A Horse Named Steve (Steve the Horse)

Product Information

Part of the Corus Entertainment family,Kids Can Press is celebrating its 50 th Anniversary in 2023. A recipient of the distinguished Bologna Prize for Best Children's Publisher, North America,Kids Can Press is known for its acclaimed literary picture books, character-driven franchises with global and crossover appeal, and award-winning STEM- and social issues-based nonfiction enjoyed by young readers around the world. Kids Can Press has seen several of its franchise properties developed for TV and film by Nelvana, including: Franklin the Turtle; Scaredy Squirrel; the Binky Adventure series; and the best-selling picture book The Most Magnificent Thing, which has been adapted into an award-winning animated short with a TV series in production. Kids Can Press is among some of the industry's leading publishers distributed by Hachette Client Services and is a proud signatory of the United Nations Publishers Compact. For more on our books and creators: BAFTA-winning and EMMY ®-nominated Belfast-based studio Sixteen South announces that together with Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, a world-leading international developer, producer, distributor, and licensor of children’s animated and live-action content, they have optioned and are co-developing and co-producing A Horse Named Steve, a new 2D animated series based on the acclaimed debut picture book by Toronto author-illustrator Kelly Collier. The 52 X 11 series will feature hilarious storylines while showing the importance of friendship, teamwork and appreciating one’s true self.

Tiktok via @glittergreigy The 34-year-old says she ‘loves’ being able to bring a smile to viewers’ faces. Tiktok via @glittergreigy Recently the Vooks animated digital ebook of “A Horse Named Steve,” narrated by actor/comedian Rainn Wilson, helped earn the American company a 2023 Bologna Ragazzi Crossmedia Award nomination in the inaugural Digital Library category. The awards are part of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, a premier global children’s publishing event held annually in Bologna, Italy. Irish animation studio Sixteen South has partnered with Nelvana to develop and co-produce A Horse Named Steve. Vooks, the world’s first and only SVOD streaming platform bringing storybooks to life through animation, announced the premiere of the all-new animated storybook A Horse Named Steve, featuring the vocal talents of EMMY®-nominated actor Rainn Wilson. Published by Kids Can Press, and written and illustrated by Kelly Collier, A Horse Named Steve gallops into the Vooks library today (Oct. 21) free of charge as a special treat for young readers around the world to enjoy.A Horse Named Steve is a picturebook by Kelly Collier about a horse named Steve who is a fine horse, but who longs to be more. When Steve finds a gold horn in the forest and attaches it to his head, ta-da! Exceptional! His friends are so impressed, they, too, attach objects to their own heads, in an effort to be as exceptional as Steve. So when Steve suddenly realizes his horn has gone missing, he’s devastated! He won’t be exceptional without his horn! Or will he? Copycat fashion, his friends end up with decorations on their head. But Bob notices something when he looks at Steve. There are currently two books in the series: A Horse Named Steve (pictured, 2017) and Team Steve (2018). In the first title, Steve starts wearing a unicorn-style horn to get attention, but experiences unexpected challenges in disguise. In the sequel, he has to compete in a relay race with a turtle and a snail on his team, and learns the lesson that teamwork is more important than winning. Digital storybook platform Vooks adapted the lead book into an animated short, narrated by Rainn Wilson (who played Dwight Schrute in The Office) in 2021. This bright, breezy picture-book debut by Toronto author-illustrator Kelly Collier marks the first time I have ever seen the myth of Narcissus reworked with a horse in the starring role. The eponymous equine, like Cephissus and nymph Liriope’s self-infatuated kid, has a high opinion of himself. One day, Steve discovers a gold horn in the forest, and immediately recognizes it as the means by which he can truly become what he always believed himself to be: exceptional. He straps the horn to his head, unicorn-style, and sets off to display his manifest exceptionality to the rest of the forest animals. I don’t think it’s possible that Vooks could have come up with a better actor to portray the endearingly clueless horse named Steve than Rainn Wilson,” said Steve creator, author-illustrator Kelly Collier. “He has somehow managed to bring to life the exact voice I heard as I wrote Steve’s dialogue. I’m thrilled that my books can also be enjoyed in such a fun, accessible way with Vooks’ animation and Rainn Wilson’s spot-on interpretation of Steve. It’s wonderful that the book’s message on the importance of being your ‘authentic self’ will reach a broader audience through Vooks.”

Although the picture books target kids ages three to seven, they have a self-awareness and “dry humor” that make it easy to age up the series concept for eight- to 11-year-olds, explains Williams. “It has an intelligent humor for older kids. It’s smart and snarky, and we’re dead-excited about its unique visual design, which will let us exercise our creative chops.” Award-winning Belfast-based animation studio Sixteen South and kids’ content leader Nelvana announced an agreement to option, co-develop and co-produce a new 2D animated series, A Horse Named Steve, based on the hugely popular debut picture book by Toronto author-illustrator Kelly Collier. The 52x11 series will feature funny storylines while illustrating the importance of friendship, teamwork, and appreciating one’s true self. It’s amazing to see how far Steve has come,” said author-illustrator Kelly Collier. “Particularly because he started out as a little doodle I made to fill an empty picture frame! I can’t wait to see Steve strutting around on TV screens, having found the perfect home with Sixteen South and Nelvana.” Super charming illustrations that help flesh out the characters. I read this book aloud to my daughter and it was so fun. The pictures helped me realize how the characters should sound. They are simple drawings but convey so much personality. We fell in love. Recently the Vooks animated digital ebook of A Horse Named Steve, narrated by Emmy-nominated actor Rainn Wilson, helped earn U.S.-based Kids Can Press a 2023 Bologna Ragazzi Crossmedia Award nomination in the inaugural Digital Library category. The awards are part of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the premier global children’s publishing event held annually in Bologna, Italy.How can you not love Steve the Horse?” Wilson said. “He’s fun, lovable, wears his emotions on his sleeve, and is utterly clueless in the best possible way. I had such a great time working on this, and I think Steve and his antics are going to be a big hit with Vooks readers!” Tiktok via @glittergreigy Ashley and her family did not notice the ‘garden dwellers’ when they first moved in. Tiktok via @glittergreigy Is there room in Canadian literature for another equine creature who’s got a couple of quirks? Which is to say, if you have a thing for roly-poly ponies, do you actually need a horse named Steve?

