recently received their own
copy.
In previous journeys, young Maurice and his valise (suitcase) traveled to New Zealand to
encounter a rat who could not tell the truth; to Moscow to help rescue Tchaikovsky’s
composition of Swan Lake; to Casablanca to save a stranger during a shipwreck; and to the
plains of America to learn a tale passed down by Cherokee storytellers.
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All of these world adventures—and the valises that accompanied him—will become
storytelling fodder for Maurice in his older years. Each picture book opens with a fire in the
hearth and a crowd of great-nieces and -nephews seated around Maurice’s special
storytelling chair. Maurice selects and opens a valise, letting its contents remind him of his
travels. The final item to emerge from the battered suitcase is a Moral Scroll, the
distillation of lessons learned.
Author J. S. Friedman says, “I created Maurice’s Valises to give parents and educators the
opportunity to begin a dialogue with children of any age about everyday ethical concepts,
such as respect, understanding, self-esteem, self-reliance, and making good choices.”
The Maurice’s Valises picture books and app come from author J. S. Friedman’s deep
respect for the wisdom of the world’s elderly. After retiring from a career as a acclaimed
commercial photographer, Friedman set out on his own world travels to locate, interview,
and photograph supercentenarians, people who have lived to be 110 years of age and older.
The resulting book, Earth’s Elders: The Wisdom of the World’s Oldest People
[http://www.earthselders.org/ourstory.php], as well as a traveling photo exhibit and
nonprofit educational organization, provided an unprecedented look at the hearts, minds,
and spirits of the very elderly. Earth’s Elders included essays by such luminaries as Robert
Coles, Lama Surya Das, Dr. M. Jocelyn Elders, and Chief Arvol Looking Horse.
As the Earth’s Elders project grew and Friedman was asked to speak around the world, he
wondered how to pass the lessons he learned from the supercentenarians on to his
grandchildren’s generation. While photographing a 112-year-old woman and her wooden
memory box for Earth’s Elders, the vision of a mouse with a mission (and a suitcase) came
to Friedman. He imagined a mouse called Maurice who lived a rich, full life in the world,
absorbing all its wisdom. Maurice, himself, would live to be a supercentenarian, passing on
the stories that would inspire a curious, empathic, and kind generation.
So, find a seat. Maurice is pulling out a valise—can you see it? It has a sticker from a
country you have always wanted to visit . . . and what’s inside will spark a “tail” that makes
you wise beyond your “ears.”
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More About Maurice’s Valises
Maurice’s Valises: Picture Books with an Accompanying Educational App and
Individual Book Apps
Books by J. S. Friedman & Illustrations by Chris Beatrice
Published by Mouse Prints Press
Available to Bookstores & Libraries through Ingram
Maurice of the Valise is a mouse chosen to travel the world and gather its many tales
and lessons. Mementos of his adventures are packed into a valise, to be pulled out
later for evenings of fireside storytelling. Tho se stories impart the multicultural
teachings of Aesop, Buddha, Christ, Confucius, Einstein, Mohammed, the Talmud,
Thoreau, and other sources of universal truth. Pull up a chair by the fire. Maurice is
about to open a valise …
Each volume contains a sticke r activity book and “Draw on Me” pages, and new
editions include discussion questions to help readers, families, and educators explore
the lessons more deeply.
“A wonderful addition to the moral tales available in picture books for children. ”
—Nancy Gropper, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Bank Street Graduate School
of Education
In the Beginning (Maurice’s Valises: Book I)
Meet Maurice in New Zealand, where he learns the value of always telling the truth.
ISBN-13: 9789491613036, Mouse Prints Press , $16.95
The Micetro of Moscow (Maurice’s Valises: Book 2)
Journey with Maurice to Russia, where he befriends a lonely mouse who saves the day
with his musical talent.
ISBN-13: 9789491613067, Mouse Prints Press, $16.95
Casablanca (Maurice’s Valises: Book 3)
Join Maurice in Morocco, where he selflessly saves a fellow traveler and earns a
valuable friend.
ISBN-13: 9789491613098, Mouse Prints Press, $16.95
Medicine Mouse (Maurice’s Valises: Book 4)
Travel with Maurice to the American West, where he meets a Medicine Mouse who
shares a lifetime of wisdom with him.
