Genre: Children's Chapter Book
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Fifty percent of the proceeds from sales go to two wonderful research projects. Go here to find out more or to purchase a copy for yourself.
This is a wonderful book with beautiful illustrations. A young monkey asks his parents if hanging out in the trees with other monkey's eating bananas is all there is too life. He wants to see more of the world. Instead of letting his parents tell him about the world he goes off exploring. When he gets to Chickadee Island he meets two other animals a cat and a pelican, who also want to learn more about the world. They hear the chickadees for which the island is named but can't find them. They then meet a dog who lives on the island. With his help they go in search for the chickadees. They learn about friendship, accepting differences and so much morel. This is a story that all children need to read or have read to them. It is the ultimate book teaching about diversity in the world.
About the
Author:
Dr.
Jeffrey Politsky grew up in Toronto, Canada. He obtained undergraduate and
graduate degrees at the University of Toronto and his medical degree at the
University of Western Ontario before moving to Vancouver for his residency
training in Neurology. He moved to Boston in the late 1990’s to complete his
epilepsy fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and has lived in the
United States ever since. Today, Dr. and Mrs. Politsky live in New Jersey with
their two children and two giant schnauzers. While he has written numerous
articles and chapters related to the neurologic sciences, Chickadees, Bumbelbeez,
Pussy-Willow Trees and Two-And-A-Half is Dr. Politsky’s first serious
non-academic venture.
Dr.
Politsky began writing Chickadees, Bumbelbeez, Pussy-Willow Trees and Two-And-A-Half on Formantera,
one of the Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean Sea off of the
east coast of Spain.
“As
I began pondering what makes free-form travel so interesting, I decided to try
and create a story that would be appealing to youngsters. All of my
back-packing adventures, like so many other travelers, had common themes:
selecting a location, landing in a foreign place and feeling
very foreign, attempting to understand the culture and fit in,
survival, discovery, problem solving, raw happiness. I incorporated
several of my own experiences in the text,” says Dr. Politsky. “I decided to
weave into the story the linguistic nuances that my grandfather used
when he would joke with my brother and me when we were youngsters - in
essence we would ask him a question and he would answer using neologisms and in
a manner that made absolutely no sense at all and then start laughing in a
jolly fashion, quite amused with himself. I cherish my memory of my
grandfather. His good nature and terminology stuck, much of it is incorporated
in the book. In fact, some of his favorite expressions make up the book’s title.”
Dr.
Politsky’s grandfather died in 1989 of complications related to multi-infarct
dementia.
Tony
Santiago illustrated the book with Dr. Politsky’s children and grandfather
individually represented in the characters.
In
2011, Dr. Politsky’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is fine now;
but the process was quite an ordeal. Anyone who has been through this or a
similar experience understands this. Dr. Politsky sees and treats patients
every day with epilepsy and related neurologic & medical conditions - in
many cases illnesses appear like an unexpected storm and can turn people's
lives upside down and inside out like a tornado. By the end of 2012, Kim had
been diagnosed, treated, and had achieved full physical recovery.
Fifty
percent of the proceeds of the sale of each book will be donated equally
to research programs dedicated to the study of dementia and memory
dysfunction, and to the study of breast cancer.
To
purchase a copy of the book, go to http://jumpservicesllc.com/projects.html
