Hi friends,

I’d like to share some news about my books in this blog post, segmenting them into different sections so that you can scroll through easily and read whatever interests you.

1) Name the book characters 

As we’re progressing and heading toward publication, I’m working on the last parts of the book and taking the final decisions.

a) The title will remain “Summer with Grandpa” instead of the more fitting “Fish for Everyone” (we’ve been discussing these details in the readers’ FB group) because of the platform where the book is going to be published and distributed (Amazon, thinking of searches, keywords, and ad clicks).

b) There will be some minor changes in the text of the story that I’ve shared in the group (some words and phrases here and there).

c) This is a big one as you can have your kids’/nephews’/friends’ kids’ names featured !





Instead of keeping the same names for the two kids/main characters in all the different languages, I will localize them. ie Oliver and Mia in the English edition can become Olivier and Aurélie in the French edition. The names for the English edition have been decided (Oliver, Mia), but please help me choose names in the following languages which will be the first ones to be published by the end of spring. At least one name per language should also be recognized in other languages. Lots of names have been mentioned in the FB group but you can email me as well with your preferences (If one of your languages is missing from the list and you’d like to see the book published in that one as well, let me know and I’ll consider it for the future, depending on demand).

• Albanian
• Arabic
• Bosnian
• Croatian
• English
• French
• German
• Greek
• Hungarian
• Irish
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Portuguese BR
• Portuguese PT
• Romanian
• Russian
• Spanish
• Turkish
• Ukrainian
  
   

2) Video narrations in Hungarian

Two new videos with narrations of books of mine are now available on PEaCH‘s YouTube channel https://www.facebook.com/peacheuproject, this time in Hungarian! Big thanks go to my fellow PEaCH ambassadors Flóra Hatvani for the narrations and Jessica Paolillo for uploading the videos on YouTube.

Cousins Forever – Unokatestvérek mindörökre

Happiness Street – A boldogság utcája

3) Video narrations in English

More videos that I forgot to inform you about have been uploaded on Alos Storytime Youtube channel. These narrations are in English.

Cousins Forever 

Happiness Street 

Sunny’s Magical Headband

4) Thank you!

Thank you so much for taking the time to review the books; it was great to read a review about the quality of the translations cause lots of time and money is invested in assuring they are as flawless as possible. Also thank you for sending me photos of your children reading the books. They are written and published for them after all.

A mom sent me the following photos saying that she read “Nelly’s Box” at her daughter’s school and that the kids made their own boxes. Here’s Seileach’s box. Click here to download the PDF with activities you can do after reading this book.

That’s all for now, have a lovely end of the week!
Don’t forget to let me know your choices when it comes to the names of my new book characters; send me an email at liza @ maltamum.com or leave a comment below.

The post Name my new book characters, sneak peek of the illustrations, and more! first appeared on Maltamum.

Elementary school educator Sophia Zoraki read “Nelly’s Box” to her new students (2nd grade) and used the English Greek bilingual book edition to develop an interactive activity to welcome the children and get to know each other. This is what she did:


1st day
-The kids brought to school small cardboard storage boxes; 1 each, like in the story
-The teacher read the first half of the story
-Then there was a pause in the storytelling; they discussed what it means to be bilingual, and how this is increasingly the everyday normal in many families and schools around the world
-The kids were asked to paint and decorate their boxes at home, fill them in with items they love, and bring them back to school the next day; like the imaginary kids did in the book

2nd day
-The kids were very excited and eager to share what they love
-The teacher started reading the 2nd half of the story
-Then there was a pause at the point where Nelly (the main character) tries to solve the problem and figure out how to fit in her box all that she loves. The children were asked to reflect on possible solutions.
-The kids came up with many creative and smart ideas, including a holiday around the world so that Nelly can show her classmates in real life everyone and everything she loves
-The teacher finished reading the story
-The children’s boxes are now no longer just plain boxes but “boxes filled with love”; they will be kept in the classroom for the rest of the year, to remind the children of this warm welcome.

Thank you so much Sophia for sharing with us how you used the book in your classroom <3.

The post A back to school activity based on the bilingual children’s book Nelly’s Box first appeared on Maltamum.

Hi again ,

There’s a giveaway right now on Instagram hosted by teacher Wyatt, a language teacher with the account @froggyreadteach, and one of you can win a paperback copy of my new book! All the details can be found here!
You can also follow her on Facebook here.

