Bernadette Peters Preps for 'Stella Is A Star' Release Next Month

Tony Award-winning actress and New York Times best-selling children's book author Bernadette Peters and her teammate illustrator Liz Murphy return this spring with Stella is a Star! (May 2010, Blue Apple Books, ages 4 and up), a story about a pup who just wants to make friends and would rather be a graceful pig ballerina.

Lovable Stella feels awkward and "different" on the dance floor - and in life. Stella truly wants to have friends and be a real dancer but instead, hides her true-self behind the persona of a princess pig. After some missteps and wiggles, falls and trips...Stella learns the lessons of dedication and practice, self-acceptance, and most important, that it's okay to be yourself.

Bernadette Peters is the cofounder with Mary Tyler Moore of BROADWAY BARKS, an annual, star-studded animal adoption event benefiting animal shelters. This year marks its twelfth anniversary. Peters' passion for animals and her work on behalf of her charity are the inspiration behind her book. Author's royalties from the sale of Stella is a Star! will go to the care of shelter animals.

The book includes a CD of Bernadette Peters reading Stella is a Star! and singing "Stella's Song," an original song for which she composed the music and lyrics.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book benefits BROADWAY BARKS.

Pre-orders for Stella is a Star are now being accepted on Amazon.com for $12.14.

Bernadette Peters is the recipient of two Tony Awards, a Golden Globe, two Grammy Awards, three Emmy nominations and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Peters received both the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for her critically acclaimed performance in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Song and Dance. She earned her second Tony Award for her performance in Annie Get You're Gun. She also received Tony nominations for her memorable performances as Momma Rose, in Sam Mendes' critically-acclaimed revival of Gypsy, for The Goodbye Girl, Stephen Sondheim's Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Sunday in the Park with George, the Jerry Herman/Gower Champion ode to the movies, Mack and Mabel and the Leonard Bernstein/Comden and Green musical On The Town. In addition to these honors, Peters earned a Drama Desk nomination for her memorable portrayal of the Witch in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods.

On television, she was seen in Living Proof opposite Harry Connick Jr., a guest starring role in the two-hour 2008 season premiere of ABC-TV's "Grey's Anatomy" and an on-going role in the network's "Ugly Betty." A actress of amazing versatility, Peters has lit up the silver screen in 17 films throughout her distinguished career. She received a Golden Globe Award for her memorable performance in Pennies From Heaven. Among her film credits are: The Jerk with Steve Martin, The Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds, Silent Movie with Mel Brooks, Annie with Carol Burnett, Pink Cadillac with Clint Eastwood, Slaves of New York with Mercedes Ruehl, Woody Allen's Alice with Mia Farrow, Impromptu with Hugh Grant and Mandy Patinkin, and It Runs in the Family, starring opposite Kirk and Michael Douglas. On record, in addition to numerous Original Broadway Cast recordings, Peters has recorded six solo albums, including the Grammy nominated Bernadette Peters Loves Rodgers & Hammerstein, Sondheim, Etc: Bernadette Peters Live at Carnegie Hall and I'll Be Your Baby Tonight.

Liz Murphy is the illustrator of many books for children, including ABC Doctor, A Dictionary of Dance, My Forever Dress, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and Broadway Barks, all published by Blue Apple. She was born and raised in Surrey, England, and attended the Kingston Art College, where she majored in graphic design. She now lives Montclair, New Jersey, with her husband, two sons and a year-old puppy.

Blue Apple Books, founded in 2003 by Harriet Ziefert, is an independent publisher dedicated to producing high quality, age-appropriate children's books in innovative formats. From the beginning, Blue Apple has focused on combining art and text to make the most readable, educational, and entertaining "modern books for modern kids.