Hello lovely people :),

I hope this email finds you well. It looks like there won’t be any traveling outside of Norway for us this summer as we’re waiting to get vaccinated, so I’m going to accept that our reunion with family and friends outside of this country will need to be further postponed. I decided I’m going to try and focus on the positive, just like the kids do in my book “Cousins Forever“, so here’s something really beautiful about life in Horten in the summer.

Focus on the positive

The days are very long during the summer season, and the nights are not pitch black, more like twilight. I love daylight, and this gives us the opportunity to spend lots of time outdoors and soak in the sun when it’s sunny. The weather can be unstable in this country, with lots of sun, and rain, even within the same day, and as a result, the summers are always green, full of blossoms and blooming flowers. Here’s my absolute favorite rose tree of this season. 

National Book Prize Malta 

The longlist for the National Book Prize (adults) and Terramaxka Prize 2021 (children’s books) in Malta has been announced, and “Where am I from?” which was published in Malta by Faraxa Publishing stands a chance to win in the category “Original works: books for children (ages 0-7)” for the Terramaxka 2021: books published in 2020. The shortlist of both the Terramaxka and National Book Prize titles will be announced at the beginning of August 2021. Wish us luck. We need it !!!! 

Here‘s the long list.
Behind the scenes photos of the murals.
The hardcover is currently heavily discounted at 9.50 euro on the publisher’s website.

This was the very first photo taken of this project. It was quite a challenge to create this book, especially for Platon, the street artist who painted all the murals.

New book – your kids/students are invited to participate!

As in “Cousins Forever“, I would love to include the first names of the children on the last page + photos of their very own creations. Are you in?

This is what I’d like us to do this time:

Give your child(ren) an empty box (shoebox, carton box, big or small, any sort of box that you might have at home), colors/stickers/ribbons to decorate it -IF they’d like to decorate it-, and then ask them to fill it in during the next couple of days with their favorite items and/or whatever grabs their interests and attention, from sticks and petals to scraps of paper, or to… nothing at all. The purpose of this activity is to let their personalities and interests shine since each box is going to be unique, as is every kid . 

These photos will also inspire me during the writing process, as one of the things I would like kids to see through this book is how different we all see, experience, understand, process and enjoy the very same world around us, and that each unique perspective is equally valid, to be appreciated and respected. It’s fun, colorful, and interesting to see how one kid might be more inclined towards music, another one might make sense of the world via patterns, a third one might be physical and express herself through sports. What if our children recognize this early on, work on their strengths since early childhood, and help their classmates do the same?

Join the conversation in my FB readers’ group where we discuss all the details, or hit reply and let me know via email if you’d like to participate in this book project.

Thank you so much – can’t wait to get fully started working on this!  

Free ebooks

Our collaborative 6-month long promo is still on, and you can download for free all the books listed here, on the 1st of each month till October. The page is packed with books so just give it some time to load, and if you’re not using amazon.com for eBooks, search for the titles that grabbed your interest at your local Amazon store. My children’s books are available in 18 languages in total, including English.

Here’s a lovely review of the Spanish edition of “Happiness Street“, which is part of this bundle, by Leanna Guillen Mora from All Done Monkey and the founder of Multicultural Kid Blogs. 

“Happiness Street – Calle Felicidad is a lovely picture book that celebrates summer and family. In it, a child looks back on her summer at grandmother’s house by the beach. That magical place truly is “happiness street,” as the children have named it. The paintings of the book are gorgeous. The bilingual version is a great opportunity to practice colors in Spanish! The story concludes when Mother comes to take the children back home, and they experience the bittersweet emotions that come with the end of vacation, though it is tempered by the promise of next summer on Happiness Street. A lovely way to celebrate the transition from vacation.”

And here’s what the students of Maria Lappas, Greek language teacher at @The Olive Tree Greek Education and Cultural Center in the USA did after reading the bilingual English-Greek edition of the same book – the kids painted their very own summer memories, practiced writing them in Greek, and had lots of fun at their language school 

. Have your kids or students been inspired to be creative in any form after reading any of my books? I’d love to see more photos 

. The amazing, real watercolor paintings featured both in “Happiness Street” and “Cousins Forever” are by Charikleia Arkolaki. Have I told you she’s my sister?