Also, don’t forget that you can still download on Amazon for free all the bilingual editions of my new book “Nelly’s Box” till midnight USA time on the 18th of August /about 09:00CET on the 19th of August. Languages: English, Arabic, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Spanish, Ukrainian.

Thank you so much for all your support, for sending me your very first book purchase photos, and for writing such thoughtful reviews. I’m sharing with you below some of the first reviews that have been published under the different editions. As my teacher friend Yoshito Darmon-Shimamori from https://www.library4multilinguals.com/ wrote on his Facebook profile, it does make a big difference to the visibility of the book on the huge Amazon platform, even if you just leave a rating after downloading the eBook for free.

I wish you all a lovely day and a great back-to-school experience soon. Our kids started school today, and our youngest, Nelly, just started as a 1st grader :).

Thanks again for everything!

//Elisavet (or just Liza).

The post Giveaway on Instagram & a few hours left to download the eBooks! first appeared on Maltamum.

Do you speak Spanish, Italian, French, and/or Portuguese (European) with your children and/or students? I just published these bilingual editions on Amazon and you can download the eBooks for free tomorrow (6th August) from about 09:00 CET and for 48h! => Just search for them at your local Amazon store, the one that’s associated with your Kindle Readers account! =>Share this with someone who might be interested in this book. => Reviews are truly appreciated both on Amazon and on Goodreads here https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61663449-nelly-s-box EN-ES title -> Nelly’s Box – La caja de Nelly EN-FR title -> Nelly’s Box – La boîte de Nelly EN-IT title -> Nelly’s Box – La scatola di Nelly EN-EU PT title -> Nelly’s Box – A Caixa da Nelly Next week, I will publish the Brazilian Portuguese, German, Dutch, Ukrainian, Arabic, and Greek + English editions. As usual, I will offer the eBooks for free upon launch. If you don’t see your language(s) in the list and you’d like this book to be translated into other languages as well, just let me know by hitting reply and sending me an email. I’d love to hear from you. Thank you, everyone, and happy reading.

The post Free to download for 48h -> Spanish, Italian, Portuguese EU, French editions of my new book! first appeared on Maltamum.

Dear friends,

Yesterday marked a new beginning in my author journey . Montse Cortázar Literary Agency, a literary agency that specializes in international rights representation for authors, literary agencies, and publishers worldwide for bestselling books, has now been appointed as my sole and exclusive Literary Agency to advise, arrange and negotiate for the publication, sale, license, or any other disposition in any language (*excluding Maltese rights which have been purchased by Faraxa Publishing (world)), commencing with my newly published book Sunny’s Magical Headband, illustrated by Eva Rodríguez.
 
I was reflecting and doing market research on whether I should publish this one as well in bilingual editions, as part of my current bilingual book series, or publish it in monolingual editions in different languages when the proposal for representation came along. So I’m going to trust this new path that just opened up, in hopes that this book will also get to travel far, that it will get translated into many many languages, and it will be cherished by children around the world. 

If you know of a publisher in your country that might be interested in publishing Sunny’s Magical Headband, for rights Inquiries they can contact my literary agent Montse Cortazar at agency@montsecortazar.com, Montse Cortazar Literary Agency.

*******************

In other news, while I was in Greece, I got to meet in person a fellow PEaCH – EU Project ambassador Chryssa Oikonomidou -we have country houses in nearby villages-, and I also got to meet Anastasia Balaska at the airport by chance, an author-friend with whom I had only chatted online in the past. With Chryssa, we didn’t think of taking a photo so we’re grateful that someone else did on our behalf, but with Anastasia we did. It feels lovely to meet online friends in real life.




************************************


Here come the newly uploaded videos of books of mine on PEaCH’s YouTube channel

Happiness Street – Glädjens Gata -> Swedish edition, narrated by Georgia Papadopoulou in Swedish. Link https://youtu.be/p2uGD2OCVNY

Happiness Street – Rua da Felicidade -> Portuguese edition, narrated by Sonia Miranda (PEaCH Ambassador) in European Portuguese.
Link https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kCPST-I8BOI

Sunny’s Magical Headband -> English edition, narrated in English by George Stavro. Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGCp6i0pZZI You can also watch it here on my personal FB profile.

****************************
Free Ukrainian Bilingual Books for 5 days

If any of you here are hosting or are in touch with Ukrainian refugee families, I’d like to bring to your attention that my books “Cousins Forever” and “Happiness Street” are also available in English-Ukrainian editions. The eBook editions of both books will be free to download from the 6th of May (about 08:00 or 09:00 CET) till the 10th of May (midnight USA time) on all Amazon stores. Feel free to pass the word around if you think they might be of some help. Here’s the US Amazon link.

