ESTHER NELSON AND DAVIDA HIRSCH have joined forces to combine their knowledge and experience of what excites, stimulates and enhances creativity and learning to form GRANNY PRESS, which has published 5 children’s picture books in rhythm and rhyme. The last 2, Riddle Board Books with lift up flaps, were published by Barnes & Noble. During the last 3 years, they have traveled to 13 states presenting 90 Interactive Workshops & Keynotes at Conferences and Programs for Early Childhood, Head Start and other Child Care Staff as well as Children’s Librarians.

ESTHER NELSON M.A. Dance Education, New York University One of the foremost educators in the realm of children’s Music and Dance, Esther has taught thousands of children and reached tens of thousands more through her 11 books (on library shelves nationally) and 16 Music and Dance Participation Cassettes, available in the United States through www.grannypress.com. In addition, 9 CDS have been released through King Records in Japan. They are also available in 8 other Asian Countries.

These books and cassettes have been lauded in such prestigious publications as the NY Times, New Yorker and Time Out Magazines, Entertainment Weekly, Library Journal, Horn Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Dance Magazine, Scholastic and Instructor Magazines, Midwest Book Review as well as The Juilliard School of Music.

Esther has given Workshops and Interactive Keynote Presentations for Early Childhood, Head Start and Day Care teachers as well as Children’s Librarians across the country. She is listed in the World’s Whose Who Of Women and Contemporary Authors.

DAVIDA HIRSCH M.S. Early Childhood ED., Bank St. College of Ed. Davida played many roles as an Early Childhood Educator, beginning as a classroom teacher, then Nursery School Director and then the Coordinator of Early Childhood Education for the Hackensack NJ School System. The last 3 years of her15 yr. tenure, she held the dual role of Gifted & Talented Program Director for the K-12 program.

She next moved to Montclair NJ State University as Project Director for a CDA Training Program working with teachers in Child Care Programs. Davida’s specialty has been training teachers, parents, and child care workers in techniques and activities to develop critical thinking skills in young children and creating a curriculum to maximize learning, positive discipline and effective classroom management. Her publications include pamphlets with practical suggestions for enhancing learning through daily experiences.

As an Alumna, Davida has been honored by Bank Street College, for her important contributions to developing understanding of the needs of young children and a commitment to integrating that understanding, along with the development of excellence in those who educate and care for them.