Books published by Bellissima Publishing

The area of Juneau is larger than that of Rhode Island and Delaware individually and almost as large as these two states combined. Downtown Juneau is nestled right at the base of Mount Juneau and is named after gold prospector Joe Juneau, although the place was for a time called Rockwell; and after that it was called Harrisburg after Juneau's co-prospector, who was named Richard Harris. That said, Juneau is a great place for kids where you can go to the top of a mountain in a tram and eat lunch, shop, see a wildlife center, and on a clear day look out over the town below you. Juneau is touristy and fun, and you can buy freshly made popcorn and fudge in a family owned store.Award winning author, attorney and former teacher Penelope Dyan, and photographer John D. Weigand traveled to Juneau, Alaska to see what they could see, and they saw plenty! There is fun, good food, friendly people (some dressed in costume) and more, and this once gold miners' town keeps the flavor of times past alive, all for your enjoyment. Use this book to practice reading skills through word recognition, repetition and rhyme as you take a little explore through this city stopped in time. And look for the Bellissimavideo music video that has the same name as this book on YouTube to add to the learning experience.

You may have heard of puppy love, but this is something entirely different; because this is a book about bunny love. Bunny love is something very special that doesn't have to be reserved just for Easter. It is the kind of love we can enjoy on Valentine's Day, Christmas, or on any plain old Saturday, Sunday or weekday!Read this book by the award winning author, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan, and practice your reading skills as you find out something about home. And if that doesn't make any sense to you, then that is the very reason YOU should be reading this book! There is a video that goes along with this book on the Bellissimavideo Channel on YouTube. Watch the video, and then see if you can understand a little more about the meaning of this book; But meanwhile have some fun as you learn some new words through word recognition and rhyme. Dyan loves kids, and she understands exactly how kids learn. She knows that kids like to have fun and that the best way to learn is by having fun learning. That way you will love to learn! This is why Dyan creates these books! So sing, dance, read and enjoy!

Spared from the devastation of the great world wars, in Regensburg, you can see what a medieval city looked like better than just about anywhere else in Central Europe, as it was the only major medieval city in Germany to remain intact during the plight of those times, thus it retains a true storybook appearance of old. Sometimes we get lonely when we travel, and we get homesick for the things of home. Maybe this has happened to you. This book written by award winning author, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan, is a little bit different. Yes, it is a travel book in the sense that it shows you some of the fun things you can do and see, but it is also two other things. It's a book about getting homesick, and it is a book that repeats phrases and uses rhyme and word recognition so you can learn to read and shout out what is coming next in the rhyme. Dyan and Weigand want you to go ahead and have some fun and at the same time learn as you explore the town of Regensburg, Germany through the words of Penelope Dyan and the camera lens of John D. Weigand. Yes, learn all you can about this little city along the great River Danube, but also remember it is just as important sometimes to set aside the museums and all the facts about what happened where and when, and to just remember to be a kid! Dyan sees through the eyes of a child and writes what she feels about a place, and what she sees. This always makes her books very different, educational, interesting and fun. Dyan wants you to learn to learn with your eyes. Look for the Bellissima videos on the Bellissimavideo YouTube Channel for even more learning fun!

You don't have to wait for Thanksgiving day to say thank-you, because saying thank-you should be an everyday thing!And you should never think it is silly to say thank-you for anything. This is a book about giving thanks, and that means saying thank-you. This is a book about praise, but you can also say thank-you to the people in your life, and not only to God. You can begin by making a list of all the things for which you want to give thanks, a new version of counting blessings instead of sheep! And while you are at it, draw some pictures if your very own to go along with your list!Award winning author, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan, wrote this book to encourage two things, or perhaps three. These things are writing, creativity and learning to read! Again, the kid-friendly drawings and rhyme encourage kids to shout out what they think is coming next; and this contributes to word recognition. Don't forget to go to YouTube and to look at the video on the Bellissimavideo channel that goes along with this book to further enhance the fun of the learning process.