If you’re considering a cause to donate to, I can personally vouch for this one here where we donated 2,000 EUR through our translations agency. The funds go straight to the people and Erik Smith, whom we as a family have known personally for years, has a letter from the Danish Civil Agency allowing for official donations so everything is being done by the book and is to be trusted 100%. Smith is a Danish national, married to a Ukrainian woman and they have a beautiful young boy. Before the war, they spent a couple of months in a village in Ukraine (here’s a video with their Ukrainian family back from when times when normal as for the rest of us), and now they’re doing all that they can to help the people.

If you want to contribute see the details below.
DK Dansk MobilePay :1471TP
EU Revolut: @erikklf0
UN IBAN: DK6320009595729107
Swift NDEADKKK
SWE Swedbank Clearing: 8105-9 Konto: 694 565 609-5
US Paypal: admin@trackroyal.com
Neteller: info@trackroyal.com
Skrill info@trackroyal.com

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading, and I wish you all a lovely rest of the week.

The post Representation by Montse Cortázar Literary Agency, free Ukrainian eBooks, and more first appeared on Maltamum.

Hi friends,

I  hope that you’re well. Here in Europe, and as I see in many countries all around the world, we’re a bit overwhelmed with emotion with the current situation. As I wrote on my personal profile, I’ve been seeing this photo on social media since the war broke out, and I cannot stop thinking that this could be us, any of us and if not today, on any other day… I cannot believe this is happening in Europe in 2022. This could be any of us… a man from an x country (Ukraine in this case), a woman from a y country (Russia in this case), a beautiful mixed baby. How could they ever be placed at war against each other? At the same time, this photo is the best response to all this madness; Love is the only answer. 

Giveaway x 10 copies of my new children’s book

A few days before the madness began, I revealed the book cover of my forthcoming children’s book “Sunny’s Magical Headband”. Just leave a like and a comment under this post till the 15th of March and I will pick 10 winners at random to send them a copy in English as soon as the book is published. I will also send a handwritten card to the children of the winners . Anyone can win, provided that Amazon delivers books to their country. 

The back story and a milestone reached

On the 14th of February 2020, my journey in publishing officially started. And it started with the book “Where am I from?” in Malta, a country that had given me so much already before I opened my wings for bigger adventures. All the murals of this first book have been painted in my motherland, Greece, by Platon, many of them adorning the walls of public schools in Athens. This was a group effort, and I will be sending my thanks and gratitude forever to the ones who believed in this and helped make it happen by supporting the Kickstarter campaign in 2018.

Two years later, five books that I’ve written are available for purchase worldwide, 10,000+ copies of all the titles combined have found their place in home and public libraries, plus a couple of thousand free eBooks as part of campaigns I’ve run in the past. I’m still pinching myself, but seeing these numbers gives me the confidence to move forward and do more, cause many readers seem to like what I have to share with the world.

With that, I’d like to announce that “Sunny’s Magical Headband” will be published very very soon, and I hope your children and you will love this one also and will find it comforting. It’s a book about loss, and how a young girl uses her imagination to cope with these difficult emotions and keep close, for life, everyone she has ever loved. Here’s a sneak peek of the illustration process by Eva Rodríguez. 

For the ones who’ve been on board since early on, it’s an adaptation of one of the two short stories that you were able to download for free during the Kickstarter. I had written it in Greek many years back, in the memory of my godparents who were like grandparents to me, when I was dealing myself with grief, and I needed to write something beautiful, positive, while I found myself in a dark place. There will be some minor changes on the book cover as I will self-publish it in English, and Faraxa Publishing will publish it in Malta in Maltese -I bought back the publication rights for all languages except Maltese-.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Millie Slavidou who translated the initial, short adult story from Greek to English, Sam K. Cabbage, Rebecca Noble, and Elizabeth Cortis who worked with me during the re-writing phase and editing, everyone involved with the production of this book, and last but not least all the wonderful people who provided feedback during the early stages.

Thank you so much, sending love to everyone and I hope you keep safe. Good luck to everyone who participates in the giveaway!

The post Giveaway x 10 copies of Sunny’s Magical Headband and book cover reveal! first appeared on Maltamum.

