Events
Danny the Dragon Supports “The Cure”
A lovely response to a donation of my Danny the Dragon materials to a cause that I support dearly.
Tina
I came across a review for Tina Turbin‘s book Danny The Dragon “Meets Jimmy” on my friend’s blog. Because I have a child her son’s age and a child a bit younger, and because I trust her opinion on books that we will enjoy, I did not hesitate to order a copy of the book and audio CD for my own children. I have two kids, ages 4 and 2, who are bookophiles and I know they will love their book!
Additionally, I told Tina that I am walking in the 2010 Dallas Susan G. Komen 3-Day For The Cure and that I am hosting an event with a silent auction in order to raise the funds needed to participate – funds that will directly benefit breast cancer research. Tina was gracious and generous enough to donate a DVD, audio book and some other goodies to assist me in my efforts. I am so excited to be able to present someone with her items and spread the word about Danny the Dragon while raising awareness about breast cancer! Thank you, Tina!
Lyndsey Griffin
Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy – LIVE on ABC News 10!
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My new Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy DVD (including sign interpretation for the deaf) is quickly becoming quite popular with parents, teachers, librarians and children alike. This is a very unique video.
Sacramento’s “Moms Like Me” and Sacramento’s ABC News 10 talkshow entitled “Sacramento and Company” will feature a television segment about my DVD between the hours of 9 and 10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, Friday August 16th (for those who are in the Sacramento area, please tune in to your local ABC station to watch the show live). They will air a few DVD clips and are hosting a terrific give-away to 5 lucky winners, to each receive my DVD!
Please be sure to tune in by visiting the above mentioned links for live streaming and/or by tuning in to ABC News television.
There’s a good chance you could win my Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy DVD for yourself!
Tina Turbin
Shriners Hospital of Tampa: My Visit, Visits, Reading and Creative Time With the Kids
Last year I had the pleasure of visiting and sharing my delightful Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy children’s book with the children at Shriners Hospital of Tampa. Keep reading to hear all about this wonderful experience:
To my surprise most of these kids I visited at Shriners had flown in from all over the world for the intimate care at Shriners. Shriners caters to kids under 18, accepts no payment from parents or insurance companies and all their money is raised by donations and the hard work of the Shriners.
Half of the children I visited spoke little English and were under care to receive prosthetics or some type of surgery , due mostly to being born with a certain defect.
These kids were bright and creative as we made our own “book” to leave in their hospital library. They titled their “combined-efforts book”, Danny and Friends to go with my book, Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy.
It was an amazing day, to say the least. The knowledge I gained afterwards truly opened my eyes to the many needs and the various ways to help out in society.
Note: The little girl sitting in the wagon next to me (above photo) had no legs “yet” but she handle this with pride and in her own way. She hid an assortment of chocolate pudding, bags of candy and 3 cans of Gatorade as well as all sorts of stuffed animals tucked under her blanket covering her legs. I am smiling at her as she had taken a break from our coloring to get a bit too much pudding on her face rather than in her tummy. She was a charm and the staff were amazing with all these kids!
Enjoy!
Tina Turbin
Join me at the Books for Kids Giveaway in Clearwater – Open to the public!
How fitting that tomorrow on Appreciate a Dragon Day I will be the featured author, reading to children at the Books for Kids Giveaway at Clearwater Academy. Full details can be found at the aforementioned link.
The event is free and open to the public, refreshments will be served, and starts at 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. My appearance will be at 1:00 p.m.
Leave me a comment to let me know if you will make it!
January Parent’s and Kid’s Contest
KID’S January 2010 CONTEST details:
Describe of a new good friend for Danny the Dragon and his traveling companion Skipper. The lucky winner will receive a free Danny The Dragon gift basket full of great stuff! Just go to the bottom of this page and enter your ideas.
PARENT’S January 2010 CONTEST details:
Submit your comments sharing what you like best about this Danny website and why. I’d really like to know actually. One lucky winner a month and this month is an autographed book.
Who will the lucky winners be? I hope it’s YOU!
Tina
Danny the Dragon Contest Winner for November!
Leah Naumec was the winner of the October contest as part of the October Danny the Dragon Gluten-Free cupcake party hosted by Tina Turbin in Florida.
She received a Danny the Dragon gift basket loaded with goodies and Danny the Dragon give-aways!