Have you ever found a flamingo in your tub? What would you do if you happened to find a flamingo or other creature in your tub one day just as you were getting ready to take your nice warm bubble bath with your favorite rubber ducky?Written by award winning author, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan, this book takes a look at this very question as it teaches beginning reading skills in a very fun way though the use of kid-friendly drawings, repetition and words that rhyme, so kids can guess what is coming next and match written words to drawings. Look for the Bellissiavideo video on YouTube that goes with this book to further enhance the learning process.Dyan has two if her kids' books on display at the Saison Poetry library in the Royal Exhibit Hall in London at Southbank Centre, chosen by the UK arts council. (Southbank Centre is the largest art museum in the entire world.) Penelope Dyan's book "A Book For Girls All About Being A Girl" is fourth on the recommended Pukeke Reading List, Australia, for Girls ages 5-9; and "There's an Alligator In My Closet . . ." is listed on the Kindercare reading list!

This book was written by award winning author, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan after she sat down with four year old Jadzia Fischer, who had gathered up some of Dyan's books, proceeded to have her read two of them to her, asked if Dyan had any drawing paper, and then proceeded to direct herto create the beginnings of a brand new book! Delighted to engage in this endeavor, this book was later born, a creation little Jadzia Fischer wanted to immediately turn into a book; however, she was patient enough to wait for it. The reason Penelope Dyan was absolutely delighted to make this book for and at the direction of her young counterpart, was that this was proof positive her books still worked just as this concept worked when she was teaching school. The rhyme and repetition, picture recognition and kid friendly illustrations, all contribute to the learning process and to fostering creativity; and as any avid Dyan reader knows, the making of books by kids is one of the 'learning to read concepts' in all the books she writes for children! Once again, look for the Bellissimavideo Channel on YouTube, and enjoy the video by the same name as this book, to further enhance the learning process!

This is a book about teeth, about eating right, about keeping your glorious smile, and about eating healthy and exercising. And it is all done and the story is told as you practice your reading skills through repetition and rhyme and a lot of basic word recognition teaching techniques you won't even notice because you are having so much fun learning!Award winning author, attorney, illustrator and former teacher, Penelope Dyan, uses all of her skills to bring you this book full of her kid-friendly drawings (that she encourages children to go ahead and copy, along with the words in this book) to further enhance the learning experience, Children can always memorize words, but they also need to understand what they are reading, and they need to be able to relate to the words they are reading in order to truly enhance both reading comprehension and other basic reading skills; and this book with its extra large print endeavors to to just that, and all while having fun!

Sometimes maybe you don't like someone and there is really no good reason why. It may be that you covet something they have or are and wish you could have what they have or be who they are. What you need to remember is that you are a special person, and you are one of a kind. Being one of a kind is a good thing to be because it means you are an original. When you covet what someone else is or has and you don't like them because of it, the person you are coveting does not understand why, and this hurts their feelings, You probably don't even know why you are doing what you do, but chances are you are not treating this person nicely because of your covetousness. You are simply jealous. Someone is probably just as jealous over youWritten and illustrated by an award winning author, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan, in a very simple way so children canunderstand this concept, Dyan hopes her young readers will look with an understanding heart at others and that they will learn to do this at a very young age. This is why she has written and is continuing to write a series of faith based books that Bellissima Publishing, LLC hopes will not only delight young readers, but also create a sense of well being in them as they encourage morality, creativity and a thirst for knowledge. Bellissima also directs you to Dyan's creative use of public domain and invites you to watch and listen to "I Still Get Jealous," on YouTube as she sings with Louis Armstrong to a 1920's recording.

The city of Stockholm is over 700 years old and it spreads across 14 islands, facing out to the Baltic Sea. You can get to just about all of Stockholm's sites on foot, as did our photographer and author; and this is a great way to see Stockholm! You can also take a boat trip that will give you a different facet of Scandinavia's largest and probably most beautiful city. Stockholm is a great family place to visit with loads of things to see, and lots of fun stuff for kids to do! Take an imaginary journey through the pages of this book and make it your own by adding pictures, postcards, tickets and notes to this book as you go along on your visit with award winning author, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan and our photographer, John D. Weigand. To travel is to create a memory and a dream all of your very own. Take the time to savor and enjoy the feel and warmth of this beautiful city. There is also a video on YouTube that goes along with this book to add to the learning experience of this large print picture book with an early reader learning vocabulary."This book is a picture book for young children and it helps to teach reading skills and other learning concepts. Foe example: one of the pages teaches near and far, large and small. The point of these books is to shout out what is coming next. Facts are in the introduction. Parents should use this book as a tool to interact with the child and explore a new place. Each book in this series is different. Each shows different photographs, each book teaches learning concepts, and they are not all the same." Penelope Dyan.

