WELCOME
Your one-stop-shop for
RHYMING
MORAL
ADVENTUROUS
children's books
AVAILABLE NOW
TIED TOGETHER
IT'S ABOUT: A world where people come in pairs, tied with an unbreakable knot, and one unhappy pair wants to get untied.
LESSONS: Sometimes, the thing that needs to change is YOU.
DISCUSSION: Teamwork; Friendship; Relationships
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
THE BOOK OF FIRSTS
IT'S ABOUT: The (made-up) pioneers who shaped the amazing world we live in today.
LESSONS: It pays off to be brave enough to try something new.
DISCUSSION: Real pioneers; Creativity and risk-taking
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
MAKING DREAMS
IT'S ABOUT: A town where everybody's dreams are made for them by a whacky dream creation guy... until he disappears.
LESSONS: Everybody has their own creative spark.
DISCUSSIONS: Dreaming; Lucid dreaming; Creativity
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
GREEN MEANS GO
IT'S ABOUT: A street light that causes a line that circles the world because everyone assumes someone else pressed the button.
LESSONS: Don’t wait for someone else to take action first.
DISCUSSION: Laziness; False assumptions; Being proactive
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
BREAKING RULES
IT'S ABOUT: Three friends trying to break every rule at the world’s wildest amusement park.
LESSONS: Rules exist for a reason, even if you don’t know it
DISCUSSION: Rules; Doing things you don’t understand
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
THE STRONGEST MAN
IT'S ABOUT: The whimsical, (possibly made-up) origin story of the Olympics.
LESSONS: True meaning of strength; how to handle bullies.
DISCUSSIONS: Ancient Greece; The Olympic Games
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
THE STORM
IT'S ABOUT: Two raindrops, who are in love, trying to stay together during their first storm.
LESSONS: Go with the flow; Everything works out in the end.
DISCUSSION: The water cycle; Trying things before you’re ready
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
BEFORE GRAVITY
IT'S ABOUT: A boy imagining the world before Isaac Newton INVENTED gravity.
LESSONS: Don’t fall asleep in class... Ever!
DISCUSSION: Gravity; Isaac Newton; Misinterpreting history
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
THE TALLEST HOUSE
IT'S ABOUT: A town where everyone is competing to build the tallest house.
LESSONS: Be happy with what you have; Don’t be greedy.
DISCUSSION: Architecture; Humility; Healthy competition
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
THE DRAGON KINGS
IT'S ABOUT: The reason the dragons disappeared from the world (or did they...?)
LESSONS: It’s never too late to change; Don’t be greedy
DISCUSSION: History of dragon lore; What makes a good leader
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
UP AND AWAY
IT'S ABOUT: A balloon trying to find the legendary place where balloons go when they fly away.
LESSONS: Home is the best place to be.
DISCUSSION: Air pressure; Space; Shared vs solo experience
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
FINDING THE MOON
IT'S ABOUT: After the moon goes missing, a little girl goes on an adventure to find it & put it back
LESSONS: It’s okay to be afraid; Learn to face your fears
DISCUSSION: Common fears; Moon science; Bioluminescense
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
BEFORE THE FEAR OF SPIDERS
IT'S ABOUT: The whimsical origin of our fear of spiders, starting all the way back in the year number 2.
LESSONS: Love is better than fear.
DISCUSSION: Spiders - dangers vs benefits; The source of fears
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
COMING SOON
MY GRANDMA IS A SPY
IT'S ABOUT: A boy who is convinced that his grandma is a secret agent, and he's out to prove it.
LESSONS: There's more to people than what you can see
DISCUSSION: Judgement; Age; What it takes to be awesome
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
A KING ONE DAY
IT'S ABOUT: A poor boy who is raised thinking that he will be king one day, so that he develops the heart of a leader.
LESSONS: Royalty is an attitude, not a birthright
DISCUSSION: Poverty, Judaism, Royalty
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
OUR LITTLE NINJA
IT'S ABOUT: Two parents struggling to raise a baby who is a NINJA from the day he's born.
LESSONS: How to deal with special kids
DISCUSSION: Specialness; Parenting; Nature vs Nurture
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
TEACHER SCHOOL
IT'S ABOUT: The legendary school where teachers learn how to be teachers. And it's run by children!
LESSONS: What makes a teacher great
DISCUSSION: Teaching; Learning; Structured education
[Ideal for ages 4-8]
ACTIVITY PAGES
(FREE PDFs)
A MESSAGE
FROM LOVING PARENTS
TO BELOVED CHILDREN
The world is the best place to follow your dreams,
No matter how hopeless or crazy it seems.
So go out and try, even just once or twice,
And remember to come back to us for advice.
As your parents, we always know what you should do
'Cause we know about people, especially you.
We know doing your best is the best way to live,
And the more that you do, the more you can give.
And the more that you give, the more happy you'll be,
So start giving now, and I promise you'll see.
You'll see how it feels to put smiles on faces
When you help make our planet the best of all places.
But sometimes your dreams won't work out how you'd like,
And the path that you're walking will feel like a hike,
Up the steepest of mountains, the highest of hills,
You might come to the thought that you don't have the skills.
So my love(s), if it hurts you when life starts to sting,
Just think about home and remember two things:
Remember we love you for all that you are,
Every smile and sneeze, every slip, every scar.
And remember we'll always be here for support
Because helping our kids is our favorite sport.
