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An educational picture book about the wonders of food. Contains music, poems, some jokes, science, and a bunch of turtles.

Watch the video in higher quality: http://youtu.be/w2VtKIcEZ20

Short Description: TLDR

I need help publishing this book I'm making. I think it's pretty cool, and the rewards are pretty nice. If you enjoy learning, drawing, doodles, jokes, science, music, poems, turtles, ghosts, cake, pastries, doughnuts, games, sea creatures, 90s references, dinosaurs, romance, table flipping, pirates, and/or zebras, then you might like my project. 

Take a look at the list at the bottom of the page for links of nice images from my project. Oh, and look at that sandwich coupon.

______________________________________________________________

Expanded Description:

Contents:

Part 1: What is this?

Part 2: Project Format

***Part 3: What makes this book special?***

Part 4: Funding

***Part 5: List of cool things***

PART 1: WHAT IS THIS?

Food Friendly ABCs is an educational picture book filled with scientific poetry. The book aims to teach children and adults about food, food related subjects, life, and the universe through reading, visual art, music, and of course, SCIENCE!!! The book is meant to foster bonding between significant others, but can also be read in quiet solitude. The book also asks readers to share their drawings online.

I still need to add a considerable amount of polish, but most of the heavy lifting is already done. I’d like help in securing funds for publishing!

*Why the title?

Honestly, more logical combinations of the words "food", "friend", and their derivatives, were taken. I wanted to convey that the book is about food, and has cute, friendly characters. It's the best I could come up with.

PART 2: PROJECT FORMAT

If you'd like to skip over to the fun parts, see parts 3 and 4.

Basic Structure

The book has a page for each letter of the English alphabet. For each letter, there’s a specific food, or maybe a drink. For each food, there’s an educational poem or writing accompanied by cute illustrations of  “food friends”. By far, my personal favorite "food friend" is "Buttered Ghost". The following image is an example of the basic structure of the main pages. (For this page, I couldn't think of a food, but you get the idea.)

Tone[s] and Flow

To explain the tone and flow of the book, I think it would be best if I just showed examples.

[Additional tone example: click here]

The above images show examples of different tones in the book. The jellybean example has a cute, a stupid, and an attempt at a humorous tone, all on one page. In the additional tone example, you can see a note from the book's marine biology adviser. The tones present in the book are not limited to the above examples.

[Larger: click here]

The above image shows an example of how a letter flows into the next letter. Transitions are not limited to 90s sitcom references. At times, transitions are longer and more complex.

Style

The writing style is a mix of fairytales [the linked example references my PHD toting co-author], poems [shouts to Carl Sagan], and modern phrases [popular expressions]. The visual style employs cute pixels. It's all done in Microsoft paint and a free online program called pixlr, so you know it’s pro.

PART 3: WHAT MAKES THE BOOK SPECIAL

General awesome content

The book encourages reading and poetry appreciation, and drops "sciencey" food knowledge (the carbon cycle and nitrogen cycle are even briefly discussed, along with HIPSTERS). The book also has a lot of cool stuff that you might not expect. Here's a list of some content:

Musical element

I’ve been lucky enough to have individuals contribute music. I gave them complete freedom, resulting in 4 songs so far. Music will be available as either a CD and/or online for free. 

Listen to the 4 songs here: http://soundcloud.com/foodfriendlyabcs/sets/elite-4/

Interactive elements

I tried to include some 4th wall breaking interactivity for the sake of fun and educative reinforcement through active participation. Here are some examples:

Food Friendly ABCs will use tumblr HEAVILY to connect with readers.

Miscellaneous goodies 

The book comes with fun things like the previously mentioned games, a "make-me-a-sandwich" coupon, emoticon appendix (because this book uses a few emoticons), cut-out bookmarks, and other bonus goodies and surprises!

*Sorry, Canada.