The first traces of human settlement found in Tallinn's city center by archeologists are about 5000 years old. The comb ceramic pottery found on the site dates to about 3000 BC and corded ware pottery c. 2500 BC. Then in 1154 a town called Qlwn (or Qalaven) was put on the world map of the Almoravid by the cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi who described it as a small town like a large castle among the towns of Astlanda. John D. Weigand and Penelope Dyan went to the town of Tallinn, Estonia and would agree the cartographer's description is very accurate when it comes to this town because it is exactly like stepping into a castle province, and you can imagine it exactly as it once was, a place of cabbages and kings. This is a place for a child to fire up the imagination inside, to hear music, to eat candied almonds sold in little bags on the street, to watch archers with bows take aim at targets, and to walk among green paths, cobblestones and flowers.

Someone is turning three! I wonder who that can be? Could it be you? You are no longer two? A lot of very good things can happen when you are three. One of those things is that you are a year closer to four; and the writer of this book, Penelope Dyan, heard someone say that when you are four you can do anything! Your mother may disagree with the idea that when you are four you can do ANYTHING. . . but THAT is beside the point! The point is that NOW you are THREE! Three is a VERY fun age to be, just ask any random three year old child; and they will tell you that being three is great! Picture and word recognition can begin now, and since the award winning writer and poet Penelope Dyan used to be a teacher and is familiar with learning development, her books are not only perfect for that, they were conceived and written for that very purpose! Once again, visit a cast of familiar and funny characters and have fun reading this wonderful little book that is perfect for your three year old, especially on that very special day--their Birthday Day!

What does telling the truth mean? Everyone says you can't tell the truth all of the time or you will just hurt someone's feelings. This is wrong. The truth is merely a simple set of empirical facts and nothing more, and the facts can't hurt anyone. People get hurt by cruel words that come out of your mouth; but just because YOU happen to think something is true, it doesn't mean that thing IS actually the truth. What that thing is, happens to be what you are thinking at the time. It may be the truth about what YOU are thinking; but it is simply NOT the truth. It is just what you are thinking! It is only your opinion, even if it has a basis in fact. So no matter what ANYONE says, it is NEVER okay to lie. What IS okay is to NOT say every single mean thing or opinion that happens to pop into your little head, because THAT is simply bad manners! Written by the award winning author and poet, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan, this book is meant to get you thinking about truth and what telling the truth really means.

There are so many things that happened when Christ Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount. People came from all around to hear the word of God. Imagine what it must have been like as the Lord Jesus himself spoke before the people! One very exciting thing that came from this sermon are the eight beatitudes. These eight beatitudes tell us how to live in a way that is right, just and holy. If everyone lived according to these eight beatitudes, there would be no more hunger or thirst on this earth, and everyone would be fed, clothed, warm and housed. There would be no more homeless people. War and greed would be a thing of the past. Award winning author, Penelope Dyan believes that every journey begins with a single step and every fire begins with a single spark, and this is why she wrote this special little book just for kids. It is a faith based book, but you do not have to be a believer in anything to benefit from the basic concepts presented in this book, and you will see some of her favorite comical characters as well, just to make you smile!

