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Friday, August 12, 2011

Book Review - E is for Environment & Ethics

The start of the new school year is right around the corner, and just in time for the start of the fall semester, Ian James Corlett’s E IS FOR ETHICS and E IS FOR ENVIRONMENT was released in paperback on July 19th.

Ian James Corlett has been serving up unique voice characterizations for projects of every genre for over two and a half decades. Listen carefully to many of today ’s largest national TV & radio campaigns– you’ve heard him! He has been the voice of many networks and cable stations from PBS to Fox Family and Canada’s Family Channel.

Ian recently turned his creative attention to writing books for parents and kids.  His first book E IS FOR ETHICS (Simon & Schuster) is designed as a fun way for parents to open up discussions with their kids about basic human values.  His second book E IS FOR ENVIRONMENT follows the same style, teaching families about going green and being conscientious about the world they live in.

Both of these books cover essential discussions to have with children and are perfect for back to school features, parenting articles or July/August coverage. They provide an outlet for parents to bring up prevalent issues and teach valuable lessons.

More about E IS FOR ETHICS
It’s here! The parenting book you’ve been waiting forE IS FOR ETHICS is a fun, family book, which will open the door to teaching and discussing the most important values with kids. 

Imagine, learning about ethics and having fun as a family at the same time! 

The book features the loveable and quirky brother and sister team of Elliott and Lucy who, in each story, will face an ethical situation.   After each story, your family can discuss how Elliott or Lucy dealt with it and what they learned!  E IS FOR ETHICS is the fun way to build strong, ethical qualities in kids, which will stick with them for life!

More about E IS FOR ENVIRONMENT
Ian James Corlett changes gears from teaching kids ethics in his popular E IS FOR ETHICS book to now raising eco-awareness in our kids in his book, E IS FOR ENVIRONMENT: Stories to Help Children Care for Their World—at Home, at School, and at Play. Brother and sister team Elliott and Lucy once again star in 26 refreshingly original stories as they discover ways to make our world a little “greener.” In the stories found within E IS FOR ENVIRONMENT, addresses issues such as recycling plastic bottles, carrying reusable bags, switching to litter-less lunches, and conserving water while brushing teeth, in an enlightening—utterly entertaining—way. Corlett’s warm and engaging writing style, combined with R.A. Holt’s wonderfully whimsical illustrations, will captivate kids and their parents alike. 

My Take on the BooksE is for Environment
In the forward, Ian admits he was not one to use reusable bags when shopping, conserving resources, or using energy efficient vehicles. Contact with a young man named Matty changed all that . Matty and his girlfriend traveled all over North America promoting environmentality. Ian changed his attitude and wrote this book.

I will share two of the stories he included:

IT'S IN THE BAG: Dad brought Lucy and Elliott to the grocery store. They found organic pasta sauce and vegetables, but when they arrived at the checkout Dad had no bags. Luckily Lucy brought grocery bags from home. Following this story , Ian include family discussion questions. He also included a quote by Vincent Van Gogh; Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.

LOOK AT LIFE FROM BOTH SIDES NOW: Lucy loved to create. She used pencils, crayons, and paper. She noticed she often did  not use both sides of the paper and sometimes she threw away her pencils and crayons. She decided to change. Lucy revised her approach to her creative projects. She began to use both sides of her paper and all of her pencils and crayons until she could not use them anymore. There are discussion questions at the end of the story. Ian included this quote by Pablo Picasso: Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

There are a total of 26 stories in this book. Each one is excellent in its topic and discussion questions. I feel the book will definitely assist your family in moving toward using our environment and the  resources we more wisely.

E is for Ethics
Before I review some of the stories , I would like to make a comment about the forward that Ian wrote. His is a dad of  two children who believes that children need training, reinforcement, and respect for ethics. He and his wife decided to establish a Monday night "family fun night". They used this time to discuss ideas, parables, and issues for the week. Ian feels parents need to fill the void of  making sure their children are taught ethics.

I will share a few of the read aloud stories included in Ian's book:

HONESTY: This is a  story about a little boy, Elliott, who found a $5 bill. He was shopping with his mother and as she waited to check out, the woman in front of them was telling the clerk that she had had a $5 bill but lost it somewhere in the store. Elliott knew right away that the money he found belonged to this woman.  Ian has discussion questions at the end of the story for families to use and this quote from William Shakespeare: Honesty is the best policy.

INTEGRITY:  Elliott and Marci were together working on a dinosaur project for school. Elliott made the model of the dinosaur. Marci responsibility was to write the text for the report. Marci copied the text from the internet article she found. It was not her work. Elliott did not feel this was right. The discussion questions center around keeping your reputation and what is right in this particular circumstance. The quote written was by Janis Joplin: Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got.

TRUST:  Elliott was going on a skiing trip with his family. His dog Lola needed a responsible person to take care of her while Elliott was gone. Elliott had three friends who wanted to take care of Lola, but as Elliott thought about each friend,  he had to make the difficult decision : which friend would he trust with his dog. The discussion questions lead you to choose the person you think Elliott chose. The quote was by George MacDonald: To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.

These are only three of the 26 stories in this book. I consider this book  a valuable resource for parents to use with their children. Communication is an important key to family life , but also raising children who will make the right decisions when their parents are not with them is equally as important.

All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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