Steve's self-confidence shines as he tells his friends how fancy and amazing he is. In fact, his attitude verges on over-the-top prideful and rude. I made it quite early that morning, but didn’t get around to posting it until around 7pm – went about my evening as usual, put the kids to bed. It’s amazing to see how far Steve has come,” said Collier, “Particularly because he started out as a little doodle, I made to fill an empty picture frame! I can’t wait to see Steve strutting around on TV screens, having found the perfect home with Sixteen South and Nelvana.” What Concerned Me:This is a book, like many, that is totally open to interpretation. While some may think this is promoting outward importance of beauty, I feel it almost ridicules it. As we celebrate our 50th Anniversary, we’ve been reminded of how important the wide range of partnerships we’ve fostered over the years are to the success of our business,” said Lisa Lyons Johnston, President and Publisher of Kids Can Press. “Developing these kinds of partnerships—with Sixteen South and of course with our colleagues at Nelvana—helps to expand the reach of our creators’ books and puts their characters and stories in front of children and families wherever they may be. We’re always on the lookout for stories that will appeal to creators of other children’s entertainment media, as Kelly’s work clearly has.”Kids Can Press president and publisher Lisa Lyons Johnston said, “Developing these kinds of partnerships—with Sixteen South and of course with our colleagues at Nelvana—helps to expand the reach of our creators’ books and puts their characters and stories in front of children and families wherever they may be. We’re always on the lookout for stories that will appeal to creators of other children’s entertainment media, as Kelly’s work clearly has.” Bafta-winning and Emmy-nominated Belfast-based studio Sixteen South recently announced that together with Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana, they have optioned and are co-developing and co-producing A Horse Named Steve. Recently the Vooks animated digital ebook of A Horse Named Steve, narrated by EMMY-nominated actor Rainn Wilson, helped earn the American company a 2023 Bologna Ragazzi Crossmedia Award nomination in the inaugural Digital Library category. The awards are part of the Bologna Children's Book Fair, the premier global children's publishing event held annually in Bologna, Italy. The silliness of the books is what drew Nelvana to the property, says Athena Georgaklis, VP of Nelvana Studios. “[It’s] a really clever and laugh-out-loud story.” Things spiral downhill in the ego department when Steve notices his splendid horn has vanished....poof!!... just disappeared. Oh my goodness gracious noooooooo! He looks high and low, up and down - everywhere - but to no avail. Steve has lost his new-found EXCEPTIONALITY but the good news is that in trying to rediscover it he actually discovers the truth - his always-been-there, ORIGINALITY. It's that that makes him exceedingly SPECIAL and something he can accomplish all on his own and been there the whole time!

An EMMY nominated and BAFTA winning studio, Sixteen South is passionate about creating quality television for children across the globe and was the BAFTA Children's Independent Production Company of the Year in 2017. Their shows include Lily's Driftwood Bay, which has been sold into 130 territories; Pajanimals, produced in partnership with The Jim Henson Company; Big & Small, a co-production with Kindle Entertainment; Sesame Tree, a partnership with Sesame Workshop; their IFTA and BAFTA winning Big City Park; Claude; Wildwoods; Odo; and Pinkalicious. A Horse Named Steve is a picture book series that is written and illustrated by Kelly Collier. The first book was released in 2017 by the children’s publishing company Kids Can Press. Acclaimed Picture Book from Kids Can Press Garners International Attention for Canadian Author-Illustrator Kelly CollierThe tragedy that has befallen him has a positive outcome though—turns out that Steve’s horn has started a thing-on-the-head mania amongst the forest creatures, and when he falls in the water and his horn gets lost…suddenly Steve is exceptional again. Turns out bare heads are where it’s at after all—”I love the natural look he’s got going,” says the rabbit, the other animals agreeing, “Very stylish. How does he do it?” Over time, the animals began to recognise the sounds she made when she said their names and began to respond to them – just in time for her to shoot to TikTok stardom in 2021. Last week, just more than a year since she posted her first video starring Steve, Ashley shared a new instalment – with nearly identical wording and reaction from the sleepy steed. I had been speaking to some neighbours the day before, and they told me the horses had nearly given them heart failure in the past – because when they sleep in the fields, they look dead. Nelvana is an international entertainment studio that produces and distributes children’s animated and live-action content. Nelvana’s content airs on Corus Entertainment’s kids channels in over a hundred and eighty countries around the world.