Paw-some Party of The Year: Celebrating 15 Years of Mouse-terful Storytelling at the Geronimo Stilton Convention 2.0

Press Release:

MANILA, MAY 15 : Holey cheese — the worldwide bestselling children series Geronimo Stilton by Scholastic is celebrating its grand 15th anniversary! Marking the historic occasion, the Geronimo Stilton Convention 2.0 is coming to town on May 25, 2019 from 1pm – 4pm at Atrium 1, Level 2, The Podium. So put those party hats on and get ready to have a “mice” time, because everyone is invited!

Exclusive for one day only, the Geronimo Stilton Convention 2.0 offers families all around a wholesome experience with plenty whisker-licking-good activities. Kids can bring their inner Picasso in the On-the-Spot Art Contest or stand a chance to win the Cosplay Contest when they come as their favourite Geronimo Stilton character. For a jumping-good-time, kids can spend the afternoon in the Bouncy “Cheeseball” Pit, an inflatable castle ready to be conquered!

Also not to be missed is the Book Discussion of “My Favorite Geronimo Stilton Adventure” for kids to share their own unforgettable Geronimo moments with other fans of the series. Packing a paw-erful punch, the fun continues with Face-Painting, Photo Booth, Parlor Games and a yummy Snack Bar. The party of the year will also feature a Celebrity Appearance of Geronimo and Thea Stilton in a special musical number, shaking and grooving with their “cheesy” dance moves. As a memento, fans can also get their book copies stamped by Geronimo and The Stilton themselves!

An award-winning Ratitzer Prize author, Geronimo Stilton runs The Rodent’s Gazette, Mouse Island’s most famouse newspaper. Geronimo can be a scaredy mouse at times, but that does not stop his daring escapades across the globe (and other realms too)!  Geronimo writes the Geronimo Stilton series to share his funny adventures with young readers around the world.

Each book is fast-paced, filled with lively art and a unique format kids 7-10 will love. Commenting on his book, Geronimo said, “They are whisker-licking good stories, and that’s a promise!”; his eyes gleaming with excitement. Plus, it sure makes learning English as enjoyable as chewing off a large chunk of cheese!

The series was first published in 2000 in Italian with the English version being published in 2004 by Scholastic Corporation, and since then has been entertaining children the world over with his amazing adventures. Together with his sister Thea, cousin Trap and nephew Benjamin, Geronimo Stilton exposes kids to different cultures in his quest for the latest scoop. To date, Geronimo Stilton has written seventy-two (72) internationally bestselling books and 7 spin-off series titles all based on his most exciting escapades. His sister Thea also has her own popular books based on her life as a photojournalist!Don’t miss the paw-some party of the year! To join the Geronimo Stilton Convention 2.0, simply present any Geronimo Stilton book purchased from National Book Store, Powerbooks, NBS Express and online at www.nationalbookstore.com; upon registration at the venue. The Geronimo Stilton Convention 2.0 is co-organized by Scholastic Asia, National Book Store, Powerbooks and The Podium.

Mga Kwento Ni Nanay: A Storytelling Workshop

Children love stories!  Undoubtedly, children love hearing stories in whatever form – in print, read to them, read on their own, on television, in movies, etcetera. It may sound surprising to some, but majority of children prefer listening to stories read to them by their moms.  They may not always enthusiastically show it but they do love it when their parents read them stories before they sleep at night.  Try to recall your own childhood. I’m pretty sure you treasure those bedtime stories your mom used to read to you.

I believe that all mothers are natural storytellers.  Some just need a little prodding to help bring out this gift.  This weekend may just be the right time to unleash the Mother Goose in you.  On November 24 and 25, the Gateway Gallery in partnership with Adarna House is holding the 2nd Mga Kwento ni Nanay: A Storytelling Workshop.  This workshop is designed to strengthen the reading campaign of the Gateway Gallery by involving parents, guardian, teachers and volunteers in the community.  If you want to learn helpful techniques to become an effective storyteller, this workshop is perfect for you.

This activity not only emphasizes the benefits of reading but espouses spending quality time with our children for their overall development.  We’ve often been told that the best gift we can give to our loved ones is time.  Well, what better way to spend that time than sharing stories with our children.