-> Free eBook download of a short bilingual story for adults in English-French for the next 48h https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QNCXY3D/ 
-> EN-Italian, EN-Spanish, EN-Greek editions coming in a couple of days!

Hi friends, I hope you’re well . The time has come for this experiment; the launch of a bilingual book for adults who like me fell in love with someone who has a different native/stronger language. I assume you might have read the English version already, but if not, it’s a short love story with a happy ending.

I had initially published this book in English in September 2020 as a gift to my husband for his 40th birthday. The adorable photos are by the super talented Sandra Rogers Photography, and as of right now the book is also available in an English-French edition, professionally translated by Jean-Pierre Geets. The product page on Amazon will take some days to be fully populated with images, etc, but it’s 100% functional and you can go ahead and download the eBook for free during the next 48 hours on all Amazon stores (whichever hosts your kindle account).

Reviews are necessary for a book to succeed, and I cannot do this without your support. I trust that if you enjoy reading it, you will leave a rating and/or write a short review. 1-2 lines would do, massive thank you in advance <3.


You can check out the English edition here, and I’m also sharing below my two absolute favorite reviews about this book from established authors I admire.







I wish you a lovely weekend and thank you .

The post Free for 48h the eBook edition of Together They Blossomed – Ils ont fleuri ensemble first appeared on Maltamum.

Happy New Year everyone with a super cute photo that one of you sent me (thank you!), and the best wish meme (writer anon) I came across on FB.

I hope you’re doing well -or at least not terrible- and that the first two weeks and the back-to-school days have been OK. Here COVID is on the rise again with many infections around us and amongst the kids’ classmates, but as a family unit, we’re doing well so far. I know you must be super busy with work and family obligations so all the news down below is segmented per subject so you can skim through the content and read only the sections that interest you. If you’d like to get in touch afterward, I’d love to hear back from you.

1) Giveaway

During the holidays, I noticed that a language teacher who was not amongst my acquaintances, K. Wyatt Reguera, chose to feature my books on her Instagram. It was a lovely surprise, and spontaneously in order to thank her, I offered her as a gift one of my books and one for her followers. You can read more and participate in this book giveaway till Sunday the 23rd of January here. Good luck!

2) Wonderful memories and excited about 2022 

Two years ago, and right before the pandemic started, “Where am I from?” was just about to get published, and I was planning my “back home” trip to Malta for the book launch. This post came up as a memory reminder on FB with the artist Platon and his last graffiti painted for this book. A fun -or not so fun- fact is that all my published books came out during the pandemic! Also, it is during the pandemic, now in 2022, that I’m taking the leap of faith and will try to make it work as a full-time writer. Things have been going great on that front, and over 1,800 books found a forever home in a child’s library in December only!

3) University of Liverpool 2022 Alumni Award nomination

Another lovely surprise to wake up to yesterday was this one. An old classmate of mine nominated me this year, and tagged me in a private uni group, for the University of Liverpool 2022 Alumni Award. I had no idea there was such an award, and as it’s been several years since I graduated -it must have been 2011 or 2012- so you can imagine how totally unexpected this is. Another fun fact, this time about languages, I studied in French for my first degree and in English for my second. Greek is my native language, and Norwegian is my husband’s native one and our children’s strongest.

4) Together They Blossomed coming very soon in bilingual editions


I’m getting ready now for the experiment I mentioned a while back, to translate and publish “Together They Blossomed” as a bilingual book for adults, a book to gift to the one we love in their native/emotional language + English. I can’t wait to share with you all the English-French, English-Spanish, English-Italian, and English-Greek editions in the coming days. If it goes well, I will consider more languages. Anyone here who might want to read it in any of these language combos once the files are ready and before publication? The French one is ready.

Here’s an old video I received from Sandra Rogers Photography when she opened the box with her English edition printed copies . Click here to watch it.

5) Happiness Street is now available in English-Danish

You can find it on all Amazon stores. Here‘s the US one.

6) More editions in Greek

“Happiness Street” and “Cousins Forever” are now available in Greek-English, Greek-French, Greek-Swedish, Greek-Portuguese, Greek-Spanish, Greek-German, Greek-Dutch, and Greek-Italian (more language combinations are available upon request). You can find them on all Amazon stores, and exclusively via the bookstore Paper Kittens FB page / eshop in Greece.

