REVIEW: Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks
September 17, 2015
On the 31st of July, Miss Joyce Bautista, Scholastic Philippines' Trade Manager, invited me to Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks Trade Launch on August 22 at Powerbooks, Greenbelt 4, Makati City. I immediately said yes and asked if I could bring Kuya with me.
When Miss Joyce said yes that I could bring Kuya to the launch, I immediately marked his calendar for him to see. He was in school then. I wanted to witness his reaction after taking a glance. He was surprised. It never failed to give him so much joy and excitement! Having the notion of being one of the first kids to see the newest Geronimo Stilton book series made him jump for joy!
Kuya's an avid reader of Geronimo Stilton Series, the fondness which he shares with his cousin, Kate. Whenever we go to any bookstore or book fair, he always asks me if he can check out Geronimo Stilton. He's also thinking of Kate during those times because Geronimo Stilton is always her request as "pasalubong" everytime we go for a visit to the province.
On the day of launch itself, the weather was not in favor of us. It was stormy that prompted us to cancel our attendance two hours before the start of the event. What made us cancel that late was we kept on hoping that the rain would stop. I had no choice but to do it despite of thinking that it was very unprofessional. Our home was far away from the venue, we would commute, and my primary concern was Kuya's safety. I really felt relieved when Miss Joyce sent a text message stating that she sincerely understood.
Kuya was very sad and disappointed. I was so sad too because a promise was broken. As a consolation, I assured him that once the books were out in the nearby National Bookstore, we would get copies for him and Kate. That premise still didn't work to take away his weariness. Imagine, it took him until the next day to accept the reality that we weren't able to make it.
Miss Joyce was very thoughtful. She informed me that she would send us copies of Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks which I didn't tell Kuya right away. I wanted to surprise him again. I wanted to make amends because we were not able to attend the book launch.
When the parcel arrived, Papa and I had a connivance. I told him to let Kuya pick it up and let him open it for me. By the way, we observe privacy at home. We don't open other family member's mail or parcel unless we're authorized to do so.
Kuya was tired from school and he decided to open it in front of us after resting a bit. Then when he did, he was speechless! His eyes literally popped with so much delight! He couldn't contain his happiness. He thanked me but I said he should thank Miss Joyce for thinking of us.
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| Look what I got in the mail on August 27! I was #kiligtothebones when I received the complete set of the recently launched Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks. The books came with badges and plastic folder pa (Kuya brought it to school due to too much excitement. LOL!) ! Thank you so much, Scholastic Philippines! I missed the book launched but still you sent me copies! Kuya and my niece, Kate, are big fans of Geronimo Stilton and they are going to enjoy answering them! |
He hurriedly opened and answered one of the Pawbooks. He's being voracious reader of Geronimo Stilton made him read and answer the activities with ease.
Before I go further and tell you more about Kuya's learning experience, let me give you some facts about Geronimo Stilton.
Who is Geronimo Stilton?
According to Wikipedia, in the series, Geronimo Stilton, the title character is a talking mouse who lives in
New Mouse City on Mouse Island. He is a best selling author that works as a journalist and editor for the fictional newspaper The Rodent's Gazette.
He has a younger sister named Thea Stilton, a cousin named Trap Stilton, and a favorite little nephew, nine-year-old Benjamin Stilton.
Geronimo is a nervous, mild-mannered mouse who likes nothing
better than to live a quiet life. But he keeps getting involved in
far-away adventures with Thea, Trap, and Benjamin, and sometimes Aunt
Sweetfur.
More about Geronimo Stilton and the complete list of books HERE.
What is his philosophy?
I've found some facts that I've adapted about Geronimo Stilton at www.geronimostilton.com that can make you understand his character more. You can read here that Geronimo Stilton teaches children not just to be cognitively smart but to become well-rounded persons with good hearts as well.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND HIS MOTIVATIONS
The weaknesses of Geronimo Stilton make him even more likeable: you feel
sorry for him, you laugh with him and you celebrate with him at the
end, because all of his defeats become successes.
With his actions and his ability to laugh at himself, Geronimo Stilton conveys ever present values: the importance of family, the capacity to overcome your fears, the acceptance of other peoples faults, the importance of education, consistency, approachability, open mindedness towards other cultures, curiosity about what you don't know, the knowledge that teamwork is more successful than acting as an individual, world peace, friendship, love. Further to that, solidarity, honesty, loyalty, sincerity, respect for the elderly, and those with lesser abilities.