The Canterbury Tales begin with the introduction of a group of pilgrims journeying to Canterbury to the shrine of Thomas Becket. The pilgrims include a knight, his son (the Squire) the knight's yeoman, a prioress (a kind of nun), a second nun, a monk, a friar, a merchant, a clerk, a man of law, a franklin, a weaver, a dyer, a carpenter, a tapestry-maker, a haberdasher, a cook, a shipman, a physician, a parson, a miller, a manciple, a reeve, a summoner, a pardoner, the wife of Bath, and the author of the Canterbury tales, himself, Geoffrey Chaucer! They meet at the Tabard Inn and decide to tell stories to pass the time on the way to Canterbury. The host of the Tabard Inn sets the rules for the tales. Each pilgrim is to tell two stories on the way to Canterbury, and two stories on their return. The host will decide whose tale is best for meaningfulness and for fun. They draw lots to decide who will tell the first tale, and the knight wins. The trip and the tales follow, and the interesting thing is that many of the sayings we use so often today come straight from "The Canterbury Tales" and Geoffrey Chaucer. Penelope Dyan and John D. Weigand traveled to Canterbury, UK so that you could see the destination of these pilgrims. Now while the original tales are told in old English, there is now a version of them everyone can easily understand. The importance of these tales and knowing all about them is that this is the foundation that actually began English literature, and if you know about Chaucer. you will be ahead in your future studies. It is also important to know these tales as a stepping stone for telling and writing stories of your own, because the creation of stories is what Dyan, an award winning writer, former teacher and attorney, wants you to do! Every kid should use his or her imagination to its fullest! Everyone has a story to tell, and this is the whole point of Chaucer's Canterbury tales as well!

Do you know someone who is getting married? People get married all the time, and weddings are lots of fun. But it doesn't mean whoever is getting married is going away forever. They will still be the very same person right there to love you just like they did before they got married. So if someone in your life is getting married, please do not worry, because they will love you just as much as they always have, no matter what. This book uses the concept of marriage to tell a little story about one girl who dreamed of getting married someday and of finding that right person to marry. Now while marriage may not be as popular a concept as it once was, it is still a glorious thing to do, getting married that is. And you can use this book to start your very own discussion on the subject. Written in simple poetry and illustrated in kid-friendly Penelope Dyan style, this award winning author and poet tells a story like no one else can, and Bellissima promises you will again smile and laugh when you read this book that was written for a very special little girl Penelope Dyan saw grow up right before her eyes! The girl's name is Hailey. This book is dedicated to her and to her parents and was written for them as a very special surprise. "Someone's Getting Married" can be given as a gift to someone you know and love who is getting married, or it can be used to discuss the concept of marriage and to get a dialog going on the subject with your child. This is a faith based book that includes the concept of God's plan for us all. (There is also a free Bellissimavideo video that goes with this book on 'YouTube' "Baby I'm Yours" sung by Penelope Dyan. Use it with this book to further the discussion and learning experience.)

Izmir,Turkey is an exciting place to visit, full of history and culture and more facts than you could ever possibly keep inside your head, so the best thing to do when you go to this place is to simply soak it in, relax and take a step back in time as you explore this part of Turkey, which is actually a part of Asia. The Turks will tell you that people who are from this part of Turkey in Asia were the first settlers of America, the first Native Americans. They will tell you that it was their ancestors who crossed the Bering Strait during the ice age, and that their people are Nomadic and to them at that time, it made perfect sense. The problem was the ice that made up the bridge to America melted, and they could not come home. Looking at the traditional rugs (as you will see in this book) lend credence to this theory, because the art of the weave and the manner of the weaving, dying and creation of the rugs of the Navajo and these Nomadic Turks (today) look almost exactly the same. Travel through this book's pages and take a glimpse at Izmir Turkey with award winning writer, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan and master photographer John D. Weigand, and behold the magic of Turkey!