7) New children’s book “Sunny’s Magical Headband” 

No news yet when it comes to its publication. As mentioned earlier, publishing books during the pandemic can be a bit unpredictable, and it does present some obstacles, especially for traditional publishing. I’ll let you know as soon as I know more. This is a photo from the early stages of book production when the artist Eva Rodríguez was painting with traditional means all the different illustrations. This is a book I love dearly and I hope it will go in print and be shared with you all very soon. It will be published by Faraxa Publishing in Malta, EU.

8) Free eBooks every 1st of the month throughout 2022. Yay or Nay?

I guess you remember the promotion I put together last year that lasted 6 months where on the 1st of each month readers could download any of my eBooks + eBooks from many other authors for free? I’m considering doing the same this year as well, but just myself this time, and offer all of the eBook editions of my independently published books for free every 1st of the month. What do you think? Should I go ahead? I’ll be deciding during this week.

For the ones who are new here and have no idea about who I am and/or look like, here’s a recent photo that was taken by our 5-year-old daughter, who loves taking photos, during our Christmas holiday in Gran Canaria, Spain :). 

And here’s the cutest snowman ever that the kids made once we came back to Norway… Since then we’ve had tons of snow again which has now alost completely melted.

Till next time, take care.

//Elisavet (aka Liza)

The post Book giveaway till the end of the week, plus other news first appeared on Maltamum.

Hi everyone, let the festive season begin, and Happy Holidays to all of you celebrating! In 2020, I presented to you some of my favorite books from fellow independent authors. Now it’s time for the 2021 list, with books that I read this year and loved them. Actually, there were more than 25 so I struggled a bit to leave some behind, so I might be compiling one more list early next year :). The numeric sequence is random, but I started compiling the list with the Christmas-themed books on top because of the holidays. Happy reading!

1. A gift for Santa written and illustrated by Zuzana Svobodova

A very sweet Christmas story where a sensitive and empathetic young boy wonders whether anyone ever gifts anything to Santa. Being true to the Christmas spirit, he decides to be the first one to do so, starting by giving him his beloved teddy bear cause he feels Santa might need it more than him. This establishes a new tradition in the family where Santa is always included in the gift list. There’s also a lovely twist at the end of the story. I absolutely adored it. Wonderfully written and illustrated.

More here.

2. The Twelve Days of Christmas Safari written by Wakanyi Hoffman and illustrated by Milena Weichelt

The Twelve Days of Christmas is a traditional English Christmas carol of French origin which details the gifts received from a true love beginning on the day after Christmas. Now, what if the twelve days were spent on a magical safari through the African savanna? The author of this book was born and raised in Kenya and with the amazing art of a local artist, the African wildlife comes to life.

Video preview and more info here.

3. Apple’s Big Dream written by Jessica Collaço and illustrated by Simon Estrada

This is definitely one of those books that will be read again and again. Masterfully written, with cute illustrations and a darling storyline. It’s about a little apple who had a dream, only to find out that his dream was crushed, and he feels all the emotions that come along. Only… was it really? With patience and time taking its course, the little apple will soon find out that what he’s about to become is even bigger than his initial dream, a reality so big, he couldn’t even dream about when he was first starting out on this journey. I loved it, and I’m sure your kids also will.

More here.

4. Henrietta’s Thistleberry Boots written by Laura Anderson Kirby and illustrated by Marcy Tippmann

This one is probably the sweetest, most beautiful picture book I read during the pandemic that brings to mind the current situation our children experience without ever mentioning anything about viruses, masks, and the like. When poisonous thistleberries start falling in the forest and Henrietta is forced to stay home from school for a whole year, many of her beloved routines are disrupted. Henrietta must learn to wear boots to protect her from the thistleberries, a challenging task since she hates anything that touches her paws. She must also learn how to be flexible when confronted with change which she does – she’s resilient, and she adapts. The family is there for the children, the overall tone is uplifting, and I loved the active role of the father in all this. If there’s one book you’d buy to help children cope with change and their emotions in relation to the pandemic, this is it.

More here.

5. We are bilingual written by Charlotte West-Lamoriniere and illustrated by Sviateslav Franko

In this beautiful book with lovely illustrations, we get a glimpse into the everyday life of a bilingual family. This book is available in English-French and English-Italian, but if you happen to speak other languages at home there’s this edition which I found pretty amazing where you can add the words missing within the story in your own language, personalize it and make it your own! I personally see it as a keepsake gift as well when the kids grow older where they can see their very own handwriting or that of one of their parents. What makes it even more special is that it has been written by a qualified language teacher and mother and this shines throughout. Loved it. The book is also available in an English-French edition.

