Tina Says, “Opportunity” Series 1, Books 1-5
Five delightful short stories about Tina and her two young friends Imani and Leon. They are having a great time while building a tree house, train their dog Caton,....and being introduced to some new cool words while doing so.
Five delightful short stories about Tina and her two young friends Imani and Leon. They are having a great time while building a tree house, train their dog Caton,....and being introduced to some new cool words while doing so.
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Reviews
Anna Kocimska
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G.L.Wolfgang's "Tina says, Opportunity" book series is a great tool to teach kids new words while discussing with them the meaning behind them. Deeper thinking questions help put into practice those words. The illustrations are lovely and focus on every day situations that use the word to get a task done. It is a series of 5 individual stories, that really are conversations between the main characters Tina, Imani and Leon. At the end of every book is a deeper thinking section that invites to apply, analyze and abstract the words, which is in my eyes very helpful to understand, use it in the right moments and also to think about synonyms and therefore expand children’s vocabulary. I am looking forward to the next series!
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Manuela Wibmer
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When i got the book i thought “WOW" how cool the series is and how high quality the books are!
The books themselves I find very lovely, colorful, short and crisp - to the point so to speak. I would definitely recommend it, as it is understandable for children, includes exciting pictures and a great message. I did not know what sagacious meant before I read the book, now I do, so you see it is not only educating for children but really for everyone. The aspect that this “guide” should be taught from a very young age on I think makes it even more interesting and broadens one’s vocabulary as well as the ability to get things done. It's just fun to explore these Books ;-)
The books themselves I find very lovely, colorful, short and crisp - to the point so to speak. I would definitely recommend it, as it is understandable for children, includes exciting pictures and a great message. I did not know what sagacious meant before I read the book, now I do, so you see it is not only educating for children but really for everyone. The aspect that this “guide” should be taught from a very young age on I think makes it even more interesting and broadens one’s vocabulary as well as the ability to get things done. It's just fun to explore these Books ;-)
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Daniel Raggl/ Web Developer
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The illustrations are nicely made, they are easy to understand and are straight forward.
The color choice is easy on the eyes and very likeable as well.
The different books, with the different keywords are a great idea and nice for kids to read,
so that they understand them and act on them.
All in all, the books a nice combination of colorful illustrations and a message
on how one should act… which is only beneficial for oneself.
with kind regards
The color choice is easy on the eyes and very likeable as well.
The different books, with the different keywords are a great idea and nice for kids to read,
so that they understand them and act on them.
All in all, the books a nice combination of colorful illustrations and a message
on how one should act… which is only beneficial for oneself.
with kind regards
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Ina Wohlkinger/ Educator Metropolitan School of Berlin-Germany
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My name is Ina and I'm a 29 year old educator in an international School in Berlin, Germany.
In my opinion it's very important for kids to be read to, so they're able to understand to build their own opinion.
The book series "Tina says" is an awesome way to explain complex words to kids and make them understand what those words mean.
The stories are very child oriented, as well as the drawings.
The sentences are kept simple so that even little children are able to understand and emphasize what it is all about.
I especially like the part at the end of the books, the deeper thinking section, where you get to analyze and apply the words that are being taught in the books, so kids can think of words with the same or similar meaning and apply them accordingly.
In my opinion it's very important for kids to be read to, so they're able to understand to build their own opinion.
The book series "Tina says" is an awesome way to explain complex words to kids and make them understand what those words mean.
The stories are very child oriented, as well as the drawings.
The sentences are kept simple so that even little children are able to understand and emphasize what it is all about.
I especially like the part at the end of the books, the deeper thinking section, where you get to analyze and apply the words that are being taught in the books, so kids can think of words with the same or similar meaning and apply them accordingly.
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Annalena Baumgartner/Kindergarten Teacher
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“Opportunity“
“Implement“
“Persevere“
“Sagacious“
“Gratification“-what great words those are…
The five little books are about five words which are the foundation for life for everyone. Tina a caretaker explains these words to the kids Imani and Leon to help them understand, and use their new learned vocabulary in the right way.I love the illustrations and I understood the content easily.