If the school year ends very soon in your part of the world, I wish your children and yourself a lovely summer holiday, soon.

Take care and talk to you soon,
Liza.

The post National Book Prize Malta, be part of the new book, and other news :) first appeared on Maltamum.

Hi friends,

How are you? Here, Norway lifted the traveling ban, and we are soon going to visit our family in Greece. Quite an unexpected surprise, as we had already canceled the whole trip! How are things at your end? I hope you’re coping and that things are getting better <3?

2 YEARS AGO….

In other news, on the 16th of July in 2018, my journey in publishing officially started. This date marked the launch of a Kickstarter campaign for the ambitious plan, of creating together with the public, a children’s book illustrated with street art unique to this project. Facebook reminded me of this photo, which is the very first one I received! That wall, later on, had to be abandoned, and Platon started painting the book cover again from scratch somewhere else, in a more quiet place where he could concentrate on the task (lots of passerby). And to celebrate this…

WIN A COPY OF WHERE AM I FROM?

Participate in a book challenge hosted by Żebbuġ Learning Studio and Little Bookworms Malta. You can find all the details about the competition and take part here. The challenge is open to everyone, all around the world, and it’s very simple :). All the best of luck!

Christine Bartolo is a mother, and trained teacher who also specializes in travel literature, information science, language pedagogy, and storytelling, has to say. She has created Little Bookworms where parents and educators are offered guidance to continue finding joy and connection with their children. These are her words: “Reading with our children is one of life’s little pleasures. However, it is not always as easy as this may sound. Sometimes, being guided on what to read, how to read, and what follow up activities to do with your child is all that you need for you and your child to have an enjoyable experience. Since books offer the opportunity to explore language and because language is essential to human communication, our relationship as parents with our children is enriched. Through books, children also develop their literacy, numeracy, and cognitive skills. The book challenges on social media motivate parents, educators, authors, and children to read and share stories together.“

HAPPINESS STREET BOOK PREVIEW AND READ-ALOUD

Ηere you can watch a video preview of the book, and here you can listen to a read-aloud by the wonderful Angel Greaves. If you’d also like to read-aloud any of my books online for little ones to be entertained during these times, you have my permission. Just tag me, please :). 

HAPPINESS STREET SOON TO BE PUBLISHED IN SPANISH

Due to high demand, this book will also be published in a Spanish edition and in a bilingual English-Spanish edition. Would you like it to be published in more languages? Hit reply and let me know.

FACEBOOK HIGHLIGHT – A VIDEO IN MY GROUP

Here I’m showing on camera two hand-painted drafts I received from the artist Eva Rodriguez, who illustrated a new children’s book of mine titled Sunny’s Magical Headband, and which will be published by Faraxa Publishing in Malta this fall. What you see here is one of her lovely illustrations in full color. If you’re on Facebook, join me there as well as it’s a bit more interactive :). 

PEaCH PROJECT – CAN YOU HELP?

This message if from Rita Rosenback, one of the contributors to the guidebook I curated, and which most of you here have read, How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children. I’m proud to be selected as one of the first volunteers to read and evaluate the first draft of “How to raise a bilingual child“, which upon its completion, will be distributed for free to everyone: “I am participating in an EU-wide, Erasmus+ funded project called “PEaCH – Promoting and preserving Europe’s cultural and linguistic heritage through the empowerment of bilingual children and families”. The first draft of our guide “How to raise a bilingual child” has been sent out to evaluators. We are working on the accompanying videos and the collection of language materials is underway. We are still looking for volunteers to participate in collecting and evaluating language materials in all 24 official EU languages. Interested? Please send an email to rita@multilingualparenting.com and I will send you more information.” 

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The mismatched socks and the multicultural child – “Erik (5 years old) grows up in a home which is a little bit different than others in the small city of Norway that we’ve been living during the last 2 years. His mum (me) is a native speaker in a language that his dad (Roy) doesn’t speak. His dad is a native speaker in a language that his mum doesn’t speak and which she only recently started to decode. There is a third language at home, which is considered the ‘family’ language, and which is Erik’s 3rd language in terms of fluency. Dad grew up in Norway, mummy in Greece, Erik was born in Malta and Nelly, his younger sister (2 years) in Norway.” Read it in full here. 

I wish you a lovely weekend ahead, and don’t forget to take part in the book competition :)!

