Elena's Big Move [Hardcover]

Sarah M. Olivieri (Author)

Book Description

Elena loves her home in Puerto Rico, but she just found out she will be moving to a strange, new place she's never seen before-Indiana.She's worried that nothing will be the same again, so she takes pictures of her friends and favorite places and creates an album to remember them by. When she finally moves, she finds that Indiana is very different than her old home, but she soon discovers that new places can be just as interesting as old ones. With the help of her new friends, Elena starts another album to record memories from the many new places she will soon discover.Demographics of Puerto Ricans:-In 2000 there were 3,406,178 Puerto Rican Americans-The states with the largest Puerto Rican populations in 2000 were New York, Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sarah M. Olivieri was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and has a B.A. in elementary education from Purdue University Calumet. She currently teaches second grade and is a youth leader for the First Christian Church. She lives in Indiana with her husband, José and their three children.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Synergy Books (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0982314043
• ISBN-13: 978-0982314043
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 11.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,937,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Filled with shaded paintings that illustrate the feelings Elena is having with both dark tones and light colors, January 21, 2010

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elena's Big Move (Hardcover)

"Elena's Big Move" is a creative book about a nine year old girl named Elena who moves from the island of Puerto Rico to the midwestern Great Lakes state of Indiana, U. S. A. Fearful of the journey, Elena is encouraged by her mother to take pictures of her favorite places and people in Puerto Rico, to carry a scrapbook of precious memories with her to her new home. When she gets to her new home, she takes her treasured album with her to school on her first day. Her new teacher encourages her to share her pictures and memories of Puerto Rico with her new classmates, and in turn they decide to collect new pictures of Indiana for Elena to help share favorite places and people of her new home with her. Although Elena finds many of the changes scary and hard to understand, she learns she can keep her memories and go forward with her life after her big move. "Elena's Big Move" ends with tips for children, parents and teachers to help in preparing for and adjusting to their own big moves in life. There is also a fun word search puzzle at the end of "Elena's Big Move" with locations discussed in both Indiana and and Puerto Rico. "Elena's Big Move" is filled with shaded paintings that illustrate the feelings Elena is having with both dark tones and light colors.

5.0 out of 5 stars A book of help and hope, October 26, 2009

By 

Shirley Priscilla Johnson "Author/Reviewer -... (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Elena's Big Move (Hardcover)

Elena is 9-years old and lives in Puerto Rico, however she is about to have a great adventure, one that is exciting and a little scary at the same time. Elena and her family are moving to Indiana.
She knows everything will be different, from the landscape and weather, and even to the different activities that she will be doing. She is also sad and afraid that she will forget her friends and her home land.
Her parents are very wise and suggest that she take pictures of everyone and everything she loves and make up a scrapbook to keep her memories in. When she arrives in Indiana and starts her new school this scrapbook full of her memories is shared with her new teacher and her fellow students opening up a world of sharing and making new memories with new friends.

In the world we live in many families are relocating, pulling up roots and moving across country or to another land. This adventure can be both exciting and scary, especially to a child. In this book author, Sarah M. Olivieri, brings the hidden fears to light. She also gives solutions to help quiet these fears. Her tale flows nicely and I believe children and adults will identify with the characters.
This is a very nice book, the illustrations are very colorful and life like, big and bold, definitely giving a clear picture to the mind, bringing the story further to life.
I think this is a great book for any child that is facing a move whether it be across country, to another land, or just to another town. It gives positive suggestions to calm fears and leaves the reader with great hope for an exciting beginning of a life in a new location. Very well done.