PR executive finds success with line of kids products.

As the owner of a public relations company, Steve Syatt often finds himself in the role of promoting products created by other people.

Now the tables have turned on the Calabasas resident as Syatt expands the reach of what he hopes turns into the premier bedtime story books, DVDs, and consumer products for infants to children up to six years old.

Shushybye--a combination of the words "shush" and "lullaby"--started as a way for Syatt to get his then 3-year-old son to go to bed at night.

So were born the Shushies, magical creatures living in Nap Valley and Snore Shores who create children's dreams, pack them up in Dream Boxes for delivery by Conductor McCloud and his Shushybye train.

Starting with a self-published book, Syatt's bedtime characters have moved into other media--a DVD release of a show recorded at the Madrid Theatre in Canoga Park, an Internet site, a 12-song compact disc, a weekly show on XM Radio, and television show on Comcast's video-on-demand service. Syatt currently is touting My Gym fitness centers throughout the country with a live show featuring Conductor McCloud, the Shushies and himself on guitar with the Shushybye band.

In September, Syatt inked a deal with St. Martin's Press for a series of books based on his characters.

The first of eight planned Shushybye books is scheduled for release in early 2007, said Steve Cohen, executive vice president and chief executive officer with St. Martin's Press Trade Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers.

BY MARK R. MADLER

Staff Reporter