With my warmest regards,
//Elisavet Arkolaki (aka Liza)

The post Win a copy of Where am I from? + a read-aloud of Happiness Street first appeared on Maltamum.

Hi friends,

How are you? We just came back from a short holiday within the country. It was lovely, and we’ve been blessed with nice weather, something which is never to be taken for granted in Norway. The kids got to swim in a lake, a river, the sea, and got to taste the very first wild strawberries of the year! I can swear, they smell a bit like vanilla :).

Other than that, many things have happened with my books during the last few weeks, and I am dying to share the news with you as they keep on reaching more kids and a wider audience.

WHERE AM I FROM? – A “MUST-READ”!

Where am I from? has been selected by the editorial team of Culturs, The Global Multicultural Magazine, as a “must-read”! I had to pinch myself when I saw a full page dedicated to it in their latest issue. This “black” issue is so important, so insightful, and with just 29 dollars you can get a yearly digital subscription. You will also find an exclusive interview with the amazing Robin Diangelo, author of the international best-seller White Fragility!

VIDEO INTERVIEW + ME READING WHERE AM I FROM?

 A bit over a month ago I did something which is 100% outside my comfort zone. I gave a short interview to Cary Carrington on camera (that’s probably the 3rd time in my whole life that I talk on camera), and read Where am I from? for The Read with Carylee Show (USA). You can watch the video and follow her YouTube channel here.  I hope your kids will enjoy this while they flip over the pages of their own copy .

FRONT PAGE FEATURE ON THE NEWSPAPER THE NATIONAL HERALD

That was another pleasant surprise. I’m so humbled, so thrilled, to have my work featured on the front page of the world’s largest English edition, Greek newspaper, The National Herald, and inaugurate a new column about contemporary writers of Greek descent. The print version was distributed in North America last month, and you can now read the online version here. 

HAPPINESS STREET – STILL A No.1 NEW RELEASE

This book has also spoken to many of you and your children. I am so grateful <3. It’s thanks to you that Happiness Street is still a “No.1 new release” on Amazon; a slow-paced summer story illustrated with watercolor paintings by my sister Charikleia Arkolaki. Reviews like this one, always make me do a couple of happy dances at home. Do keep on sharing your honest feedback. It helps me to keep on going. 

English paperback/eBook – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B7G43P1/
Greek eBook https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B1PJWBN/
Bilingual English-Greek paperback/Ebook https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B1LHZWP/

FROM THE EXPERTS – NEW PROJECT RAISING MULTILINGUALS LIVE

Dr. Ute Limacher-Riebold and Rita Rosenback are two of the expert contributors in the guidebook I curated, How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children, and Raising Multilinguals LIVE is their brand new project, together with Tetsu Yung. Raising Multilinguals LIVE (RML) is a new live interview series aimed at spreading expert information on raising bilingual and multilingual children. 

FACEBOOK HIGHLIGHT

I really enjoyed reading this one: “Around the world, media excels at this. Give a person the same story over and over and they will soon believe it without question. From Iran to the United States this is a problem in our world. Critical thinking and the nuances of human behavior are thrown out the window while a single story prevails. “The problem with stereotypes is not that they are incorrect, but that they are incomplete. No one is a single story.”” – Marilyn Gardner. Read it in full here. 

Do you know someone who might be interested in my work? If yes, please forward them this link <3. 

I wish you a lovely weekend ahead.

With my warmest regards,
//Elisavet Arkolaki

The post International recognition, video interview, read aloud, a new project by experts! first appeared on Maltamum.

Hi friends,

Here things have resumed some sort of normality. The kids go to school and kindergarten, we get uninterrupted hours of work at our home office, football training is taking place again outdoors with small groups of kids, and social distancing practices. But in about 2 weeks, we reach the end of this scholastic year, and it’s rather unlikely that we will travel and see our family and friends in Greece. And that hurts. 

At the same time, it got me thinking of how immigration must have felt back in the days, this unfathomable pain of leaving everyone and everything you’ve ever loved behind forever. Like the ancestors of many of us did, who boarded a ship, never to be seen or heard of again.

Nowadays, with the click of a button, we can video chat with all our favorite people in the whole wide world. This might not replace the human touch, a hug, and a kiss, but it is real and it is comforting. I find myself video chatting more often these days, even if it’s just for 1′ to say hi, I’m thinking of you. 