In my opinion this books are perfect for children to learn new words and expand their knowledge. These words are very important for their growing up in general, because they are the foundation for their life. Kids are able to grow themselves, their knowledge, their social- and learn-methodical competences in every way, if they use the words and understand the meaning and importance of them.
I think it is a great idea to use the deeper thinking section at the end of the book for further analysis and find to find words with the same or similar meaning.
I love the idea of the author to teach kids that these five words help them to succeed in life’s challenges. And there are more series planned, which are the continuation of the first.
I love this books, so go and buy them!
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Judith Baumgartner
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The „Tina says“ series are honestly the most impressive children’s books I’ve ever seen! Not only are the vibrant illustrations absolutely lovely, but they also complement the storyline perfectly. Every booklet teaches children a valuable lesson on how to deal with certain situations in life. For example, they can learn, how to motivate themselves, or what’s the best way to achieve their goals. I am convinced that - if parents/teachers and kids read the series together and try incorporating the lessons learned in their everyday life – children will become more self-confident as well as decisive. Looking back, I think that books like “Tina says” could have helped me a lot growing up. I wouldn’t have missed many of the little opportunities life had offered me as a young girl. To sum up, I can only recommend this series to literally everyone who aims at empowering children and wants to give them a head start in life.
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Erik Steidl / the happy daze blog
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Teachers and parents especially, the latest book that I had the pleasure of reviewing is tailor made for you. Tina Says Opportunity, by GL Wolfgang, illustrated by Lillian Kirk, is a book that is chock full of second tier vocabulary, higher order thinking questions, and character building stories.
Overview
Tina Says Opportunity is the title of the entire book, but a book that is really a collection of five shorter stories. Each of the stories focuses on a specific word. Those words are opportunity, implement, Persevere, Sagacious, and Gratification. Each of these focus words has a short, 10ish page story that teaches what that word means. The stories are based on real life children in real life situations. The children are guided by a female mentor type character named Tina who explains each word she uses throughout the situation the children are in.
Outstanding Points
As a teacher and parent, I love this book. Each of the focus words is a second or third tier vocabulary word. (I mean, who has ever heard the word sagacious before?…I would have thought it was a species of tree or something). That word, throughout the story, is clearly defined with a real life usage of that word played out with the characters. I appreciate that the stories themselves are usually only about ten pages long. It sets up very nicely for a discussion or free writing time afterwards.
Speaking of discussion (no pun intended…well that’s not true…kind of pun intended) each story comes with a page that has higher order thinking questions included. the questions are divided into three categories; Applying, Analyzing, and Abstracting. Applying is the lowest order thinking, Analyzing the next, and Abstracting the highest. I absolutely love this part of the book. Maybe it’s the former teacher in me, but I think that this part of it is just great. I included the question page from the first book, based on the word, “opportunity.”
I really liked the illustrations in the book. They were not extremely life like but I did not feel that detracted from the book at all. I don’t think they were intended to be perfectly life like and realistic. When children read books, they don’t really care if the pictures look exactly like the real thing. If they did, authors like Eric Carle would not be successful. The point is that the pictures engage the children and fit the manuscript. I believe that these illustrations, by Lillian Kirk, do both of those things very well. They are done in a sort of pastel medium that I found to be perfect for the book.
Another thing I really liked about the books was that they were all done completely in dialogue. There is no narration of the story, simply illustrations and dialogue. It is a very unique approach to story telling that I really enjoyed.