I am very pleased to also share Leah’s story. Her mother briefly shares what it has been like to raise a child with celiac:
A new mom, feeding journals, diaper journals, sleep schedules… all trial and error! Leah’s precious life started with a week in the NICU, but as a fighter she bounded out and has been that way for her six dear years. Leah never delayed her eating and loved noodles, bread, cookies and of course her fruits and vegetables. However, Leah seemed to have one cold after another, Eczema and vomited every so often. Again as a new mom, nothing seemed odd just part of the development course. At 18 months, however we realized that her shape was that of a bird and a food deprived child with an extended abdomen. Our pediatrician indicated her weight was declining rapidly and she was diagnosed with “Failure to Thrive”.
Obviously fear struck (don’t look up Failure to Thrive) we quickly tried to find what the cause was. Fortunately, two family members had heard of Celiac Disease and mentioned it to us. Having an amazing pediatrician, he requested a blood test which was an immediate indicator of Leah’s issues. Soon after Leah endured an endoscopy and received the diagnosis of Celiac. In just three months we went from scary to diagnosed.
Ok, so what now? Daunting! As a new mom and truly not a person who enjoys cooking, the challenge was on. We were on a mission, what was Leah going to eat, how were we going to establish a “typical” lifestyle for her, what resources were available? Needless to say we began our education process and we had tremendous support from our family.
Once gluten free Leah’s health improved tremendously and rather quickly. Leah is an amazing child and has taken responsibility for her nutrition and diet, always asking if there is gluten in the item or just declining gracefully. We take great strides to make sure Leah fits right in to any food situation by contacting party hosts to see what food is served, we are in constant communication with teachers and we have open conversations with her about the food she will eat and why it might look different. As a positive being gluten free is a healthy alternative and the world today has become more aware of what it is to be gluten free.
For parents of newly diagnosed children I say take a deep breath and take it one step at a time! Become informed and join a local ROCK (Raising Our Celiac Kids) group online if possible. Know it is overwhelming at first, but there are some great resources. Try to make an event, holiday, or food based situation about the event and not the food! Having Celiac is challenging, but manageable.
Danny the Dragon Contest – October Winners!
The Fowler family including Tyler (7 yrs old), Parker, Isabell and Peyton (4 yr old triplets), pictured above in their Halloween costumes, are the winners of the October contest as part of the Danny the Dragon Gluten-Free “Halloween” cupcake party that was hosted by Tina Turbin in Florida.
The kids will soon receive their Danny the Dragon gift basket loaded with goodies and Danny the Dragon give-aways!
I am very pleased to also share the Fowler triplets’ story. Their mother briefly shares what it has been like to raise 3 children with celiac:
Our Celiac Disease Journey started in May of 2007, the triplets were about to turn two and I was questioning the doctor about their small stature. Like most, the belief was that there were 3 of them, so it might just be their size, but at their two year check up we would run more tests if they had not gained any weight. No surprise, their two year check up came and the girls had failed to put on ANY weight in the 6 month period prior to their checkup.
At that point, we decided to see the Pediatric GI here in St. Pete who immediately thought Celiac or Cystic Fibrosis. He was pretty optimistic and we were sent home wishing for an auto immune disease. Being a mom with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Auto-immune hepatitis and Thyroid Disease (all auto immune diseases), I only began to worry about what the girls health would look like in the future. Not a promising outlook but the Celiac diagnosis was manageable and that is what we were hoping for.
Halloween 2007 we spent the majority of the day screening at All Childrens for Celiac and Cycstic Fibrosis. The girls were poked, and encouraged to sweat for their tests, so we walked the halls of All Childrens prompting them with Candy corn.
Long story short, the results were Celiac Disease and after their biopsy’s we learned their small intestines had been effected and they were no longer absorbing the nutrients they needed to grow. AHHHHHHHHHHH at last a diagnosis, now to change the diet.
My husband and I left the hospital that day and went straight to the health food store in St. Pete and began our Gluten Free lifestyle. We also have a 7 yr old soon (5 at time of diagnosis) and another son (the 3rd triplet), both who do not have Celiac, so we knew we were in for a big change.
The transition went better than expected and within 6 months the girls blood levels had balanced off and were within normal range. We finally saw the weight gain, and they were beginning to look like big kids, instead of a year or two younger than they actually were.