I’m also working on a children’s story manuscript with the working title “Where is Home?”, and I’m constantly thinking of the different interpretations of the concept “home”. What does home mean to you? And if you asked your children, what reply would they give you? Please hit “Reply” and let me know.

YOU CAN USE WHERE AM I FROM? FOR VIRTUAL STORYTIME
I’ve had teachers and parents reach out to me asking if they can use Where am I from? for virtual storytime and virtual lessons. The answer is, Yes! Just tag me, please or send me a link :). I hope you will also find the accompanying lesson plan useful. Thank you to all of the educators who support our children virtually, I appreciate you. The book can be purchased directly via the publisher here.

FREE BOOKS FOR KIDS ABOUT THE PANDEMIC, MANY LANGUAGES & AGES
Here’s a compilation of free books in several languages about the pandemic with good storylines and beautiful artwork. 
Be a coronavirus fighter! (English, Chinese, Norwegian, Italian, Russian, German, French, Dutch, Indonesian, Danish, Turkish, Korean, Greek -I proofread the Greek translation-)  
Why we stay at home – This book is for free, but you must register. I highly recommend it. 
Staying Home with Sally Nicholls
Kelly Stays Home: The Science of Coronavirus by Lauren Block MD MPH and Adam Block PhD, Illustrated by Alex Brissenden for big kids and for little kids.
My Hero is You, Storybook for Children on COVID-19 by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (World Health Organization)
Winnie and Wilbur Stay at Home (online)
Coronavirus. A book for children written by Elizabeth Jenner, Kate Wilson, Nia Roberts & illustrated by Axel Scheffler
What’s Going on in the World?
The Story of Oyster and Butterfly: The Coronavirus and Me by Ana M. Gomez
Mission: Stay at Home

INTERVIEW
A while back I got interviewed by Maria Adcock, an inspirational writer, and blogger. She asked some interesting questions like “In our world today, there is much divisiveness pertaining to race. What factors do you think are contributing to the growth in divisive rhetoric?“. Now, more than ever, with all these horrible news going around the world, we need to talk to our children about race, ethnicities, and privilege. 

FROM THE ARCHIVES
During the last couple of European winters, we’ve been spending months at a time in Koh Lanta, Thailand. This is where I got the chance to meet and interview Caroline Engvall. Caroline is a journalist, lecturer and best-selling author who has written several crime novels in Swedish dealing with the very difficult and poignant topics of children’s sex trade, domestic and international trafficking. Caroline makes a real difference in the fight against children’s sexual abuse. She runs several projects that help children who are exposed to online crimes, including the publication of educational materials, help websites, podcasts, and television documentaries. Read the interview and you will find lots of helpful advice on how to keep our children safe online.

FACEBOOK HIGHLIGHT 
The video “The amazing dance of nature” is so soothing and inspiring, reminding us that everything grows and flourishes at its own pace <3.  

I wish you a lovely weekend ahead, and I look forward to hearing from you.

With my warmest regards,
//Elisavet Arkolaki

The post Many eBooks to download, permission to use Where am I from? and more! first appeared on Maltamum.

Dear friends,

I hope you’re keeping safe and coping with the different new routines that have been in place all around the world. Here in Norway, the kids are back to school, and they’ve started socializing with a few friends after school as well. We’ve had 0 cases in our little town for two weeks now and people are feeling more and more relaxed. How are things where you live? 

FREE JOURNAL FOR KIDS IN MANY LANGUAGES
My pandemic journal is a lovely initiative by Multicultural Kid Blogs, a blog which is maintained by a group of mum-bloggers from around the world, and of which I am a part of. This free printable is available in several languages (English, Spanish, Swedish, Chinese, and many more) and I translated it to Greek.

BOOK GIVEAWAY
My small Facebook page, Maltamum, which I started in 2013 just before my first kid was born, has now exceeded 5,000 followers. In collaboration with my publisher Faraxa Publishing, we are giving away 1 copy of Where am I from?, and 1 copy of How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children. Click here to enter the draw; it ends on Monday 18 May 10:00 CET. All the best of luck :). 