ISBN-13: 9789491613104, Mouse Prints Press, $16.95
Kookoo Mountain (Maurice’s Valises: Book 5)
Travel with Maurice to the Alps, where Maurice meets a king who believes that the
sky is falling.
ISBN-13: 9789081836838, Mouse Prints Press, $16.95
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More About the Creators of Maurice’s Valises
The Author: J. S. Friedman
As one of the top still -life photographers in the United States, J. S. Friedman had his
work published in magazines around the world. He developed his craft from a humble
start as an apprentice to an award -winning photographer in New York City. He
became sought after by such high -end international advertising agencies as Dentsu
and Saatchi & Saatchi. In the early 1980s, Friedman became a television director and
CEO of Paradise Films , working with an extensive list of major clients, such as Revlon,
Nikon, Volvo, McDonald ’s, IBM, American Express, and others.
After he retired, J. S. Friedman began to pursue a new career as a writer. One of his
first projects was the acclaimed book Earth’s Elders: The Wisdom of the World ’s
Oldest People, which grew out of his desire to capture the images and life stories of
members of the “hidden minority ” of supercentenarians, people who have lived to be
110 years of age and older. His work provided an unprecedented look at the hearts,
minds, and spirits of the very elderly, and in the process, he uncovered remarkable
insights into health and the aging process. Earth’s Elders included essays by such
luminaries as Robert Coles, Lama Surya Das, Dr. M. Jocelyn Elders, and Chief Arvol
Looking Horse.
Friedman has been featured in television segments on CBS Evening News ,
Healthwatch, WNBC, Nite Beat , and TASS (in the Soviet Union). He has appeared on
radio and in newspaper stories around the globe, from Australia to India to Bahrain.
In addition, Friedman has been a keynote speaker and lecturer at universities in the
U.S. and Canada.
Friedman partnered with the prestigious Bank Street College of Education in New
York City on an Earth ’s Elders Foundation curriculum for children, which has been
successfully implemented in elementary and high -school classrooms worldwide. He
plans to create a curriculum based on the Maurice’s Valises series, which will also be
international in its scope. “Education,” says Friedman, “has become the heart of the
mission of the Earth’s Elders Foundation, and it will be the centerpiece of the
Maurice’s Valises series as well.”
A proud grandfather, Friedman currently resides with his wife in Connecticut,
Holland, and Thailand.
The Illustrator: Chris Beatrice
Chris Beatrice is a renowned illustrator whose art has graced book covers for leading
publishers. As an acclaimed video -game designer and commercial artist, his work has
appeared in games, packaging, magazines, posters, and private commissions. His
clients include Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Scholastic, Disney/Hyperion, Penguin,
Nelson, Pearson, Weekly Reader, Bloomsbury Children’s Books, Walker Books for
Young Readers, Lighthouse Creative, Kingfisher, VIA Group, Jerry Bruckheimer Games,
Noteworthy Books, Smithsonian Magazine, Berkley Books, and Fernleigh Books. His
art can be seen on the covers of such classic books as Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan
Swift, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, and The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde.
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Beatrice’s work has been featured several times in Spec trum, Expose , Exotique,
Painter and Fantasy Art Now 2 , receiving two awards for Excellence in Fantasy and
another for Excellence in Humor. His art has been displayed in the Lyceum Theatre
Gallery in San Diego, California; the Danforth Museum of Art in Fram ingham,
Massachusetts; and the Gallery at Mount Ida College in Newton, Massachusetts.
Says Beatrice, “As soon as I read the Maurice’s Valises stories, I immediately
connected with the character and his adventures, and I was thrilled to be asked to
illustrate the series. With author J. S. Friedman , I worked through numerous
iterations of the individual characters , as well as the various scenes, homing in on
just the right approach, camera angle, lighting, and mood. Each finished picture was
then painstakingly put together so that these wonderful tales could be accompanied
by the vivid imagery they so richly deserve. ”
Beatrice currently lives in Massachusetts, with his wife and daughter.
More Information
www.mauricesvalises.com
Cheryl Nesbit, Mouse Print Press
Project Manager
cheryl@mauricesvalises.com
917-553-8435 Phone/Text
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