Welcome to the New Professor Owl’s Book Corner
In every month’s issue we will share with you
the wonderful world of books!
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The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
~~ Dr. Seuss, “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!”
Classic Books
Oskar and the Eight Blessings
by Tanya Simon (Author), Richard Simon (Author), Mark Siegel (Illustrator)
A refugee seeking sanctuary from the horrors of Kristallnacht, Oskar arrives by ship in New York City with only a photograph and an address for an aunt he has never met. It is both the seventh day of Hanukkah and Christmas Eve, 1938. As Oskar walks the length of Manhattan, from the Battery to his new home in the north of the city, he passes experiences the city’s many holiday sights, and encounters it various residents. Each offers Oskar a small act of kindness, welcoming him to the city and helping him on his way to a new life in the new world. This is a heartwarming, timeless picture book.
This book is wonderful. It truly has the makings to become a Holiday classic. The story is engaging, realistic, and has a dark but “feel good” vibe to it. The illustrations really bring the story to life in the format of the paneled pages- it was set up almost like a movie. At a time when the world is a mess, this book is a much needed glimmer of hope. This is a heartwarming story and perfect for both Christmas and Hanukkah.
“A wonderful, heartwarming picture book for any library at any time of year.” ―School Library Journal, starred review
Available at your library and www.amazon.ca www.amazon.com
About the authors
Richard Simon and Tanya Simon are a husband-and-wife writing team. Richard is chair of the language department at an independent school and is co-author of a successful off-Broadway play. Tanya is co-author of the children’s novel Zora and Me, winner of a Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent. They live in Westchester, New York. Oskar and the Eight Blessings is their first picture book.
Mark Siegel has illustrated a number of picture books, including the Texas Bluebonnet winner Seadogs with Lisa Wheeler and the Siebert Honor book To Dance, with his wife, Siena Cherson Siegel. He wrote and illustrated the New York Times bestselling graphic novel Sailor Twain, Or the Mermaid in the Hudson. He lives in New York with his family.
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New Book Release ~ November 2015
Assassin’s Creed: Underworld
Oliver Bowden (Author)
*Brand new tie in book to the new Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate*
A disgraced Assassin. A deep-cover agent. A quest for redemption.
1862, and with London in the grip of the Industrial Revolution, the world’s first underground railway is under construction. When a body is discovered at the dig, it sparks the beginning of the latest deadly chapter in the centuries-old battle between the Assassins and Templars.
Deep undercover is an Assassin with dark secrets and a mission to defeat the Templar stranglehold on the nation’s capital. Soon the Brotherhood will know him as Henry Green, mentor to Jacob and Evie Frye. For now, he is simply The Ghost.
Assassin’s Creed: Underworld is the eighth gripping novel from Oliver Bowden set in the immersive world of Assassin’s Creed.
About the Author
Oliver Bowden is the pen-name of an acclaimed novelist. He has written all the Assassin’s Creed titles.
Available from www.amazon.ca and www.amazon.com
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Writing Prompt
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”~William Arthur Ward
The holiday season is about giving and receiving but material gifts aren’t everything. What is the greatest gift anyone has ever given you that wasn’t material. Write them a Thank You letter, thanking them for their gift. Reflect and write about what their gift meant to you in your life.
A Parcel of Courage Book
Via GooglePlay
“A Parcel of Courage” is an interactive educational book app based on two proven teaching methods: Montessori method and Shichida method.”
Many interactive activities within the heart-warming story are paired to reinforce the storyline, so that your kiddo can better comprehend the content and improve: spatial awareness, working memory, eye hand coordination, sequencing and listening skills (for better handwriting and other fine motor tasks performance) as well as enhance his/her problem solving skills.
I Play mode provides kids with 4 more unique educational games geared towards a preschoolers developmental interests and let them:
– learn numbers and addition within 10
– become familiar with patterns and sequences
– understand two or more objects in relation to each other
– recognize 25 new colors
– enhance creative thinking skills
– improve memory and other cognitive abilities
“A Parcel of Courage” based on a true story of how a family of three siblings came together to help their grandmother overcome her fear of flying so that she could come out to visit them.
Your kiddo will explore 15 beautifully illustrated interactive pages in the “I Listen” or “I Read” modes and play inside these pages to help our family meet their much loved Grandma and discover a magical surprise at the end.
There are 7 tasks to complete within the story to unlock something that will help kids make their wishes come true!
Some of the challenges children will face within the story are:
• Discover maps and beginning spatial orientation skills
• Construct a marble run using working memory of a briefly presented model
• Sequence baking courage chocolate cookies
• Learning how to address and send a post to granny (and use hand-eye coordination)
• Visually scan to help grandpa clean up the backyard
• Spatially orient objects to pack a suitcase
• Use auditory discrimination skills to help the postman
Independently explore and learn numbers and addition, sequencing, improve spatial reasoning skills, and develop visual memory skills. Earn points to add to your artifacts collection. Every game’s level rewards kids with mysterious outfits which transform into a magical airship.
*Restaurant*
A game where the child takes the role of a waiter and plays with Grandma, who requests a number of servings from a dish and gets kids to strengthen their numeracy skills and learn simple math concepts.
*Post Office*
A Montessori sequencing activity that gets children to attach stamps to posts with funny animals into a particular patterns. Kids can mark stamps like real postmen and send mails to friends and family.
*Suitcase*
This game gets children to fit the funniest and most delicious gifts in Grandma’s travel suitcase. It is a Tetris like puzzler that serves as a tool to develop skills of spatial reasoning.
*Mandala*
Aimed to enhance the work of the right brain hemisphere, this game is based on the method of Japanese Professor Makoto Shichida. It caters to the individual needs of kids to nourish their inner genius with fun and develop memory, imagination, creative thinking and other cognitive abilities. The color wheel is designed to help naturally form color perception and aesthetic preferences. There are many colors that are new to children, and will help expand both their vision and vocabulary.
– Created for kids aged 3-7 years old.
– No banners, no ads, COPPA compliant
– No in-App purchases
– The app has a parents protected area
Other Features:
– Beautifully rendered graphics and original soundtrack.
– Personalization and options for saving the game results up to four family members.
– Opportunities to reminisce about grandparents and other loved ones whether they live across the globe, or down the street.
Enjoy a whole new family screen-time with this very playful interactive kids book “A Parcel of Courage”!
Join us on http://www.Facbook.com/moonagroup
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Via GooglePlay (Android)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moonagroup.theparcelforgrandmalite
Via Itunes (iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch)
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/parcel-courage-free-interactive/id948238478?mt=8
Professor Owl's Book Corner 