A REVIEW BY A BOOK SNOB, A KID & A BOREDPANDA FEATURE
In other news, I got this feature accepted and published at Bored Panda where you can see photos of the street art before it turned into illustrations. A couple of pictures capture what took about 1 1/2 years to create <3.

I also received two of the most amazing reviews ever that made my heart swell with happiness; I must admit I might have shed a tear or two. You see, one of the kids represented in the book wrote me a book review! And what he describes in there is quite accurate, as the background story truly is that many of these kids were born in Malta, and their parents do come from many different countries.

The other one is a 5-star review on Amazon from someone nicknamed ”Book Snob” which you can read here. 

FROM THE ARCHIVES
A while back I discovered a lovely children’s book at our local library, titled My Two Blankets. It was so good that I felt the need to review it on my blog. 

ON THE WEB 
A profoundly, thought-provoking read, and one of the best pieces I’ve read lately online titled Fuck the Bread. The Bread Is Over. by Sabrina Orah Mark.

FACEBOOK HIGHLIGHT
In this difficult time, Multicultural Kid Blogs members, its family, and friends want to spread a message of kindness to all. A message of kindness in different languages from around the world. 

Is there anything you feel is worth sharing on my blog and newsletter? If yes, please hit “reply”. I’d love to hear from you.

I wish you a lovely week ahead and remember to enter the giveaway.

Take care and all the best of luck :)!

//Elisavet Arkolaki

The post A Book Snob review, a giveaway, a printable journal, and more! first appeared on Maltamum.

Dear friends,

I wish that you, your family, and friends are all healthy and safe. The kindergartens and primary schools (1st-4th grade) are going to open here in Norway on Monday and both my kids will have their first day ‘back to school’. They’re super excited and I really hope everything will be OK. At least the sun is shining bright the last couple of days and we can feel grateful for the nice weather. How are things in your part of the world and how are the kids responding to the current situation? If you have anything funny and positive to share, please send me your thoughts. I would love to spread joyful messages and pictures with our community in the newsletter/blog/social media (they can be shared as anon).

INTERVIEW
A couple of days ago I was approached by Niki from Raising A Legacy who raises mixed-race children, to discuss multiculturalism, minority cultures, bilingualism, and much more. You can read the interview here.

FROM THE ARCHIVES
Here’s a blog post I wrote a while back, titled My husband speaks a language I don’t understand with our children and it’s OK.

FROM THE WEB 
An interesting article about language mixing by Dr. Shana Poplack.

FREE ZOOM MEETING MEET THE EXPERT
Many families like ours face some very particular challenges. One of them is raising bi- or multilingual children. Delftmama invited Dr. Ute Limacher-Riebold for a Q&A session on Tuesday, 28 April 2020 at 19:00 CET. You can send her questions in advance at info@UtesInternationalLounge.com with the subject: DelftMama online event and she will address them during the live event.

FACEBOOK GROUP HIGHLIGHT
Some beautiful pictures from around the world during the lockdown in the group View from my window.

GRANDPARENTS GETTING CREATIVE

-Rita Rosenback from Multilingual Parenting creates daily “Find it!” pictures for her 4-year-old grandson like the one seen here where he needs to find Iron Man. Sometimes he needs a bit of help, so then he sends her a voice message asking for hints, which she responds to with a voice message.

-My father recorded himself on video narrating my personal childhood fairytale of his to share with his grandkids at bedtime.

-Claire Annette Noland, a children’s librarian, reading specialist, and author, buys and reads children’s books to her grandkids live on camera in an attempt to shorten the distance between USA and Nicaragua. Here you can see her reading to them Where am I from? She also wrote a book review here.

WHERE AM I FROM? – 40% DISCOUNT

Thank you for sharing photos with your children reading the book, it warms my heart <3. My publisher is semi-operating during the pandemic and just announced a 40% discount offer on all their titles till the end of May. Simply add the coupon code SPRING at checkout (do expect postage delays outside of Malta). You might also be able to request a signed copy – I believe there are a few left in stock. You can order it here.