More here.

6. Something’s Eating the Garden written and illustrated by Pam Fries

This is a lovely book I’d recommend for younger children, and for all ages when it comes to enjoying the beautiful artwork. The story is about a journey through Papa’s garden where the reader tries to guess with each turn of the page what animal is eating the plants. The ending is fun and unexpecting, and I suspect most kids will be smiling when they get to that page. Fun fact – this book took Pam seven years to create! It comes as no surprise as the artwork has been crafted with lots of attention to texture and details. I would recommend the hardcover version as this is a book to be treasured for years to come.

More here.

7. Letters from Galaxy 8 written by Jana Broecker and illustrated by Andreas Grunthaler

Letters from Galaxy 8 is the heartwarming tale of an unlikely friendship between Guardian Nate from planet Prune and a young boy, Will, from Earth. Will felt lonely so he wrote a letter and sent it off to the sky using a red balloon. His letter reached Guardian Nate and the two became pen pals. Prune is a dying planet and Guardian Nate is trying to help and educate Will to make sure Earth won’t face the same horrible fate. A lovely story about friendship, interconnectivity, life cycle, climate change, and sustainable living. The illustrations are adorable and the story is written in perfect rhyme and meter. You can watch a video read-aloud on the following link.

More here.

8. Tree full of Wonder written by Anna Smithers, illustrated by Martyna Nejman

This book is not a story in the traditional sense, it’s not a fairytale, but it’s a vibrant and educational book that shows the unbreakable bond between humans and trees, showing kids why we need to protect and take good care of these beautiful companions of ours that are so vital to our existence. The artwork is simply stunning to look at! I could easily frame many of the illustrations and hang them in the kids’ bedrooms. These are my favorite lines from the book, placed against my absolute favorite illustration:
“I’ll tell you why I love it so. Please listen carefully. It’s magical – when we breathe out, the tree is breathing in. Converting breath to oxygen, with power from within”.

More here.

9. Spike written by Sarah Cullen, illustrated by Zuzana Svobodova

Spike is a cute little Penguin who looks a bit different than his peers and simply wants to fit in. Children of mixed backgrounds whose looks, manners, and way of being might deviate a bit from the majority population, can identify with such a character, and at the same time enjoy the lighthearted humor. Spike gets to realize in the end he’s fully accepted and loved just the way he is.

More here.

10. The Witch and the Anxious Broomstick written by Sonica Ellis, illustrated by Harriet Rodis

A super cute tale about overcoming anxiety and the fear of trying something new. The young readers get to identify with what the Broomstick feels. There’s empathy and understanding in between the characters so the kids get to see how a positive conversation about difficult emotions can fold out. Through the story the readers get to see how talking to others helps ease difficult emotions, and that there is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of. In one of my favorite spreads, towards the end, the little Witch tells the Broomstick: “I believe in you, Swift,” said Cassandra. “Trust me, and we’ll do great. If we don’t do great, we can try again until we get it right.”

More here.

11. Aria finds her voice written by Sarah Palmer, illustrated by Kylie Box

A charming book for shy and introverted children, with lots of attention to detail, use of symbols, and mindfulness tools. The kids will empathize with Aria who doesn’t feel comfortable speaking up for herself and will follow her on a journey of self-discovery. During this journey, Aria meets a number of friends who help her discover each time something new about herself. In the end, she comes out as an empowered, happier, and stronger girl, full of confidence.

More here.

12. The Moose Who Loved Noodles written and illustrated by Rachel Dutton

Have you ever heard of a moose who liked to eat noodles? Sounds funny, right? Well, the whole story is hilarious and the kids are guaranteed to have a great laugh reading it. Clever, funny with lots of twists and turns to the story accompanied by beautiful illustrations – the perfect mix for a bedtime read.

More here.

13. Dayana, Dax, and the Dancing Dragon written by Once Upon a Dance, illustrated by Olha Tkachenko

Staying true to the same theme, dancing, I’d like to present to you a unique book, something I’ve never seen before in children’s literature. It’s a book for young children who love dancing -and most do, right?- with lots of interactive elements, not just with the book itself but with other family members as well! I’ll use the book description here as it explains everything better than I can.

“Dayana’s new baby brother has finally arrived, and she can’t wait to teach him her best dance moves. There’s only one problem. Nobody told Dayana that babies can’t stand up. Luckily, baby Dax has a surprise in store that leaves his big sister in awe!

