[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”350px” height=”” background_color=”#afeec2″ border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]I received complimentary product for the purposes of this review[/dropshadowbox]
In light of the events of this week in Boston I thought it was appropriate to move up my review of the book Hugo The Happy Starfish: The Secret to Happiness. This world is unfortunately filled with people who are selfish, self-centered, unkind, jealous, envious, covetous and yet many more who lack self-respect, dignity and enough self-esteem to believe in themselves. It is in this world that parents seek to instill in their children a sense of self worth, cooperation, empathy, social responsibility and ecological awareness and responsibility. Since we have television, radio, and the Internet available at any hour of the day we and our children are exposed to and privy to news as benign as the weather and as disturbing as outbreaks of disease, natural disaster and sadly even malicious attacks on our fellow man. It would be easy for a child to become frightened and even jaded to the world around them if this information wasn’t put into proper perspective and parent’s taught them how to be empathetic and responsible adults. As far as character education we parents have our jobs cut out for us.
Author Suzy Lieberman is a German born linguist with many years of experience teaching in German, French, Spanish and English. Ms. Lieberman taught cultural art and foreign language at the prestigious International Baccalaureate World School. She has leveraged her experience to develop her series of children’s books about Hugo the Happy Starfish which help children understand their feelings, attitudes, choices and the consequences of their actions.
What I appreciated most about the books is that they were simple but engaging. Both my four and seven year old were riveted by the story. At every step of the way you could clearly see what little Hugo was looking for, how he sought after it and the end result. The object lesson was very direct and done in such a way that made me as a parent happy. As a mom who endeavors to learn from and teach Bible principles I was pleased at how closely Ms. Lieberman’s line of reasoning is to those principles in comparison to so many other books which are merely fluff. The link to foreign language, in my opinion, is secondary and limited compared to the character education offered in the publication.
About the book from the author:
[dropshadowbox align=”center” effect=”lifted-both” width=”97%” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ].Hugo is a little starfish. He finds his life dull. Tired of feeling sad, one day he sets off to fi
nd happiness. After much searching, he discovers something that makes his heart do a somersault! Sharing with others is the only thing that makes him truly happy; all other things just made him feel better for a little while. Adults strive to teach children to share within their communities. Encouraging children to give teaches them empathy, as well as a sense of social responsibility. Children can feel empowered by giving and sharing with others.
An award winning children’s book: Award-Winning Finalist in the CHILDREN’S MIND/ BODY/ SPIRIT
category of The USA “Best Books 2012” Awards, sponsored by USA Book News
Believing that happiness can be learned, feelings can be understood and that building character based on a positive attitude leads to happy, content, self-confident and successful human beings, Suzy Liebermann has created this exciting series of charming books about HUGO THE HAPPY STARFISH. The series of books on character education aims to help educate children about their feelings, their attitude, their choices and the consequences that follow and includes an introduction to the Spanish language, lessons of character, ecological alertness and life skills—all amid a backdrop of a colourful island and mystical underwater world.[/dropshadowbox]
Today I also received this email from Suzy Lieberman about a super special event starting tomorrow on Amazon:
[dropshadowbox align=”none” effect=”lifted-both” width=”97%” height=”” background_color=”#efe1e1″ border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.[/dropshadowbox]
Firstly, I’m a mom and wife. Professionally, IT consulting is my job and blogging is the outlet for my passions. I write about things that affect the everyday life of a stay-at-home parent or any parent for that matter such as parenting, relationships, discipline, the media, product reviews, giveaways, social media, food, cooking, gardening and anything else that might come my way.
