The Make-Believers

by Ryan Seacrest, Meredith Seacrest Leach, Bonnie Lui (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

You're never too old (or too young) to dream, and this book is an ode to all those out there who hold onto the power of make-believe.

From America’s favorite host and media personality, Ryan Seacrest, and his sister, Meredith Seacrest Leach, comes a debut picture book that celebrates the surprising strength of a child’s wild, wonderful imagination and how it can change the whole world.

You might think dreams only exist at night,
when the moon is glowing, and your eyes are shut tight.
But what if I told you there’s another kind of dreaming?
All you have to do is make believe.
Because you can be a Make-Believer!

Encourage little ones everywhere to imagine big, to dream far, and to always follow their hearts with this delightful book about the transformative power of play.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665949880
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	10/08/2024
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	57 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Ryan Seacrest is an Emmy Award–winning television host, radio personality, mega producer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Ryan continues to host and produce Los Angeles’s number-one drive-time show for iHeartMedia’s 102.7 KIIS-FM: the nationally syndicated On Air with Ryan Seacrest, as well as American Top 40 with Ryan Seacrest. He also hosts ABC’s American Idol, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest and up next will take over the work of legendary Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune. He also cohosted and co-executive produced ABC’s award-winning show Live with Kelly and Ryan, for which he earned an Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host. Ryan’s philanthropic efforts include serving as chairman of the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, which has successfully installed fourteen broadcast media centers—Seacrest Studios—in pediatric hospitals nationwide. The Make-Believers is his first picture book.

Meredith Seacrest Leach is the executive director and COO for the Ryan Seacrest Foundation. She was a driving force behind the conception and development of the foundation since its inception in 2009. In her current role, she manages and cultivates relationships with key partners and donors in entertainment, health care, education, and technology, while strategizing financial campaigns and programs to help continuously advance the organization and the fourteen Seacrest Studios in leading pediatric hospitals across the country. Prior to overseeing the foundation, Meredith was the director of creative affairs at Reveille, now known as the production company Endemol Shine North America. Some of the programming she was responsible for included Nashville Star, MasterChef, and The Buried Life. She also worked in hospitality public relations, managing several luxury resort accounts, and as the manager of communications at Entertainment Tonight and The Insider, where she oversaw national press for two top entertainment news programs. The Make-Believers is her first picture book.

Bonnie Lui is an illustrator and cat enthusiast who loves to play. Her work can be found in books, games, and television. She is always looking for ways to create fun in all forms of media for everyone to enjoy. Find her on Instagram @SuperBonArt.

Editorial Reviews

09/09/2024

Sibling creators Seacrest and Seacrest Leach spotlight daydreaming in this fantasy-forward double author debut. Savvy opening lines enthusiastically instruct on how to be a “make-believer” (“Start by daydreaming about your favorite things”). Affirming text further conveys a sense of limitlessness, suggesting ways to envision new people, places, and experiences, and hinting that some visualizations can “start looking less like dreams and more like something truly real.” Lui liberally scatters repeating shapes (petals, stars) across luminous, soft-edged vistas that call attention to children’s extraordinary capacity for individual and collective imagination, accentuating the connection and magic that arises from make-believe. Human characters are portrayed with various abilities and skin tones. An authors’ note concludes. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

2024-08-03
TV presenter and producer Ryan Seacrest and his sister, Meredith Seacrest Leach, encourage readers to use their imaginations to the fullest.

“You can be a make-believer,” the authors tell readers. Your mind can take you anywhere—up and away in a hot air balloon, blasting off on a rocket ship, or traveling across a rainbow, atop a majestic unicorn. Clouds transform into colorful fish; a child joins a llama in song. Though the simple, stream-of-consciousness text accompanying these images suggests that there’s no wrong way to daydream, it nevertheless offers examples in case readers feel a bit stumped. And once dreams become bold enough, they may serve to improve young people’s lives. These are laudable messages but ones that are clumsily delivered. The prose is tepid, verging on cliched (“Dreams to dream while the sun shines bright, and your eyes are wide open”). The authors deem these vivid experiences “Dreamy Moments”—which feels like an at best distracting and at worse cynical attempt to commodify childhood wonder. Visually, a digitally rendered palette of mellow hues emphasizes comfy purples, warm oranges, and calm aquatic blues and greens. The cast of children traipsing through the scenes are diverse in terms of race and ability and include kids using wheelchairs and hearing aids.

Lukewarm attempts at sparking creativity.(Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews