Chickadees,
Bumbelbeez, Pussy-Willow Trees and Two-And-A-Half, by Jeffrey Politsky, is a vibrantly illustrated
adventure book meant to inspire children to follow their urges to explore and
to appreciate diversity. It is recommended for ages 4-9.
“Kids who still have their parents read to them
really like the book, as do kids who are independent readers,” says Dr. Politsky. “The
reviews of parents and children who have read the book are very favorable:
adults really like the message and the children just love the story. I hope
many more children will get to read it.”
The book starts off when “One day a little brown monkey with
dazzling olive green eyes, a friendly smile, and a long curly tail asked his
father if there was more to the life than just hanging around with other
monkeys and eating bananas.” Before long he meets a lovely grey cat and a
majestic blue pelican each on their own quests. Together, they explore a
foreign island and when their journey takes them into a private swath of land,
they befriend a local dog who takes them further than they ever imagined.
Chickadees,
Bumbelbeez, Pussy-Willow Trees and Two-And-A-Half emphasizes several significant values, which help us subsist and
ultimately thrive: learning through independent exploration, the need for
friendship, the importance of respect and tolerance for other cultures,
languages, and lifestyle diversity, along with a healthy understanding of the
powers of mother nature.
What do you get when a little brown monkey wants to see
if there is more to life than just hanging with his monkey friends and eating
bananas all day? Well, you get a delightful
story that involves discovering new things, making new friends (a cat, a pelican, and a dog), going on
great adventures and along the way trying to locate the "little chickadees, who
speak Bumbelbeez, up here in the pussy willow trees. Tee-hee, tee-hee!" I seriously loved saying Bumbelbeez out loud!
This was a charming story that any child will
love. With delightful illustrations and
a storyline that was absolutely darling, this book will keep any young mind
engaged. The book is divided into four
parts so it is the perfect bedtime book as you can read one part each
night. But with such a fun story, your
child will probably beg you to continue to the next part, eventually finishing
the whole book in one sitting! For those
children who are reading on their own, the vocabulary is simple enough for them
to understand.
I really liked the fact that even though the characters
were all different and coming from different 'walks of life', they came together
and not only learned about each other but learned about different
cultures. This book is the perfect
gateway for a child to understand and learn that even though a person may look
and act different, they are still a person and can learn something new and
exciting by being around them. Plus they learn that it's fun to explore and see new and exciting places.
Another plus for this book is that half of the proceeds
of the purchase of each book will be donated to neurocognitive and breast
cancer research. So by purchasing this
book, your child gets a fun read and the half the money goes to a great cause. It's a win-win situation either way you look
at it!
5 stars
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
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