Each Dance-It-Out! story is a kids’ dance performance for the imagination stage. Ballerina Konora joins the fun with dance suggestions on each page. Three books in one: readers can enjoy the story, act out the tale in their own way, or follow Konora’s suggested moves, designed by an award-winning ballet teacher to improve body coordination and teach dance fundamentals.”

More here and here.

14. Mighty Mila written by Katie Petruzziello, illustrated by Nadja Sarell

A fun, inclusive story of a spunky, imaginative deaf girl who proves she can achieve anything she sets her mind on. What I really liked about this book is that it is not a story about a deaf girl, but it is a story with a main character who just happens to be deaf. Mila wants to prove to everyone in the family that she’s a big kid now and that she can do everything all by herself. As expected things don’t go as planned, but in the end, we get to see that with creativity, imagination, a strong will, and a little help from others, everything is possible.

More here.

15. What are the pieces to your puzzle? written by Amelia Sevilla Martin, illustrated by Viktoriia Mykhalevych

I loved everything about this book as it resonated very much with our family’s experiences and setup. It’s a celebration of the richness that we get from being made up of different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences, and it encourages children to be proud of their unique blend that forms the basis of their self-identity. Like different, colorful pieces of a puzzle that come together to give the most wonderful picture. Here you can watch a read-aloud video of the story narrated by the author. She’s also a fellow PEaCH ambassador, spreading the positive message of bilingualism.

More here.

16. Oliver and the Wishing Star written by Jennifer Decker, illustrated by Chrish Vindhy

An engaging story with twists and turns; Oliver is so bored and fed up with doing chores and homework, as many kids are, and when he takes out his dog for a walk he’s thinking how life would have been so much better and easier if only he were a dog. His wish comes true, and the adventure begins. He’s having the time of his life, that is until he realizes life isn’t always greener on the other side, misses his family and old life. When he turns into a boy again, he sees the world a little bit differently <3.

More here.

17. A Sibling, a Friend for Life written by Mirette N Hanna, illustrated by Haidy Abdel Rahman

If you’re expecting another child, this is a lovely book to prepare the older one(s) about the new reality and what’s coming ahead. It highlights the ups and downs of the new family situation, with love and respect to all the family members. Feelings that a kid is most probable to experience, the good and the bad, are acknowledged, and the reader gets to see through the story how this particular family handled them in a healthy way. I liked the active role of the father as well. Seemingly simple, this book accomplishes to touch the reader and help prepare a child emotionally for what might be one of the biggest changes in his/her life ever.

More here.

18. Mother’s Little Secret written by Melissa Winn & Zorana Rafailovic, illustrated by Lana Mol

This book seems like a great fit to be read right after the book reviewed above. It is not a children’s story per se, it’s more like a poem; beautiful words for the mum to read and reassure her little one how much she loves him/her, accompanied by beautiful illustrations featuring diverse characters. I can picture a mum hugging her little one during bedtime, soothing him/her to sleep with her voice narrating words of love like “I loved you before I heard your first breath and cry; Before you grabbed my finger, so gentle and shy. Now that I know you better than ever, I’ll tell you a secret – I have loved you since forever”. Fun fact – We’re a family of redheads and that’s the first time I see a redhead mum and a redhead child. I was obviously drawn by it immediately :).

More here.

19. Mina’s Rain Dance written by Sarah McAneney, illustrated by Zita Varga

An original fairytale, reminiscent of good stories from older times but with a modern twist. Mina loves dancing but according to the set standards, she’s not good at it. She’s even banned from dancing at the end of the year dance performance which breaks her heart just a little. Then, she meets Mr. Brady whose business is suffering because of the draught. No rain means no customers to buy his umbrellas and as a result, he doesn’t have enough money to buy his children Christmas gifts. Mina learns to listen to her inner voice, ignore the ones who discourage her, and with her passionate dancing to magically summon rain and help her new friend. The kids will get indirectly through this story that when one remains true to herself, she can achieve wonderful things. The illustrations are such a gem to look at. I love this kind of art.

More here.

20. This is me! I am who I’m meant to be! written and illustrated by the family Pflueger

What I really liked about this book is that it’s an inclusive family DIY book project where parents and children got together, wrote it, painted the illustrations, and created a lovely book to raise awareness about Autism and children. Able, the main character, introduces us to his world which goes beyond big adult words that don’t mean a thing to children. He explains to the reader how his brain works, and what’s his everyday reality. Examples: “I may draw pictures and write things down. That’s how I organize my thoughts and understand what comes next.”, “I may not always look you in the eyes while we’re talking. Please don’t be mad. I am concentrating on what you are saying. Looking at your eyes distracts me from your words.” I recommend this book both for the home and school library so that all children can understand what Autism feels like to an autistic child, and how it shapes his/her communication with others and the world at large.