Geronimo Stilton's stories are adventurous and full of surprises but are not exaggerated or use vulgarity. In his stories there are no weapons, violence, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, hunting, violation of laws or rude words, behaviour with a disregard for safety, racism, magic, astrology, or deviant behaviour.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND THE UNIVERSAL VALUES OF LIFE
Geronimo Stilton's behaviour is based on universal ethical values, like
being approachable for others, the desire to do good, the commitment to
grow and improve oneself. Additionally, Geronimo is brought to life
with a healthy optimism: he is never discouraged in negative situations.
At that moment, he may become depressed, even practically inconsolable.
However, this state of mind never lasts long and is replaced by
positive action.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND EQUALITY
Geronimo Stilton lives in a multi-cultural society, based on the
principles of respecting diversity. Furthermore, Geronimo is very aware
of the theme of equality between males and females both in a social and
working sense.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND LIFE
Sometimes Geronimo feels like as though he's the victim of the
unfortunate circumstances he finds himself in. His job absorbs him
completely and he feels suffocated by his responsibility to his
co-workers, his friends and his family. But at the end of every
adventure Geronimo has the feeling of being in complete harmony with
himself and the world, because life is beautiful and he is happy to have
so many friends and a family as special as his.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND HAPPINESS
Geronimo teaches that real happiness is not wanting what you don't
have, but appreciating that which you do have. Attention should be
focused on the positive aspects of existence and not on the what is
missing. True gratification isn't tied to fleeting and occasional
pleasures, but derives from putting your energy towards positive
purposes.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND PEACE
In his adventures, Geronimo Stilton always highlights the horrors of
war, enhancing the importance of peace. His books want to be reassuring:
you have to remember that the future awaiting us is beautiful. His
motto is: 'Instead of being against war, support peace!'
*GERONIMO STILTON AND COURAGE
Geronimo teaches that confronting your fears is the simplest and most
effective way of overcoming them. The best experiences require more
effort but make you grow, stimulating you to develop new capabilities.
Real courage is not being without fear, but confronting it whilst being
aware of your limits and trying to overcome them.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND FAMILY
For Geronimo Stilton, family and loved ones are fundamental: they are the backbone of his whole life.
Family represents the caress on your heart that can brighten even the darkest of days.
Disagreements between relatives and friends that can't be resolved don't exist, nor do problems that can't be sorted out.
Disagreements between relatives and friends that can't be resolved don't exist, nor do problems that can't be sorted out.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND FRIENDSHIP
For Geronimo friendship is a fundamental value and he is ready to put
all his fears aside and to face up to any difficulties in order to
preserve it. Geronimo often takes the role of the 'chance hero', who
confronts danger in the name of friendship.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND WORK
Geronimo loves his job and always says: 'Oh, how I love books! I like
reading them, flicking through them, smelling them: I love the smell of
fresh ink on freshly printed pages! How wonderful it is to be a
publisher!'.
Geronimo works a lot and is always very busy. But he does it with joy,
because working is his life and he feels privileged to be able to do a
job that he likes so much.
Geronimo approaches his work in a deeply ethical way: he puts his heart
into every story that he writes, to inspire courage, optimism and
energy.
A book written from the heart is different from others: it's more beautiful, more real, better!
*GERONIMO STILTON AND HIS ADVERSARIES
Geronimo's attitude when facing his adversaries is never one of violent
confrontation but always of competition with fair play, in the sense of
civility and respect for others. He often considers the teasing from
his enemies as an opportunity to practice his patience.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND FANTASY
The word Fantasy derives from the Greek work "phaino", meaning to show. It
is the ability of the mind to invent stories or imaginary situations
(without ties to reality, lived situations or concrete references).
It's fantasy that stimulates playing, to 'make believe', in the sense
of creating big, exciting adventures with your playmates. It must not
be an escape from the real world, but a sort of trip from which you
return having grown. Creative people see the world through different
eyes and can see what other people can't, they are able to solve
problems looking at them from another point of view using creativity,
initiative and optimism.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND IMAGINATION
The term 'imagination' derives from the Latin words 'imaginatio ,
imaginari' (imagine). It is the capacity to visualize things or
situations based on the stimulus of everyday life. For example, if you
read a book or watch a film, you can imagine you are the protagonist of
the book or film. Imagination is a quality that, if used in the right
way, can also be very useful to surpass various difficulties and fears
like exams, sporting competitions or public speaking... Imagining
yourself in a positive situation helps you to become more trusting and
optimistic and leads to the realization of dreams!
*GERONIMO STILTON AND MAGIC
Magic is just a negative illusion! A magic wand is not enough to change
reality or to transform things that we don't want to accept. Since the
dawn of time man has tried to find help in magic to resolve problems...
but magic doesn't exist!
