Teddy's Travels™ - America’s National Parks
An Award-Winning Interactive Guide to the National Parks Written for Children
Written by Trefoni Michael Rizzi & Tedrick de Bear™

 

Teddy's Travels™ Makes Traveling Fun for Kids and Adults
“Are we there yet?” That’s a constant refrain for many families traveling with children. Now, making the journey just as exciting as the destination is easy wih the award winning inetractive book ‘Teddy's Travels™ - America’s National Parks’.

Winner of a Foreword Book of the Year Award and also a Benjamin Franklin Award, Teddy's Travels™ is a travel guide to the National Parks written for children. Join Tedrick de Bear™ as he travels across the United States by way of the National Parks and Monuments. Filled with full color photographs and graphics designed to engage, Teddy's Travels™ takes you on a fun-filled ‘Venture™’ with first hand information, web addresses, journal pages and scavenger hunts.

Kids of all ages will learn hot to visit a National Park from Visitor center to wilderness hike. Teddy's Travels™ is all about learning, through experiencing the world around you. The 128 page book has pages for photographs, places for your children to write, and lots of room to collect stamps.

Teddy's Travels™ is the first in a series of interactive books designed to engage and educate children about the National Park system. Written and designed by Trefoni Michael Rizzi & Tedrick de Bear™, the pair have traveled across the country six times, photographing Tedrick™ in various locales featured in the book. Plans are in the works to create additional books on various regions of the country, highlighting all the parks in each region.

Teddy's Travels™ is available in many National Parks such as Yosemite National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and Mount Rushmore National Memorial.



About the Authors -
Trefoni Michael Rizzi - It is no accident that Teddy’s Travels™ has an underlying mission to make learning fun. Travel, Design, Theatre for Young Audiences, Puppetry and Education are Trefoni Michael Rizzi’s passions. Thanks to his parents, with a dedication to “taking a family vacation” every year, Rizzi has been an avid traveler from a very young age. He has traveled throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and Mexico and looks forward to traveling as often as he possibly can.

As an Artist, Rizzi has been a scenic, lighting and costume designer for 25 years. He received an Ovation Award for Scenic Design in a Larger Theatre from the Los Angeles Stage Alliance and made his off-Broadway debut in 2005, designing sets, lighting and projections for A Woman of Will, starring Amanda McBroom.

As an Educator, he has taught Theatre and Puppetry at such academic institutions as Fairfield University in Connecticut, The University of Alaska in Fairbanks and Los Angeles City College, Citrus College, and Cosumnes River College in California. He also served as Assistant Director of Admissions at Art Center College of Design. Rizzi holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from UCLA in Design and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Hawaii Manoa in Theatre and Dance.

A resident of Pasadena, California, Rizzi is also a past President of the Board of Directors for Hosteling International, Los Angeles Council. Not surprisingly, his mission closely resembles that of Teddy’s Travels™ – to help all, especially the young, gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through hosteling.

On September 12, 2008, co-hosts Nancy Reid, Lisa Smith and Craig C. Downer interviewed Trefoni on The Nature Connection online radio show. To listen to the entire, unedited show, please click here. To listen to Trefoni's interview, please double click on the Play Button below.

Tedrick de Bear™ has been a long time traveling companion of Rizzi’s and was the motivator behind the writing of Teddy’s Travels™. It was Tedrick™ who convinced Rizzi that a book about the National Parks would be a great way to share all of their ‘Ventures™. Because, as Tedrick™ always says, “If you share your memories with others, you can go on a ‘Venture™ every day of your life!”