Teaching and Discussion Points
Obviously, this book is set up for teaching and discussion. It literally has teaching/discussion questions included in the book. I would add a couple ideas if I was teaching and using this book in my classroom. First, as I said earlier, each book is focused on a specific second or third tier vocabulary word. If I was teaching, I would make a sort of word web of each word with synonyms and antonyms. Then, I would use that to discuss subtle differences in both the denotation, and connotation of each word. For example, sagacious, wise, smart, discerning, and intelligent are all relatively synonymous. However, each are somewhat different as well. How is being intelligent different from being wise? Are there different ways to be intelligent or smart? Questions like those take the vocabulary introduced in these books to an entirely new level. After all, vocabulary is one of the five components of literacy. As I said before, I absolutely love this book. It is especially good for teachers and parents of young children.
Overview
Tina Says Opportunity is the title of the entire book, but a book that is really a collection of five shorter stories. Each of the stories focuses on a specific word. Those words are opportunity, implement, Persevere, Sagacious, and Gratification. Each of these focus words has a short, 10ish page story that teaches what that word means. The stories are based on real life children in real life situations. The children are guided by a female mentor type character named Tina who explains each word she uses throughout the situation the children are in.
Outstanding Points
As a teacher and parent, I love this book. Each of the focus words is a second or third tier vocabulary word. (I mean, who has ever heard the word sagacious before?…I would have thought it was a species of tree or something). That word, throughout the story, is clearly defined with a real life usage of that word played out with the characters. I appreciate that the stories themselves are usually only about ten pages long. It sets up very nicely for a discussion or free writing time afterwards.
Speaking of discussion (no pun intended…well that’s not true…kind of pun intended) each story comes with a page that has higher order thinking questions included. the questions are divided into three categories; Applying, Analyzing, and Abstracting. Applying is the lowest order thinking, Analyzing the next, and Abstracting the highest. I absolutely love this part of the book. Maybe it’s the former teacher in me, but I think that this part of it is just great. I included the question page from the first book, based on the word, “opportunity.”
I really liked the illustrations in the book. They were not extremely life like but I did not feel that detracted from the book at all. I don’t think they were intended to be perfectly life like and realistic. When children read books, they don’t really care if the pictures look exactly like the real thing. If they did, authors like Eric Carle would not be successful. The point is that the pictures engage the children and fit the manuscript. I believe that these illustrations, by Lillian Kirk, do both of those things very well. They are done in a sort of pastel medium that I found to be perfect for the book.
Another thing I really liked about the books was that they were all done completely in dialogue. There is no narration of the story, simply illustrations and dialogue. It is a very unique approach to story telling that I really enjoyed.
Teaching and Discussion Points
Obviously, this book is set up for teaching and discussion. It literally has teaching/discussion questions included in the book. I would add a couple ideas if I was teaching and using this book in my classroom. First, as I said earlier, each book is focused on a specific second or third tier vocabulary word. If I was teaching, I would make a sort of word web of each word with synonyms and antonyms. Then, I would use that to discuss subtle differences in both the denotation, and connotation of each word. For example, sagacious, wise, smart, discerning, and intelligent are all relatively synonymous. However, each are somewhat different as well. How is being intelligent different from being wise? Are there different ways to be intelligent or smart? Questions like those take the vocabulary introduced in these books to an entirely new level. After all, vocabulary is one of the five components of literacy. As I said before, I absolutely love this book. It is especially good for teachers and parents of young children.
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Josh Wolfgang
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My name is Josh, my son Braxton has ADHD, he has a hard time focusing on a long book and he needs to read 10-20 min every day. Which takes more like 30-40 min with him, wandering around and losing interest. That changed when we got uncle Gary's books and sat down to read them. I expected a normal session from him but he was in tune with the books, they were just long enough to keep him interested and only had one big word. He was ecstatic that he could read through the entire book and understand it. For me it was great because there was no fighting with him to focus, cause the book dragged him into the story. His teacher told me I have to pick certain points out of the the book to make him think. In the back of the book it already had that (the deeper thinking section) which is great, because I have no idea what the teacher was really asking from me. For a child with ADHD, these books are great, I and can't wait for the next ones to come out. It makes reading fun again with my son!
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