HELP NEEDED
If you’ve already purchased/read Where am I from? and How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children, I’d like to say THANK YOU! I know that my feelings should not be involved in this, but a particular someone, who has been bullying online one of the guide’s contributors for quite a while, left several 1-star reviews from different fake profiles on Goodreads and 1 on Amazon in an attempt to cause damage. I’ve reported all of them, the majority got removed, but the Amazon.co.uk one remains. Can you help me, please? If you found value in any of my books, I’d be so grateful if you’d help make the remaining 1-star reviews from this guy have less of an impact. Kindly locate my books on any of the Amazon websites where you have an account (.com, .de, .co.uk, etc. – you must have spent a min. of 50 USD within the last year to be eligible to leave reviews), and on Goodreads – Where am I from?, How to Raise Confident Multicultural Children and share your honest review. If you don’t have an account on any of these, you can also send it to me via email. I appreciate it.

LIGHT FORM OF EXERCISE 
I am not very sporty, and quite busy these days as so many of us. If you’re looking for some short, simple, slow-paced walking exercises to do at home, I found the “Walk at home” Youtube videos very helpful. 

WE ARE NOT ALL IN THE SAME BOAT
I’d like to close this newsletter with these lovely thoughts by an anon writer. 

“I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be. Or vice versa.

For some, quarantine is optimal. A moment of reflection, of re-connection, easy in flip flops, with a cocktail or coffee. For others, this is a desperate financial & family crisis.

For some that live alone, they’re facing endless loneliness. While for others it is peace, rest & time with their mother, father, sons & daughters.
With the $600 weekly increase in unemployment, some are bringing in more money to their households than they were working. Others are working more hours for less money due to pay cuts or loss in sales.
Some families of 4 just received $3400 from the stimulus while other families of 4 saw $0.

Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk, and eggs for the weekend.

Some want to go back to work because they don’t qualify for unemployment and are running out of money. Others want to kill those who break the quarantine.

Some are home spending 2-3 hours/day helping their child with online schooling while others are spending 2-3 hours/day to educate their children on top of a 10-12 hour workday.

Some have experienced the near-death of the virus, some have already lost someone from it and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it. Others don’t believe this is a big deal.

Some have faith in God and expect miracles during this 2020. Others say the worst is yet to come.

So, friends, we are not in the same boat. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.

Each of us will emerge, in our own way, from this storm. It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, actually seeing.

We are all on different ships during this storm experiencing a very different journey.”

Stay safe, keep reading.

I wish you a lovely rest of the day and am looking forward to hearing from you.

With my warmest regards,
//Elisavet Arkolaki

The post News and tips for multilingual families including a meet the expert session first appeared on Maltamum.

The way I see the world, the way I process my experiences in life is through words. When it comes to the deep, hard stuff, I need to write down my thoughts in order to sort them out. Reading books and writing have always acted as an anchor whenever the emotions inside of me were about to take me too far away from the shore, sometimes even threatening to carry me to unsafe places.

I now wish that my children will also find pleasure and solace in stories; an amazing tool in our hands to help them make sense of life and see the bigger picture of what is in the world. Cause books, no matter the form and genre, matter. Children need love, food, a home but they also need art and literature in their lives.

I’m forever grateful that my children’s stories found a home Faraxa Publishing and that the artist Platonas-Πλατων loved #whereamifrom enough to dedicate on it countless hours and give the story shape and color. This is the latest graffiti (2,10×1,10m wall) which will be one of the two featured in the Australia page spread.

I am feeling excited but also nervous as we approach the finish line. You see, this will be my very first book to be published, and the process to get to where we are today has been long (more than 2 years already!), challenging but also gratifying to an extent that I had never experienced before. It’s truly a labor love. <3

If you’d like to have access to all the behind the scenes details, join me here. I’d love to interact with you in there .

Love, Liza.

The post Morning thoughts on books and art first appeared on Maltamum.

This week marks a week long celebrations to raise awareness about diverse children’s book with the highlight being the 25th of January, the Multicultural Children’s Book Day (#MCBD2019).

MCBD is an NGO and their mission is not only to raise awareness for the kids’ books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these books into classrooms and libraries. Taken from their website: ‘Our goal? Tolerance is one thing. But respecting and understanding all the different cultures that we live with? That’s the next step.’

This year I am participating as a book reviewer and an author. I reviewed a children’s picture book written by Agatha Rodi, Global CoHost Greece, MCBD, and illustrated by Joanna Scott, titled ‘Amelie Gets Busy’ which you can read on here. Agatha on the other hand wrote a lovely review about my book Where am I from ? which you can read here , even though the book is still in the making.

