Press Release: Yakov and the Seven Thieves

Callaway Arts & Entertainment is pleased
to announce the release of Madonna‘s third book for children, Yakov and the
Seven Thieves, on June 21, 2004.

Madonna‘s first two children’s books, The English Roses and Mr. Peabody’s
Apples, both debuted at No. 1 on the children’s picture book best-seller list
of The New York Times, and remained on the list for 18 and 10 weeks,
respectively. International bestsellers, the books are hugely popular in
countries as diverse as England, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Taiwan,
Brazil, Slovenia, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands.
Yakov and the Seven Thieves, written for readers aged six and up, is a
32-page jacketed hardcover. The book’s ornate and evocative images were
painted by Gennady Spirin, an award-winning and internationally revered
artist, who has illustrated 33 previous children’s books.

Madonna says “Yakov and the 7 thieves is a story about how all of us
have the ability to unlock the gates of heaven-no matter how unworthy we think
we are. For when we go against our selfish natures, we make miracles happen,
in our lives and in the lives of others.”
Publisher and CEO of Callaway Arts & Entertainment, Nicholas Callaway
says, “Yakov and the Seven Thieves again proves the amazing range of Madonna’s
storytelling talent. Her first book was set in contemporary England and the
second in post-World War II America. Now, she takes us to a completely
different cultural milieu-a small 18th-century town in Eastern Europe. We
therefore selected a world-renowned Russian artist, Gennady Spirin, to
illustrate this book, because his traditional artistic style perfectly
complements the old-world setting of the story.”
Madonna’s list of publishers continues to grow. Her children’s books will
be released in 38 languages, plus a Braille edition, and in more than 110
countries.

Callaway Arts & Entertainment, headquartered in New York, is the
originating publisher of Madonna’s children’s books and has licensed book
rights through The Wylie Agency to 42 distinguished houses, including
Gallimard Jeunesse in France, Penguin Books for Young Readers in the U.K., and
Hanser Verlag in Germany. The book is distributed in the United States by the
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Callaway Arts & Entertainment, founded in 1980 by Nicholas Callaway, is
best known for its hugely successful Miss Spider book series. The firm
specializes in family entertainment across all media-book publishing, 3-D
computer animation for film and television, and product design.

The highest production standards mark the creation of Yakov and the Seven
Thieves, which features premium paper and state-of-the art digital prepress
and printing.
There are over 50,000 retail stores carrying Madonna’s books in the United
States alone, including Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton, BJ’s, Books-A-Million,
Borders Group, Costco, Hastings, Musicland Group, Sam’s Club, Scholastic
School Fairs and Book Clubs, Target, Toys “R” Us, Virgin Megastores, and
Waldenbooks, among many others. Online stores include Amazon.com and bn.com.

Yakov and the Seven Thieves is the third of five children’s books by
Madonna, each set in a different time and place, featuring a new cast of
characters brought to life by celebrated illustrators from around the world.
As with the previous two titles, it will be launched with a major
international media campaign, including live television appearances and
special events.

Madonna’s fourth children’s book, The Adventures of Abdi, will be released worldwide on November 8, 2004.

Source: PRNewswire/Callaway
Special thanks to Callaway Arts & Entertainment