More here.

21. Nurse Bear Does First Aid: a Picture book to Learn First Aid Skills for Toddlers and Kids written and illustrated by Marta Almansa Esteva

This is a concept book, an educational first aid book for children, written by a nurse. It covers important topics such as calling an ambulance -there are empty lines to fill in with phone numbers, postal address, etc and personalize it for your child and your location-, handwashing, basic and easy treatment at home of cuts, burns, small injuries, asthma attacks, and allergies. It’s super cute, written in an age-appropriate manner, and very informative on what do nurses do and how they help people. The clay models used to illustrate the text are simply adorable. The author seems to be a person of many talents! The book is also available in a couple more languages like Spanish and German.

More here.

22. The Mystery Puzzle Visits the Neighborhood written by Tina Marie Young, illustrated by Luis Peres

In this book which is the first of a series -all independent stories- Liam has moved to a new neighborhood. Like most children, he finds it challenging to make new friends. That makes him feel sad and lonely. That’s when a mystery puzzle appears on his desk, giving him hope, a sense of magic and adventure, something to look forward to every day as he tries to connect the rest of the pieces and understand what’s waiting ahead. In the meantime, he makes a new friend, and a new life filled with creativity, imagination, and playing, the most important tools to cope with anything in my opinion, takes its course.

More here.

23. The Tale of a Greedy Mouse written by Lily Ann, illustrated by Lizzie DiFiore

Three mice live in Mama Nunu’s kitchen. They hide, and right under her nose, they steal yummy, homemade food such as spicy chicken, homemade breadcrumbs, and creamy milk. It reminds me of traditional fairytales. It’s well written, beautifully illustrated, and lots of things are happening leading the three mice to explore what it really means to be friends, how being greedy can be bad for us, forgiveness, kindness to one another no matter what, and personal growth.

More here.

24. Who wants to play with Little Mouse? written by Jana Buchmann, illustrated by Rachel Batislaong

A concept book about learning to count forwards and backward with an adorable character, Little Mouse, who’s reaching out to his friends one by one, only to find out they’re all too busy and caught up in their own activities. He feels sad and lonely, missing his friends, but as the counting goes backward, one by one come to the Little Mouse to remind him that friends are always there and care for us, even if they’re busy sometimes. The kids will also be able to identify and talk about the different animals featured in the book. Lovely illustrations throughout. This book is also available in German.

More here.

25. Η τελευταία γουλίτσα written by Marina Ploubi, illustrated by Irene Thanou

As many of you here know, I was born and raised in Greece, thus I would also like to recommend a newly released book in my native language. Author Marina Ploubi just published the sweetest book ever about breastfeeding and the end of this journey, a book to be cherished for years to come by mums and their children. It will also help with the transition to no more mama’s milk for the little ones. Hopefully, it will also be translated into English in the near future.

More here and here.

The post Top 25 independently published books I read in 2021 first appeared on Maltamum.

It’s been a year since Ana Elisa Miranda and Ute Limacher-Riebold published The Toolbox for Multilingual Families, and I’d like to celebrate with them by sharing with you all my book review. I had the pleasure of being entrusted to read the manuscript as a beta reader long before it got published, and I was impressed, right from the start, seeing such a vast collection of activities and games that parents can use at home to foster their home languages.

The book is written in English, but the activities presented can be applied to any of your languages. It’s basically a collection of activities and games -some of them you might recognize from your own childhood- that the authors have collected and/or have been using themselves with their kids and students.

If I were to summarize this book in one phrase, I’d write: It’s a very practical and hands-on kind of book that helps families have fun and learn languages while playing games and spending quality time together.

The activities come with an age indicator so that the parents can easily browse through them and find something suitable for their children, following their different developmental stages. There are also activities to support bi/multiliteracy so this is a book that can age together with our children, a valuable tool for years to come. I highly recommend it as it’s one of my favorite books to support family language development.

If you’ve already read it, let me know how you find it in the comments field. If you haven’t bought it yet, you can find it on all Amazon stores.

The post The Toolbox for Multilingual Families celebrates 1 year! first appeared on Maltamum.