On the 25th there’s going to be a huge party on Twitter and they will be giving away Book Bundles every 6 minutes! Check it out here. If you’re looking for resources for your classroom and children, have a look here. You can download a Classroom Kindness Kit and a Classroom Empathy Kit.

Lots of love to everyone and I hope many of you will check it out.

The post Today a reader, tomorrow a leader first appeared on Maltamum.

Life with small children can often be hectic. What I miss the most in our ‘married with kids’ life are moments of stillness and quiet, being all by myself. Moments where I can sit down, enjoy a cup of coffee, read a book, write, reflect on anything and everything. The kids now are at a birthday party with Roy and while I have things that should be done, I decided to prioritise my need for stillness, give space to my thoughts and help them take shape and form, to be transformed into words.

It’s snowing outside here in Horten and it’s freezing cold. Being a Mediterranean girl at heart who has spent most of her life under the sun, the short, dark winter days of Scandinavia are hard to get used to and have taken a toll on me. We have decorated our Christmas tree, we have bought most of the gifts, we have baked traditional Norwegian biscuits and Greek delicacies. It’s that time of the year… I never liked making big plans for the new year to come, it never worked for me, but I always try to take the time and look back at the things that went well, which gives me strength to try and do more next year. Like a positive kick on the butt of sorts. Why only the good things one might ask. What’s done is done and I find it’s much more productive to try and remember the good stuff, build on them and keep on working on top of them instead of dwelling over the bad ones. It’s the remembrance and reinforcement of the positive memories that propel action and energise me.

A while back I joined a writers’ group on Facebook, my very favourite group of this sort, where writers share knowledge and ideas, uplift each other and work as a community. One of the admins, a writer I admire, started a new thread asking ‘WHAT WERE YOUR 2018 ACCOMPLISHMENTS? As the year winds down, let’s look back on it. What were your biggest accomplishments of 2018, as they relate to book publishing?’. And it got me thinking… This is what I need to reflect on to get back my positivism, strength and energy flowing through my body again and ‘get back to work’.

Writing and books play a major role in my life, and if you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know I am currently working on the publication of my first children’s picture book, ‘Where am I from?’ which will be published in the summer by Faraxa Publishing. I ran a successful Kickstarter campaign in July to validate the book concept, market the book and raise the necessary funds to produce it. It just occurred to me I never found the time to actually sit down and sum up in a blog post the outcome of that campaign and celebrate the subsequent journey and the small, step-by-step victories.

First things first, I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for a truly spectacular level of support you’ve shown me this year. To everyone who’s been reading my blog, bought something from my eshop, has ordered content and translations, supported financially and pre-ordered Where am I from ? via Kickstarter and now via Faraxa’s website, interviewed me or featured the book on their newspaper / magazine / website / blog, helped spread the word on social media, invited me to speak, shared your own time, skills and wisdom, mentored me and helped me avoid potential disasters, left an encouraging word or comment online… I thank you from the absolute bottom of my heart! I am forever grateful and aware that I never EVER manage things on my ‘own’. This is pure arrogance. We are all connected, one way or another, and it is thanks to each and every one of you that I keep on progressing towards what feels as the right path in my life. Thank you for a wonderful 2018 and I wish you and your loved ones the very best on your own personal journeys <3

Back to the question about what were my 2018 accomplishments related to book publishing.

• Signed a contract with the award-winning small press in Malta, Faraxa Publishing
•  The street artist Platon agreed to paint the graffiti and illustrate Where am I from ?
• Planned and executed a Kickstarter campaign where we raised about 10.700 euro to publish this book
• The backers, our supporters, 139 individuals, come literally from all over the world (we even got orders from as far as Australia, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Canada and USA!)
• All children, the baby and the mum characters to be featured in the book (except from the main character which we decided not to commission) were commissioned by individuals who all except one are of a multicultural background!
• We received financial support by 3 public sector institutions, namely:
  a) 200 books ordered by David Muscat, Head of the National Literacy Agency, Malta, to be distributed to the public school libraries of Malta
  b) 20 books ordered by Aase Wivestad, Libraries Counsellor, Vestfold Municipality, Norway to be distributed to 13 public libraries in Norway
  c) 12 books ordered by the Central Library of Malta, to be distributed to the public libraries of Malta
• Newspaper features in 3 countries (Malta, Greece, Norway) and other features in Maltese, Greek, Norwegian, Turkish and international blogs and websites
• 2 speaking engagements; one in Norway where I was honoured to be invited alongside writers who have given so much to the Norwegian community like Veronica Salinas and the best-selling author Jan Mehlum, and one in Scotland where I got to spend 4 days with my family alongside the most inspiring and amazing women

