UPDATED -- Isaiah and the Chocolate Mountain® is Coming!

Most everyone has experienced the disappointment of getting a bad gift. But, a new children’s book turns such an experience into a teachable moment, and a platform for building emotional intelligence.

Isaiah and the Chocolate Mountain®, (ISBN: 978-1-4834-1930-5), is the story of a precocious little boy whose birthday goes terribly wrong when he receives the one thing he loathes — chocolate! Disappointed and angry, Isaiah storms out of the house and into adventure. In the end, Isaiah learns how resourceful he can be, and how much his Auntie loves him. 

The engaging tale is written by “Auntie” Valerie Williams-Sanchez, and features 26-pages of richly colored, hand-drawn images by illustrator Brooklyn Russell. Together, the narrative and images create a fun storytelling experience that is bursting with joy, emanating light and love, to be read at home, school, daycare or other places where kids, ages 6-8, meet. 

The story “features a mixed race child -- few kids’ books do –- who displays a range of emotions, ” Williams-Sanchez said. “Talking about the story can help kids learn to identify their own feelings and the consequences behind their actions, behaviors and choices.” 

     

Paired with the book’s companion “Emotion Commotion^tm” Healthy Communications Workbook, the story becomes an Emotional Intelligence teaching tool that eschews didactic messaging, and offers a platform for adults to teach kids in middle childhood how to better communicate their feelings in a fun yet meaningful way. Such lessons are the foundation of building healthy psychosocial behaviors and emotional intelligence, defined as the awareness, control, and expression of one's emotions, as well as the ability to manage interpersonal relationships.

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BOOK PARTIES, READINGS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Now that the weather is warming up, why not come and hear a live reading of Isaiah and the Chocolate Mountain® at one of the following locations. 

Pick up a copy of the book or buy a special  event poster, have it signed and personalized by the author, "Auntie Valerie". 

Contact the locations listed for reading times. Additional dates are anticipated. 
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April 2015

• Friday, April 17th: A Nu Toy, 16 Main St., Tarrytown, N.Y. 
• Saturday, April 25th: *Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Pulitzer Hall Library, 116th & Broadway, NY 
• Chocolations, 607 E. Boston Post Rd., Mamaroneck, N.Y.
• Tuesday, April 28th: Nyack Center Afterschool Program, Nyack, NY

May 2015

• Saturday, May 2nd: A Nu Toy, 16 Main St., Tarrytown, N.Y. 
• Tuesday, March 5th: Nyack Center Afterschool Program, Nyack, NY

* Isaiah and the Chocolate Mountain® appears

 on the Columbia University, Alumni Bookshelf

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 Media Inquires, contact: Valerie Williams-Sanchez at (714)654-6453
Valorena Online, L.L.C., P.O. Box 180, Palisades, N.Y. 10964