Book Review: Elena's Big Move

Brittany Johnson with Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicists sent me a copy of this book to share with my son and to get our opinion of the book.

This book is a very sweet story written by Sarah M. Oliviera, it happens to be a true story from when she was little.
She lived in Puerto Rico and her fathers job moves them to Indiana. Such a big change for a child and this book helps point out ways to help your child make a big move too. A nice story that young children can understand and at the back fo the book it is filled with tips for parents to help thier children with a big move.

My 6 yr old is picking up on reading quite well right now and enjoyed reading this as much as he could.

Below is the Press Release with more information on the book.

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Fragile: Handle with Care

Teacher/Author helps parents and children prepare for a big move

Munster, Ind. - For children, home is what they know best. They know where Mom keeps the Band-Aids, where they buried the fallen G.I. Joe in the backyard and even where to duck away during an impromptu game of hide and seek. It’s their growth notches penciled into the door frame and their finger paintings that hang on the wall. So what happens when they have to leave it all behind and move to a new home?

Author, teacher, mom and former new kid Sarah Oliveiri can help them find out.

Olivieri knows all too well that children are creatures of habit. After seeing countless new kids cower in the classroom, overwhelmed by the new environment, she decided to pick up a pen.

“I saw the need to help children and parents who are going through a move. Parents need ideas to help children make the transition to a new place easier. As a teacher, I see how frightened children are when they enter a new school,” explains Olivieri. “I wrote Elena’s Big Move to help children know that they don’t need to forget the place they’re leaving behind.”

She turned to a familiar story for inspiration—her own. Olivieri moved from Puerto Rico to Indiana when she was only 9 years old. The move was sudden and she didn’t have much time to adjust to the idea. Trading palm trees for pine trees wasn’t exactly easy. Olivieri recalls how jarring her transition to a new home was.

“I remember how scary it was to be the new kid on the block. This is my way to help any child who has to relocate to a new place. Children should enter the classroom with confidence.”

Elena’s Big Move (Synergy Books, 978-0-9823140-4-3, $16.95) tells the story of a 9-year-old Puerto Rican girl, Elena, who is moving to Indiana. Faced with the scary idea of leaving her island, she turns to her family for support. Her parents give her a camera and an empty scrapbook, assuring her that memories will travel just as well as her belongings. She photographs her favorite places, documenting everything from her school to her family’s favorite spot to picnic. When it’s time to walk into her Indiana classroom filled with new faces, Elena is braced by the memories she holds in her scrapbook. When her photos prompt a class discussion, Elena learns that home, even a new one, always holds both the past and an exciting future.

Elena’s Big Move provides more than just an entertaining story. With tips for parents in the back of the book, Olivieri encourages parents to actively prepare for a new beginning, even before leaving their old home.

SARAH OLIVIERI is a second grade teacher at Jefferson Elementary School in Gary, Ind., as well as a youth leader at First Christian Church, where she helps with at-risk teenagers. She was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and received her bachelor’s degree in education from Purdue University Calumet. Olivieri briefly worked as a realtor for Coldwell Banker where she encountered many families struggling with a big move. She currently lives in Munster, Ind., with her husband, Jose, and three children. Olivieri is excited to add ‘author’ to her job title and plans on writing more children’s books in the future.

To request a review copy of Elena’s Big Move or to set up an interview with Sarah Olivieri,

please contact Kelly Stonebock at (512) 478-2028 ext. 215 or kstonebock@phenixpublicity.com.

~Mom with a Scattered Mind~