Mga Kwento ni Nanay: A Storytelling Workshop is just one among many programs of the Gateway Gallery that promotes the benefits of reading and the importance of literacy in our society.  Read on to learn more about this advocacy.

 

Press Release

The Gateway Gallery, managed by the J. Amado Araneta Foundation (JAAF) – the Corporate Social Responsibility arm of the Araneta Group, strongly believes in the importance of reading and literacy. In June 12 this year, the Gallery unveiled its “Liwanag Reading Corner”, a 7-piece mobile wooden sculpture inspired by the story of the Lamp and the Moth told by Teodora Alonzo to the young boy Jose Rizal. This one-of-a-kind art piece aims to promote our Filipino heritage and encourage reading by showcasing select books on Philippine history, culture and arts for all ages.

GATEWAY GALLERY PROGRAM

Reading has insurmountable benefits that cannot be neglected. It fosters individual growth that can spur national development. Encouragingly, the Philippines does not lag behind on basic literacy. In 2013, 96.5 percent of 74 million Filipinos 10 years old and over were basically literate. Basic or simple literacy – is the ability of a person to read and write with understanding a simple message in any language or dialect. Furthermore, nine out of every ten Filipinos 10 to 64 years were functionally literate. Functional literacy includes not only reading and writing but also numeracy skills. The skills must be sufficiently advanced to enable the individual to participate fully and efficiently in activities commonly occurring in his life situation that require a reasonable capability of communicating by written language. A functional literate person is one who can at least read, write, compute and/or comprehend. Also, persons who graduated from high school or completed higher level of education are classified as functionally literate.

Though the statistics looks good, the number significantly drops when comprehension or higher level of literacy is considered. Only 5 out of 10 elementary graduates can read, write, compute and comprehend. While this number improves as the students reach high school, only about 60% of the population actually reaches high school thus, attaining this level of literacy. Employment/ looking for work (28.8%), Family income not sufficient to send child to school (15.7), and lack of personal interest (14.9) are top 3 reasons for not attending school/ dropping out.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

The Gateway Gallery Reading Program aims to foster literacy or love for reading and books among Filipino children. It supplements the current DepEd programs on improving the literacy rate in the country with emphasis on promotion of Filipino history, arts, and culture.

PROGRAM COMPONENTS

Unveiled during the Philippine Independence Day on June 12, 2017, the “Liwanag Reading Corner” is a 7-piece mobile wooden sculpture inspired by the story of the Lamp and the Moth told by Teodora Alonzo to the young boy Jose Rizal. The one of a kind art piece aims to promote our Filipino heritage and encourage reading by showcasing select books on Philippine history, culture and arts for all ages in the gallery.

Kuwentuhang Adarna sa Gateway Gallery is a monthly storytelling session for community children. The activity aims to promote book enjoyment through animated storytelling and activities. The stories are told by storytellers from Adarna House using Adarna books. The session ends with distribution of snacks and educational gifts.

The Liwanag Reading Caravan is a storytelling – school campaign where celebrity storytellers visit nearby schools to promote the value and habit of reading. It also encourages the students to visit Gateway Gallery’s Liwanag Reading Corner for some “after-school reading”.

Mga Kwento ni Nanay is a one-day storytelling workshop designed to strengthen the reading campaign of the Gallery by enlisting parents, guardian, teachers and volunteers in the community. Participants are briefed on the value of reading and helpful techniques to become effective storytellers. The activity not only emphasizes the benefits of reading but espouses spending quality time with the children for their overall development.

In the last 5 months since they launched their reading program, they were able to reach 230 children, trained nearly 100 storytellers and distributed more than 150 books.

This November 24 & 25, as celebrate the National Reading Month, the Gateway Gallery is holding its 2nd Mga Kwento ni Nanay : A Storytelling Workshop in partnership with Adarna House. The workshop is designed to strengthen the reading campaign of the Gallery by involving parents, guardian, teachers and volunteers in the community. Participants are briefed on the value of reading and helpful techniques to become effective storytellers. The activity not only emphasizes the benefits of reading but espouses spending quality time with children for their overall development.