ABOUT US
We started as students at California State University Northridge, writing and illustrating between classes, homework, and extra curricular activities. By self-publishing, we've managed to maintain 100% creative freedom throughout every element of the storytelling process. We choose the subject matter, artistic style, the layout of every page, and every word and detail that fills them. Many of our illustrators are graphic design students or alumni from CSUN's prestigious program. It gives us great pleasure to provide eager young minds with the opportunity to bring their dreams to life, and they never cease to amaze us with their ever-advancing creativity.
We have no intention of stopping anytime soon. As long as our stories continue to inspire and entertain you and your children, we promise to continue making more. It's completely selfish, honestly. We love laying in bed at night with huge smiles on our faces, knowing that we're enriching the curious minds of the next generation.
Since our goals really do revolve entirely around you, we'd love to hear your feedback. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, comments, notes, questions, compliments, or things you want to get off your chest, please let us know at GrandpaHerbiesStories@gmail.com.
MEET THE TEAM
JESSE ORENSHEIN
CEO, Chief Author
Jesse graduated from California State University Northridge with a degree in Screenwriting, which is a passion he's been pursuing adamantly since he was 13 years old. He shifted his focus to children's books during his sophomore year in college and began collaborating with graphic design students at CSUN. Jesse founded Grandpa Herbie's Stories with the intention of creating a hub for rhyming, moral adventures, which are his favorite kind of children's books. To date, Jesse has written every book in our catalog. The company is named after Jesse's grandfather who is always reciting stories and poems by heart. We still have no idea if he's making them up himself. We've decided it doesn't matter.
Watch Jesse On American Ninja Warrior
Instagram: Grandpa_Herbies_Stories
LOUISE CALVENTO
Illustrator (The Boy Who Owned A Candy Store; A World Of Three Colors)
Louise Calvento, although born in the Philippines, spent most of her life growing up in California. She is an illustrator and animator who graduated from California State University Northridge with a Bachelor's Degree in Arts. The Boy who Owned a Candy Store is Louise Calvento's debut into the illustration world. With the use of bright, colorful designs, adorable characters, and of course, a lot of candy, she was simply able to bring this exciting story about a little boy who loves sweets to life. This book, along with future projects, are just part of her journey in fulfilling her goal as an artist, which is to spread smiles around the world one creation at a time.
Instagram: Ouishie
MADISON LOVO
Illustrator (The Strongest Man)
Madison Lovo is an illustrator and graphic designer from Southern California. She loves spending quality time with her cat, traveling, and eating yummy food, ideally all at once. She loves pulling from all of her experiences and the natural beauty in the world and letting it inspire her work, as well as embracing and finding joy in the simple things. Please feel free to check out more of her work on her website: http://madisonlovoart.weebly.com/
ANNA COLEMAN
Illustrator (The Storm; Up And Away)
Anna Coleman is a Freelance Illustrator from Deltona, Florida who specializes in colorful, detailed illustrations. She works mainly in digital illustration, but has a long standing love for gouache paint as well. Anna graduated from Flagler College in 2011 with a BFA in Fine Art, and a minor in Illustration. She has been doing freelance work full-time since 2016. Her work includes stationery design, product design, branding, portrait commissions and children’s book illustration. Anna shares her home with her husband Zac, her dog Bridget, and her finches Orville and Wilbur. She’s also a coffee enthusiast and a collector of house plants.
ANDREA VEGA
Illustrator (Before Gravity; Before The Fear Of Spiders)
Andrea Vega is an illustrator and graphic designer from San Sebastián, Spain. She has been drawing since she could hold a pencil in her hand. She graduated in 2D and 3D modeling design and animation and soon after in Graphic Design and Illustration. Cartoon style is her favorite, which with its bright colors, brings her a sense of fun and happiness. Her work includes the design of corporate identity manuals, stationery, logotypes, stickers, and illustrations. In addition to illustrating, she also loves to watch movies, series, and spend time with her friends.
Website: https://www.andreavega.art/
DANNEL RESKALA
Illustrator (The Tallest House; The Firsts)
Dannel Reskala is an architect and illustrator from Jakarta, Indonesia. He has loved drawing since he was a kid. He also loves reading and collecting comic books, from western comics to Japanese manga, which has become a key component of his artistic foundation. He grew up watching lots of cartoons and animations, which also influence a lot of his art style. He currently loves to draw strange, colorful creatures, drawing inspiration from nature. Creating illustrations, for Dannel, is a way of influencing his architectural work, and vice versa. "The Tallest House" is his first professional illustration work. In addition to illustrating, he still works full time as an architect, and occasionally does product design.
YAYU
Illustrator (The Dragon Kings; The Pizza Monster)
Yayu is an illustrator and comic artist from Barcelona, where he studied a 3-year illustration course at Joso Comic School. Since his childhood, he has always been surrounded by pencils, markers, and any surface on which he could draw (including the walls of his parents' house). After working as an inker for Disney Comics of Holland and Denmark, he quickly focused his professional life on illustrating children's books, where he usually gets to draw nature and animals (his favorite things!). When he is not drawing, you can find him walking in the woods with his dog, petting one of his two cats, or watching a movie and petting the other one.
ALEX HEYWOOD
Illustrator (Making Dreams)
Alex Heywood is a freelance illustrator from Scotland. He graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design with a degree in Animation, but soon after pursued his childhood dream of illustrating. Drawing from home all day in your pajamas isn't the most active lifestyle, so Alex enjoys playing soccer, cycling and generally keeping active to balance out his otherwise stationary life. The natural world fascinates Alex. He can often be seen staring at trees, birds, and anything natural and wild. Although he might look inactive during this practice, he’s actually gathering vital visual information on how the world looks and works so that he can transfer that into his very detailed drawings.
Instagram: Alex.Heywood.Art
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