Book Review
Andrew Matthews – Wisdom of Words
Jun 9th
I enjoyed the talk by Andrew Matthews during the recent Singapore Education Summit 2010. In case you wondered who he is. He is the international cartoonist, speaker & best-selling author of motivational and personal development books such as “Happiness Now”, “Follow Your Heart”.
This is what I’ve shared with my Genz Kid:
You can choose to be happy or misery. Misery is a choice.
I took the opportunity to teach my Genz Kid that life is never fair. You can choice to happy with what you have or misery with what you don’t have. MISERY is a choice!
You are happier when you accomplished something.
I asked my Genz Kid whether he felt good after obtaining good results for his mid year results, knowing that he had tried his best and put in his best effort. He said yes!
Life is a circle of continuous challenges.
My Genz Kid was bothered that his friend was not finding time to do the project they were supposed to complete during the June school holiday. I told him that a person grows up when they faces challenges in life. It’s when you know how to overcome these challenges that you find yourself wiser. When you thought you have overcome one challenge, before you could rest your feet, you find yourself facing another challenge and this will go on and on …. AND again, you can choice to face these challenges positively with an open heart or miserably.
Ability + Attitude + Strategy = SUCCESS
I told my Genz Kid that a person could be very smart, but without the right attitude and strategy, he can never be successful. He may not be the smartest person in his class but if he learn from the mistakes and take failure positively, and with the right strategy, he will be successful.
Fun is when you are involved and participated, not watch
I asked my Genz Kid which is more fun, to watch your friend playing a scoccer game or you participate in the game. He told me “PARTICIPATE”. Yes, participate even if you are not the best in the game or even you have lost the game. The more important thing is you have fun and enjoyed the game!
That’s all I have to share today. If you have not read his book, I would urge you to read one. I believe you will feel as enlighten as I do!
And guess what, I’m going to get his “Being a Happy Tenn” for my Genz Kid. Although he is not a teenage yet, I believe he will benefit a lot from the book.
Official website : http://www.andrewmatthews.com/
Also on facebook http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Andrew-Matthews-Author/108867285809877
And this is from Andrew’s “Happiness Now”…. ENJOY!
Book Review – The Diary of Amos Lee
Jan 12th
Have you read “The Diary of Amos Lee” written by Adeline Foo? I brought the 1st book “The Diary of Amos Lee: I Sit, I Write, I Flush! for my son during his December school holiday last year. He enjoyed the book so much that he finished reading the book within a day. He said he couldn’t stop reading it once he started reading the same. I suppose the book must be entertainingly as I could hear his laughter while he was reading it. He said it was one of the best books he had read.
Last Sunday, my son was expected to write a journal as homework and he used the book as a reference. I read his master piece and gees, it was pretty interesting and humorous that I can’t stop giggling while reading it. Even Genz Dad thinks that the journal was written very creatively. As a result, in a spur of moment yesterday evening, I got him the 2nd book – The Diary of Amos Lee: Girls, Guts & Glory! As expected, he finished ¾ of the book last night and I bet he would finish the whole book today.
Here’s the extracts of the book review from the official website of The Diary of Amos Lee (http://www.amoslee.com.sg/home.html):
The Diary of Amos Lee: I Sit, I Write, I Flush!
This diary began as Mum’s New Year resolution to get me to write. She told me to write when I am doing my big business. “Five to eight minutes max!” she said. “I don’t want you to develop piles!” And so my writing in the bathroom began. My entries started with the boring old stuff… then Mum got this new job as a writer and, following her around, I got to do fun stuff, like ogle at deformed frogs, see into the future with a fortune-telling parrot and wow at a life-sized F1 car made of chocolate! That’s how I got more interesting things to write about. Plus, I had to deal with an EVIL bully who was tormenting me at school… thank goodness for my best friends, Alvin and Anthony, we rallied against the bully and got through this year with lots of adventures and good fun!
The Diary of Amos Lee: Girls, Guts & Glory!
The story of Amos continues. He is still writing his diary in the toilet, but he has found a way to hide it from Mum’s prying eyes. Amos joins the school’s swim team and learns about hunger, not the sort to make you want to eat food, but the drive to excel and win medals in competitions! The themes in Book 2 touch on family, friendship and loyalty. Lessons are also drawn from Olympic legends like Michael Phelps, Carl Lewis and Sebastian Coe, in inspiring legions of young athletes to be the best in both studies and sports. Amos seeks his Olympic dream, in this second installation.
Parents, if you are trying to cultivate good reading habits of your children, try these books.