A review of this book in Today's Zaman, 'Turkish Delight': Exploring Sultanahmet with a child, 2 October 2011 / MARION JAMES, ISTANBUL reads in part as follows: If I were taking a child around Sultanahmet, we would arrive home exhausted and fall into a deep sleep, imagining ourselves to be characters from Istanbul's exciting historic past. This child's eye view is captured in a delightful series of guidebooks by Weigand and Dyan. The Istanbul guide is entitled "Turkish Delight" and children are taken round the city by a simple rhyme which accompanies 20 full-page photographs. "What a surprise to go to Istanbul, Turkey, and to see all the wonderful things that a kid can see," they write in the introduction. "The whole idea of the Dyan/Weigand travel books is to let you see some of the things kids might like to see when they travel to other countries and to give you a real taste and flavor of these places. These books with the poetry of Penelope Dyan and the photographs of John Weigand are different ... because they are meant to stir the imaginations of children, not spoon-feed them facts that are boring." The poetry certainly pulls a child into the trip and its rhythm keeps you turning the pages. Some of the rhymes and scanning are a bit forced, but it is a good device to keep the child's interest. As a former teacher, Dyan knows just what will grab the imagination. In the Grand Bazaar... There are shops there with all kinds of things Even emeralds and rubies and diamond rings! And by the head of Medusa in the underground cisterns: Don't look into her eyes! Don't go there alone! Or you may find YOU are turned into stone! Some of the pictures are absolute winners, captivating the eye. Rows of colorful slippers spread out on a stall capture the very essence of Istanbul street-trading. A few pages on there is an amazing array of fresh fish, shot real close up. Outside a restaurant I saw these fish, Waiting to be cooked and put on a dish! The author and photographer point out that "children remember what catches their eyes." end quote This picture book written by award winning author and former teacher, Penelope Dyan, is meant to awaken the senses and the imagination of the young child and is truly seen through the eyes of a child. This is why it is a "Turkish Delight."

Is there something you would really like to do? Maybe you want more than anything to have a surprise birthday party, and you make a secret wish for one at someone else's surprise birthday party. Maybe you want to do something simpler, like learn to fish. Do you think it is an easy thing to fish? The boy in this story found out fishing was not as easy as it looks.In the end our little hero learned to fish, but he really didn't understand why he was fishing because it seems he never caught a fish and really didn't want to catch one. Can you figure out why?This book is written and illustrated by Penelope Dyan, a former teacher, as well as an attorney and an award winning author who has had two of her kids' books placed in the Saison Poetry Library in the Royal Exhibit Hall, London, UK, chosen by the UK Arts council. She is also recognized on the Pukeke Reading list of best books in Australia, with her book "A book For Girls About Being A Girl," ranked 3rd in books of poetry for girls ages 5-9.

The small community of Julian, California is nestled in the Cuyamaca mountains just about an hour east of San Diego, California. Here you can take a step back in time all the way to Julian's 1870's gold rush. You can follow the signs and visit a gold mine, on weekends take a horse and carriage ride, eat apples and apple pie and shop in stores and sit at an historic soda fountain. There is also a lot of fun art that kids will love to see, things like deer and bears carved from big trees, and even a cigar store Indian! You can stay in an historic hotel, see a volunteer ire station and even the Pioneer Cemetery where the Julian pioneers are buried! Go on a picnic and search for wildlife, and you just may find some. And when you go to the soda fountain, it is said the root beer floats are the best ever! What you decide to do is all up to you! It seems everyone wants to escape back into the good old days when times were simpler and loads of fun, and if you can't escape for a lifetime, you can always escape for a day, Or you can just escape vicariously through the pages of this book with poet Penelope Dyan and photographer John D. Weigand! Because this is yet another book meant for kids that will look great on your coffee table! If you decide to take a look up the winding road through the Cuyamaca Mountains to Julian, see how many of the historic sites your kids can find. But don't forget to take the book for a quick comparison! And have some apple butter, apple juice, apple cider, apple pie, and candied and otherwise prepared apples, and remember an apple a day is very good for you! (And Julian is good for you too!)

Cabo San Lucas, is commonly called Cabo and is a city at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, in the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. Cabo San Lucas together with San José del Cabo is known as Los Cabos, and it is a great vacation destination with a lot of things to see and do! You can go to the beach, surf or go fishing, scuba or snorkel, and go shopping! Cabo is enjoyed by everyone, natives of Mexico and tourists alike,Written by award winning author, attorney and former teacher, Penelope Dyan, and complemented by the beautiful photographs of John D. Weigand, this book is perfect for kids! Its size is easy to handle, and its large print is perfect for young eyes. It is easy to fit this book into a kid-sized backpack, and it can be used in conjunction with practicing reading skills, because of the author's careful use of word repetition, word recognition and rhyme. Most of all, this book is meant for kids, and it is meant to show a kid the things a kid will notice when he or she travels! And to make the learning experience even more fun, there is a free music video kids can watch on the Bellissimavideo YouTube channel that goes with this book!