Free for Kindle Fire Five Days Feb 12-16 HANA'S YEAR It's cherry blossom time

Feb. 11, 2013 - PRLog -- HANA'S YEAR may be found at amazon.com or www.childrensebooksbyjoan.com

5.0 out of 5 stars If your friends jumped off a cliff, would
you?
January 15, 2013
By
Gillybean (http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A3881VYMFNPU59/ref=cm_cr_pr_pdp)

Hana's Year is a wonderful story about a little monkey who follows her other monkey friends and they all end up getting into trouble. Does Hana learn her lesson? Read this book with lovely illustrations to find out! I will definitely be reading this book over and over to my 5-year-old while hoping to encourage her not to fall into peer pressure.

4.0 out of 5 stars Honorable Monkey

January 8, 2013

By

MileStones (http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2F5M9FDNL1M8/ref=cm_cr_pr_pdp) (Central Coast, CA)

This is a sweet tale, that is well written. While it is an obvious lesson, it is not a trite story.

HANA'S YEAR

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Fully Illustrated Version

Picture Book for reading with the younger child.

This version of HANA'S YEAR includes all the luminous illustrations just waiting to enchant children of any age, and especially the read-to set.

RESISTING PEER PRESSURE

In a timeless corner of Japan, a monkey learns to accept responsibility for her actions.

Hana is one year old-old enough to get into plenty of trouble. Especially when she falls under the bad influence of the mischief-maker Tampopo, whose favorite words are "Follow me!"

Hana follows this rascally leader and her band of little monkeys into one misadventure after another. But when Tampopo leads Hana to betray her new friend, the boy Kenji, Hana decides that she had better learn to rely on her own judgment-even if it means being alone.

Illustrator Itoko Maeno returned to her native Japan to study its remarkable macaque monkeys and to visit its rice fields and rustic farmhouses. She has depicted in brilliant watercolor the peaceful valley where Kenji and his grandmother live and create traditional indigo-dyed kimono cloth and the wild mountainside where Hana plays and learns.

Author Carol Talley's charming and sensitive story begins on this mountainside among the hopeful cherry blossoms of spring and moves through the rambunctious days of summer's bounty and the wistful loneliness of autumn. It ends in the glistening snow with Hana's triumph, when it is her turn to say "Follow me!"

As Hana's seasons unfold, young people learn a valuable lesson about resisting peer pressure and taking responsibility for their own actions. They learn with Hana that everyone makes mistakes and even a monkey may sometimes fall from a tree, but a wise little monkey learns when to say "No!"

A SURPRISE and added bonus is the "Enrichment Information" which includes lots of facts about Japanese Folk Textiles on such topics as weaving, hemp spinning, dyeing, stenciling, indigo dye and kimono making. This is fascinating detail that did not make it into the story itself, but is very rich in colorful descriptions of Japanese culture and daily life.

A second big plus is the "Letter to Parents and Educators" which includes many relevant questions and comments to facilitate conversation with the young reader about the message of the story - resisting peer pressure. So even though on the surface, this is just an engaging story for children, it is also truly helpful in a real way.

MAKING THE CASE FOR CHARACTER EDUCATION

If you are tired of bullying, teasing, youth violence, gangs, vandalism, drug abuse, sexual misconduct…

If you are tired of the crisis with our older youth…

If you want to help make a difference one tiny step at a time…

Then this is the eBook for your children ages 3-9.

Read WITH your children and grandchildren, discuss the concept and message…

and know that you are part of the movement sweeping America to bring back our important values by restoring character education in our homes and schools.

(signed) The Thoughtful Parent
JOAN'S eBOOKS LLC