While the artist is working on the art to accompany the book, I decided to take a ‘break’ during the month of December, read some books and enjoy the holidays with my family. 1st of January we’re heading to Thailand for 3 months. I always get inspired there and get more things done. These months prior to the publication of the book are far from idle. I actually had never imagined there is so much work involved behind a children’s book. I am learning as much as I can about publishing and marketing books, I am working on the lesson plan and accompanying fun activities for the book (putting back on my teacher’s hat which hasn’t been used since I left my home country), going through other book ideas.

I wish you all Merry Christmas <3 I hope you will get to enjoy the holidays with your loved ones, will be able to get some well needed rest to keep the creative juices flowing, and can manage to be as kind to yourself as you are with the others around you.

Love, as always, Liza.

The post Reflections on the positive things that took place in 2018 first appeared on Maltamum.

Today I would like to write about my husband. The driving force behind many of the things I have managed to accomplish in life, smaller or bigger. As a personality trait, I tend to be resistant to certain types of change. In particular, I will resist change when that means pushing myself way far out of my comfort zone. I will engage and do well with things I love, tasks that give me pleasure and comfort. I will push myself far out and I will be super motivate to work with anything that sparkles my intellect and curiosity. Try to make me go for something I dislike, something I fear, something that makes me feel uncomfortable and evokes any kind of negative emotions, and chances are I won’t respond very nicely. I will resist with all my might.

This is where Roy comes into the picture. I won’t call him ‘my rock’. This is a bit of a cliché and it doesn’t work for our relationship anyways. In our case, I am the small rock. A rock that comes with a set of roots and keeps us grounded. I can get easily planted in new soil, wherever that may be and flourish there. The tricky thing is how to get me rolling, get me going for this new soil and to let go of the old one; that is if I like it. How to persuade me I can, and I should, roll towards this new land when I expect the ride not to be pleasurable. I can be very stubborn.

Roy is the sea that surrounds this little rock. He comes in waves. Sometimes gentle, and I remain soothed in place, and others in full force, leaving me no option but to roll and float along until he gently places me where I should be. He can be as stubborn as me. Many years back, he was the reason why I negotiated with my employer a working home based contract which I managed to get. I wished for what he wanted, a lifestyle which would not have us bound in a specific place, but I didn’t have the guts to go for it. He left me with no option. I went for it and got it.

Roy always pushes me mentally and physically. Oh, how I get angry with him! And how grateful I feel when I find myself afterwards on the other side when I have accomplished things I had considered impossible or simply just not for me. Even if the ride had been unpleasant in some instances, even if I would never do it again, it still gives me a feeling of satisfaction and power that I can do a few more things than I had never imagined possible.

Can you believe I did sledging? No? Well, neither do I but I did while we back-packed in New Zealand. I even bicycled with him the whole Bora-Bora main island (about 32km) and if you know me a tiny little bit, then you know I am not particularly sporty. I was cursing and panting but I did it and I was happy with myself for these accomplishments despite the constant nagging (sorry Roy ).

Thanks to him, we have two beautiful children together. Having children was also a ‘No’ for me in our younger years. So was driving a car which I am now driving daily. It took me about 10 years again to sit behind the wheel but here I am. Another fear I have is that of speaking in front of crowds. The feeling I need to prove myself within a limited time frame in front of unknown people makes my brain shut down. I ‘d rather write to them at my own time and pace.

Roy told me I should, he told me I could do the speech and present my book ‘Where am I from?‘. He even cancelled his own business trip where he was supposed to be present at an awards ceremony where his company had been a nominee. He came to see me instead presenting my book. And we are going all together in a few weeks, Roy me and the kids, to present ‘Where am I from?’ and its backstory at an event in Scotland. Roy, my sea, is floating me along to go where I should be.

My sea is calm now. We are at a quiet place until new challenges set in <3

The post My husband – the one who pushes me out of my comfort zone first appeared on Maltamum.