Totally Cool Augmented Reality Books from Scholastics

My kids are bookworms! There’s no question about it. Aside from being bookworms, they’re also advanced readers.  One factor that contributed to this is that we kept them away from gadgets during their early years. They learned to appreciate and to love books because of this.  I’m guessing that they love smelling the pages just as I do. Ebooks may be convenient and more affordable but it cannot parallel the satisfaction we get from flipping through page after page of paperbacks.

However, when they reached school age and became exposed to games their classmates play, we eventually allowed them some gadget time – always closely monitored and timed though. ? They do look forward to being able to use their tablet or my phone to play games or watch videos. Old-fashioned mom though still prefers that they just stick to their paperbacks.

Most likely, Scholastic knows that many other moms have similar sentiments. This is probably why they came out with their augmented reality books – books that encourage children to read while enjoying their gadget time.

The Magic of Augmented Reality

Whoa! It’s AWESOME!!! This was the first reaction of the two kids when they first tried out the app.  It’s like VR only better!  In virtual reality, the kids play in an artificial environment; but, in augmented reality, they play in their actual environment.  It’s bringing something inanimate to life and interacting with it in real time.

It’s totally cool! It’s showing on the screen like it’s really real! Like it’s really there in real life! – Jade

If you’re still confused about what augmented reality is, just think of it as something like 4-D.  It’s like adding another dimension to a 3-D image. When you hover your phone or tablet over the page, a lifelike image pops out and becomes part of your own environment. THEN you can interact with this image by making it move around and even taking pictures together with it.

 

In the books from Scholastic, our kids’ favorite characters come to life with the power of Digital Magic.  Now that we’re hopefully all clear about what augmented reality is, let’s check the books out in the next two posts.

Click here for Transformers Robot in Disguise: Where Crown City Comes to Life.

Click here for My Little Pony: Where Equestria Comes to Life

Learning Fabumousely with Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks

Alright! I admit it. I’m guilty! – Guilty of raising would-be hoarders. At their young age of six and seven, my two kids are now budding book collectors (it’s in their blood, you know).  They’ve already started their collections of Roald Dahl, EB White, CS Lewis, and their favorite writer to-date, Geronimo Stilton.  Oh yes! I’ve got two mouse-ter-ful readers at home.

More Geronimo Stilton books from the Scholastic Sizzling Summer Sale!

More Geronimo Stilton books from the Scholastic Sizzling Summer Sale!

On our trip to the bookstore last July, my daughter Jade saw the Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks on display and asked if we could buy one (Of course, she would ask – what would you expect from a Stilton fan?!). However, we had already paid for the books she had chosen.  I promised her I’d get her one on our next trip to the bookstore.  By some piece of cheese luck, she got all six Pawbooks (and a whole set of Geronimo Stilton books!) during the Scholastic Trade Launch we attended last August.

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Mouseterful readers make fantabumouse spellers! We won the great word hunt coz of our great teamwork – I cut the letters, she pasted them. 🙂 Jade won one whole set of Geronimo Stilton books but swapped them (except for two books) with Kuya Jed who won a set of Thea Stilton books. Thank you, Kuya Jed!!!

Scholastic Trade Launch

Although the trade launch was held in far far away Powerbooks Greenbelt 4, my Jade and I endured more than an hour’s drive through metro traffic and bravely faced the monsoon rains just to see Geronimo and Thea.  We wouldn’t have missed the event for the world!

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We arrived at Powerbooks an hour early but boredom was not a problem.  We were surrounded by BOOKS!  And Jade could spend hours reading transported into her own world of imagination.

After buying a Rainbow Fairies book (also a Scholastic book!), Jade joined me in the event area and saw the Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks in my bag.  Oh yeah, I’m sure you know what happened next!

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While Jade was busy working on two of the GSA Pawbooks, I browsed the other books. I couldn’t help wishing we had such books when we were young.  My sisters and I would have greatly enjoyed working on them.  (I’ll let you in on a little secret – I answer some of the pages in the Pawbooks, too! tee-hee!)

Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks

With Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks, mouse-ter-ful readers can became fabu-mouse writers as well – just like Geronimo!

