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LOUKOUMI AND THE SCHOOLYARD BULLY Narrated by Morgan Freeman Wins Mom's Choice Award

By: Dec. 16, 2013
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"Loukoumi And The Schoolyard Bully" has won the Mom's Choice Award for Excellence. Oscar Winners Morgan Freeman, Olympia Dukakis and Oscar Nominee Nia Vardalos lead an all-star cast in the audio narration of the new book, Loukoumi And The Schoolyard Bully by Nick Katsoris. The book not only spreads the message of kindness and tolerance to children this holiday season but also gives back with proceeds from the book benefitting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

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The Mom's Choice Awards® (MCA) evaluates products and services created for children and families. The program is globally recognized for establishing the benchmark of excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. The organization is based in the United States and has reviewed thousands of entries from more than 40 countries.

In Loukoumi And The Schoolyard Bully, Loukoumi is about to have a baby brother. When her friends discuss what to name him, schoolyard bully, Igor the alligator (voiced by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman), ridicules Loukoumi's name, but during the course of the day, through several common interactions, Igor realizes that he and Loukoumi are more alike than he thought. In the end, he learns that bullying is not cool, and although Loukoumi's name is different, everyone is really all the same.

The book includes an audio download of the story narrated by Nia Vardalos, Oscar nominated screenwriter and star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and author of the bestselling book Instant Mom. Oscar winner Morgan Freeman voices the role of the schoolyard bully, Igor the alligator. Other character voices, reprising their roles from past Loukoumi audio books, include Oscar winner Olympia Dukakis as Marika the monkey, Grammy Winner Gloria Gaynor as Fistiki the Cat, Days of Our Lives star John Aniston as Loukoumi's Daddy, Tony Nominee Constantine Maroulis as Gus the bear, Actor Frank Dicopoulos as Dean the dog and News anchor Alexis Christoforous as Loukoumi.

Author Nick Katsoris has also teamed up with the National Bullying Prevention Center for a program that will feature students in schools reading Loukoumi and the Schoolyard Bully followed by kids taking the National Bullying Prevention Center's anti-bullying pledge.

About the Author:

Loukoumi And The Schoolyard Bully is Nick Katsoris' sixth book in the Loukoumi series. Other titles include the iParenting Media award-winning: Loukoumi, Growing up with Loukoumi, Loukoumi's Good Deeds, Loukoumi's Gift and Loukoumi's Celebrity Cookbook. The Cookbook features favorite childhood recipes by over 50 celebrities including Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Matt Lauer, George Stephanopoulos, Betty White, several Disney Channel stars, and many others. The Cookbook reached #1 on the Amazon.com children's cookbook list in January 2012 and received several awards including two World Cookbook Awards, The Mom's Choice Award for Excellence and The Family Choice Award. The Loukoumi books have also been translated into Greek and plans are underway for a Greek-language Cookbook edition this November.

Based on the themes in his books, Katsoris sponsors several programs including the Growing Up With Loukoumi Dream Day contest, which grants kids the opportunity to spend the day in their dream careers. He also sponsors Make a Difference with Loukoumi Day, based on his book Loukoumi's Good Deeds (narrated on CD by Jennifer Aniston and John Aniston), which rallies 20,000 kids each October to do a good deed on national Make a Difference Day. In addition, the winner of the Loukoumi's Celebrity Cookbook recipe contest, Grace LaFountain, cooked her favorite childhood recipe with celebrity chef Cat Cora at Cat's restaurant, Kouzzina, on the BoardWalk in Walt Disney World during the 2012 Epcot Food and Wine Festival.

About St. Jude Children's Research Hospital:

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is the global leader in finding cures and saving children from cancer and other deadly diseases. St. Jude freely shares discoveries made and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists can use that knowledge to save thousands more children around the world. Unlike any other hospital, St. Jude relies on funding from the general public. As a result, families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food. For more information, please visit stjude.org.

About Nia Vardalos:

Nia Vardalos is the Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated actress and writer of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. An alumnus of The Second City comedy theater, she also starred in and wrote Connie and Carla and I Hate Valentine's Day, starred in My Life In Ruins, and co-wrote Larry Crowne with Tom Hanks. Born and raised in Canada, Vardalos now resides in Los Angeles with her husband, their daughter, and many pets and is currently working on balancing her acting and writing career with motherhood.

About Morgan Freeman:

Morgan Freeman is an actor, film director, and narrator. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby. He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Freeman has appeared in many other box office hits, including Unforgiven, Glory, Seven, Deep Impact, The Sum of All Fears, Bruce Almighty, Kiss the Girls, Along Came a Spider, The Dark Knight trilogy, and March of the Penguins.



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