PART 4: FUNDING

Funds raised will go towards publishing. If by some miracle, the goal is met and the funds raised somehow exceed the goal, I'll try to enhance the project through some of the following ways:

  • Recording Russian/ opera/ dramatic narration[s]
  • Producing an Educational food-dance video
  • Working in recipes 
  • Creating a pop-up book version and e-book format 
  • Adding more special online content 
  • +more

PART 5: LIST

Here's an extensive list of cool things that will be in this book:

SCHOLASTIC STUFF

AWESOME STUFF

  • Reptiles from various dispensations of time
  • Turtles
  • A turtle wizard
  • SCIENCE!!!
  • STARcasm, like sarcasm but more glamorous
  • Marine Biology
  • Undeniable beauty
  • Korean body lines lol
  • Asian stuff
  • A jellyfish doctor
  • Mount Olympus
  • Zombie zucchini
  • Ghosts
  • A zebra ghost
  • Pirates
  • Ninjas [you might not be able to see them]
  • Bonus stage

NOSTALGIC STUFF

INTERNET STUFF

MUSHY STUFF

+MORE!

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Thank you for reading. Making silly, awesome things has always been something I've wanted to do. I appreciate any support you can lend me.

NOW GO FORTH AND SPREAD MY SEED!

FAQ

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4
Backers
$105
pledged of $3,000 goal
0
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Funding Unsuccessful This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on July 22, 2012.

Funding period
May 23, 2012 - Jul 22, 2012 (60 days)

  • Pledge $1 or more

    0 backers

    Shout-out: I'll draw up a personalized "thank you" doodle and post it on the Food Friendly ABCs site and Kickstarter blog. (PLEASE NOTE, whenever I personalize rewards, I can address you, your child, your friend, or enemy depending on what you want!)

    Estimated delivery: Oct 2012
  • Pledge $2 or more

    0 backers

    Shouts times 2: I'll turn your "thank you" doodle into a 2 panel comic. Using simple math, your shout-out will then be twice as loud! Or maybe I'll make it 3 panels, depending on how I feel about you as a person.

    Estimated delivery: Oct 2012
  • Pledge $5 or more

    1 backer

    Animated "Thank You": I'll add a few panels and turn your personalized "thank you" into a small, personalized animation.

    Estimated delivery: Oct 2012
  • Pledge $10 or more

    0 backers

    Super "Thank You" Experience: I'll sing you a song and upload it to go along with your personalized animation. I have a crappy mic and I'm a terrid singer.

    Estimated delivery: Oct 2012
  • Pledge $20 or more

    0 backers

    Marker Drawing: I'll mail you a personalized, original marker drawing. I'll try to include food related puns. I'll try to fulfill requests too, like sending your husband Carl a doodle that says: "You eat too many doughnuts. Stop it."

    Estimated delivery: Sep 2012
  • Pledge $25 or more

    0 backers

    Super Mail Pack: I'll mail you a personalized, heartfelt letter along with drawings with food jokes, stickers, and stuff!

    Estimated delivery: Oct 2012
  • Pledge $30 or more

    0 backers

    Signed Copy: I'll send you an autographed copy of the book. I'll also write a personalized message on the book. I'll likely try to do something creative with your name, like write a poem, be funny, or just write a lot of nonsense with stylish letters.

    Estimated delivery: Nov 2012
  • Pledge $40 or more

    2 backers

    Custom Character: I’ll create a character for you to appear in the project in some form, hopefully not just as a small cameo, at the very least your character would be immortalized towards the back of the book with the rest of the other special content. +Signed Copy

    Estimated delivery: Nov 2012
  • Pledge $50 or more

    0 backers

    Ultimate "Thank you" Experience: I’ll personally call you [or someone you want me to call]. I'll tell you [or that person] how beautiful you are. And I’ll write and recite a personalized and "foody" poem to you. Or sing it, up to you. With permission, I’ll record the call, and post it along with text of the recited speech on the site and Kickstarter blog. If we skype I'll dance as part of the show LOL. +Signed Copy

    Estimated delivery: Nov 2012
  • Pledge $69 or more

    0 backers

    My Love: You'll have earned my love, though you had it at $0. Love letters sent, will be ink well spent. This letter will be different than other reward letters, because of LOVE. I guess I can reference food in the letter. +Signed Copy

    Estimated delivery: Sep 2012
  • Pledge $200 or more

    0 backers

    Framed Piece: I'll create a personalized art piece and work it into the project as an illustration or something. I'll then mail you the framed piece, a crazy awesome letter, and maybe some marshmallows. +Signed Copy

    Estimated delivery: Dec 2012