Geronimo Stilton Academy

The Vocabulary Pawbooks contain fun puzzles and activities that help readers understand word formation, build their vocabulary, and engage them in using new words they learn.

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The Comprehension Pawbooks help develop reading skills such as predicting outcomes, inferring, sequencing, recalling details, and drawing conclusions.  Fun activities in the Pawbooks engage children and motivate them to read. Structured activities develop their comprehension skills.

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This October, a new set of Grammar Pawbooks will be released. Now, that’s something to watch out for!

Fun, Entertaining, and Engaging.  This is what sets the Pawbooks apart from other workbooks.  Admit it, most English workbooks are booooring.  You just have pages and pages filled with words and nothing else.  Well, Pawbooks have the same quirky illustrations and witty humor as Geronimo and Thea Stilton books.  These make learning English a lot more fun.

Learning English will become as enjoyable as chewing off a large chunk of cheese!

When Jade first saw the Pawbooks, she just wanted to see what was inside. As she was browsing through the pages, she saw an excerpt from The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid – one of the books we brought with us for the book signing.  Her eyes lit up as she exclaimed “Ohhh! I know this. It’s from the Cheese Pyramid!” After this discovery, she asked for a pencil and started working on that Pawbook.

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Geronimo Stilton Academy Pawbooks are targeted for kids age 8 to 13 who want to develop their literacy skills.  Although my kids are just age 6 & 7, they still love working on the Pawbooks.  When I asked Jakei, my 6-year-old son, if the Pawbooks were easy to answer, he said they were not easy BUT he still likes answering the exercises.

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A few days after the launch, Jade had to stay at home for a few days due to colds and cough. The GSA Pawbooks kept her busy. She even worked on them while nebulizing. 😉

Geronimo Stilton Pawbooks are very affordable at only P299 each (that’s the price in NBS).  Really a small amount to pay for learning. Oh and if you want pawsome online games and activities, check out the Geronimo Stilton page in Scholastic.com where you – oh, okay, your kids – can create your their own Geronimo Stilton comic book.

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So, she received two sets of GSA Pawbooks, won a set of new Stilton books, and won GCs to Mind Museum. BUT, this has got to be the highlight of her day – MEETING THEA STILTON!!!

One final thing, Geronimo and Thea Stilton will be at the Manila International Book Fair on September 20. You can have your Stilton books stamped by the siblings on that day. Yey! 🙂

geronimo stilton at mibf

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For more information on the Geronimo Stilton Academy: Pawbooks, visit Scholastic’s website at www.scholastic.asia or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ScholasticAsia

Mad Dash at the Scholastic Sizzling Summer Sale

SATURDATE. Nah! More like SATURATED. It definitely was a looooong Saturday for us.  Piano lessons, drum lessons, a much-delayed appointment with the wedding photographer for the final layout of our wedding album, a trip to the dentist – and, yes, we still managed to squeeze in a mad dash to the Scholastic Sizzling Summer Sale.

It literally was a mad dash.  I told the kids to just get all the Magic School Bus books they didn’t have yet and get some Geronimo Stilton books.  I saw a Klutz Galaxy activity book and grabbed that one too before heading off to the cashier.  I could spend hours in a bookstore and spend an entire day in a book sale but we had a couple more errands to run so we really had to go.  We were there for less than 30 minutes and managed to grab only these:

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Hubby took pictures of the warehouse while the kids and I were choosing books.  The pics can give you an idea of what to expect at the warehouse.

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Booths outside are where you’ll find the lowest priced books – we got Magic School Bus books at 49 pesos each!

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Most books here are at 25% off. Harry Potter books were at 40% off when we dropped by.

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Check out the Grolier table!!! If you don’t have Fun Thinkers or Logico yet, now is the best time to buy them. 🙂

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I definitely want to go back and scour each and every shelf for good finds.  Good thing the sale runs until May 24 so I still have lots of time to visit the warehouse again.  If you’re going there too, you may want to avoid going at noontime when the heat can become unbearable.  For directions on how to get there, check my previous post out. 🙂

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Kids couldn’t put the new books down! These pictures were taken around 5 hours after our mad dash.