Magic amulets are useless, magic spells don't work...and witches, wizards, fairies, elves, gnomes, ogres and giants only exist in fairy tales and we can only accept them as protagonists of imaginative stories.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND NEGATIVE CHARACTERS
In the world of fantasy, negative characters also exist, like ogres and
witches. They are represented as evil and unkind characters, not to be
imitated, because they are losers and unhappy. Good always triumphs over
Evil, even if it's not immediately verifiable.
*GERONIMO STILTON AND HAPPY ENDINGS
Geronimo isn't a hero, he's not sporty nor muscular and is afraid of
practically everything. But withstanding this, at the end he is always
able to win, to obtain his goals and to resolve difficult situations.
This is thanks to his humour, his capacity to see the positive side of
everything and, above all, to the help of his friends.
If you identify yourself with him for his weaknesses, you feel
reassured: if that blunderer Geronimo can do it... you will be able to
beat your fears and overcome your difficulties!
In this sense you can say that happy endings aren't an illusion but a message of hope, because Geronimo teaches us to have faith in the future, not to be discouraged during difficult times and to build a better future.
In this sense you can say that happy endings aren't an illusion but a message of hope, because Geronimo teaches us to have faith in the future, not to be discouraged during difficult times and to build a better future.
There you go! Now that you know the basics about Geronimo Stilton, let's proceed to the Pawbooks.
Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks are based on the best-selling children's book series. These books are activity based that motivates learners to read, develop their comprehension skills, enrich their vocabulary and knowledge in English language, and learn the basics of writing.
The following are the skill focus of the different Pawbooks and where the feature excerpts are coming from:
PAWBOOK 1
Skills Focus: predicting, inferring, sequencing, comparing and contrasting, recalling details and main ideas
Feature Excerpts from:
#57 The Stinky Cheese Vacation
#46 The Haunted Castle
#43 I'm Not a Supermouse
#42 The Peculiar Pumpkin Thief
PAWBOOK 2
Skills Focus: Additional skills such as drawing conclusions and summarizing
Feature Excerpts from:
#44 The Giant Diamond Robbery
#48 The Mystery in Venice
#51 The Enormous Pearl Heist
#55 The Golden Statue Plot
PAWBOOK 3
Skills Focus: Additional skills such as giving reasons, stating opinions and point of view
Feature Excepts from:
#50 This Hotel is Haunted
#45 Save the White Whale
#56 Flight of the Red Bandit
#52 Mouse in Space
Skills Focus: predicting, inferring, sequencing, comparing and contrasting, recalling details and main ideas
Feature Excerpts from:
#57 The Stinky Cheese Vacation
#46 The Haunted Castle
#43 I'm Not a Supermouse
#42 The Peculiar Pumpkin Thief
PAWBOOK 2
Skills Focus: Additional skills such as drawing conclusions and summarizing
Feature Excerpts from:
#44 The Giant Diamond Robbery
#48 The Mystery in Venice
#51 The Enormous Pearl Heist
#55 The Golden Statue Plot
PAWBOOK 3
Skills Focus: Additional skills such as giving reasons, stating opinions and point of view
Feature Excepts from:
#50 This Hotel is Haunted
#45 Save the White Whale
#56 Flight of the Red Bandit
#52 Mouse in Space
Here are the strengths of the Pawbooks that Kuya and I have observed:
1 Excerpts and colorful texts and illustrations are developmentally appropriate. The fonts that are used conforms with the reading capacity of younger kids.
2 Presence of English parts of speech helps children in their command of the language.
3 Whilst-reading questions stimulate learners to interact with the text.
4 Comprehension questions develop literal, inferential, and higher order thinking skills.
5 Graphic activities develop learners' visual text comprehension.
Parents, I encourage you to teach your children the love of reading and learning and strengthen their values through Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbook Series. Remember, it is research proven that children even adults learn when they are engaged and motivated. This series has been developed to build on children's interest in Geronimo Stilton to enhance their literary skills by doing a series of guided and structured exercises.
Parents, I encourage you to teach your children the love of reading and learning and strengthen their values through Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbook Series. Remember, it is research proven that children even adults learn when they are engaged and motivated. This series has been developed to build on children's interest in Geronimo Stilton to enhance their literary skills by doing a series of guided and structured exercises.
Even without a prior knowledge and experience in reading Geronimo Stilton story books, parents and children can catch up and understand what the character stands for due to the chosen excerpts written on the Pawbooks. However, I advise you, dear parents, to let your children read the story books prior to answering the Pawbook activities to make it more fun and engaging for them. I assure you that you and your children are going to love doing both.
All Geronimo Stilton books are available at National Bookstore, Powerbooks, and other leading bookstores nationwide.