The girls are now getting close to being on the growth charts, and are showing signs of growth all around. We still hear that they are small because they were multiples but at least now we know it is not their diets causing it. Overall you can see they are eating more of what they like and just feeling better.
It is a big adjustment to make, but it is manageable and with the right attitude and support you can fine tune the diet so that no child is left out or feels “different” because of what they eat. My girls are sure to ask at every outing, “is it gluten free?”, and that alone puts a smile on my face.
Disney – Danny the Dragon and Sunset Park Elementary
Look at what is happening tomorrow at Sunset Park Elementary School behind
Disney, in none other than lovely Florida!
Sunset Park Elementary School, located in Windermere, Florida, welcomes author Tina Turbin to share her Danny the Dragon book with over 500 students, teachers, and parents. She will sharing her work with large groups and will talk about what it is like to write children’s books. In January, Danny the Dragon will make a return appearance when the school cafeteria celebrates “Appreciate a Dragon Day”- January 16th, so mark your calendars.
We are thankful to have stumbled upon Ms. Turbin’s character building and nutritionally themed works and can’t wait for the kids to be introduced to the delightful characters!
Sunset park Elementary
Proceeds from Danny the Dragon CD Support Good Cause
If you’ve been keeping up with me as the children’s author of the Danny the Dragon series, you’ve probably heard me talk about the new Danny the Dragon CD, which is soon to be released, containing a reading of Danny Meets Jimmy by a talented vocal artist followed by a compilation of ten original classic songs by up-and-coming composers. What’s great about the CD is that, as with the book, it can be enjoyed by people of all ages—the young and the young at heart. What’s even better, though, is the fact that the proceeds are going to a cause which is near and dear to my heart in my research and humanitarian efforts, a cause that you may not know much about—raising celiac disease awareness.
If you’re like most Americans, you probably haven’t even heard of celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder which causes an immune reaction that can affect the entire body, causing both physical and mental problems. The cause? An allergy to gluten, a component of wheat, barley, and rye.
The problem with celiac disease is that doctors don’t know much about it either. They don’t know that it affects an estimated 300 million Americans and that with a simple test, a diagnosis can be made and the easy treatment can begin—a gluten-free diet.
Many years ago, I found myself with many painful symptoms and without any answer to what the source was or how to treat it. I went in circles with doctors, nutritionists, and testing. Finally, I decided to do my own research. It became clear that the answer was an allergy to gluten. What became even clearer was how little doctors knew about celiac disease and the vast numbers of people suffering without a diagnosis and treatment.
An estimated 300 million Americans have celiac disease and only three percent of them know it. When I’m not working on the latest installment of my Danny the Dragon series or the Danny the Dragon Cookbook, I’m working hard to change this statistic by raising awareness and support for this disease that affects more people twice as many of those who suffer from Crohn’s disease, ulceric colitis, and cystic fibrosis combined.
Proceeds from the Danny the Dragon CD will go to the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center, one of the major research centers around studying and bringing awareness to celiac disease. It is one-hundred percent focused on studying celiac disease and carries out research connecting it with various other diseases which it is believed to lead to if left untreated. Its goal is to change the lives of celiac disease sufferers for the better around the world, a goal which it is actively achieving, little by little, every day.
Why is it that you and your doctors probably haven’t heard about celiac disease? Although the amount of research on celiac disease is growing, it depends entirely on the generosity of private benefactors for its funding. Without these charitable donations, there would be no way to continue this research and the efforts to raise awareness. Out of the estimated fifty autoimmune diseases that have been discovered by doctors, it is the only one which isn’t supported in its research by the U.S. government.
That’s why I support centers such as Columbia University’s Celiac Disease Center. I look forward to the release of the Danny the Dragon CD. Not only will it delight Danny the Dragon fans, but it will help support a cause that has the potential to change the lives of millions of people for the better.
Sesame Street – Taking Care of Nature
Sesame Street is celebrating it’s 40th anniversary by encouraging an environmentally-friendly theme for it’s upcoming TV shows. With such live stage shows as “Elmo’s Green Thumb”, a major promotional campaign and TV show themes to instill in children a love and appreciation of nature, it definitely looks like the show is going in the right direction.
It was such a pleasure to have participated alongside the Sesame Street Halloween concert in Pasadena. For those of you who didn’t have a chance to read up on this wonderful event, please click the above link.
