Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway


Children - Non-Fiction
34 Pages
Reviewed on 04/15/2014
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Yeah, blah blah... Do you want a free award-winning book? Go here: http://alinkarutkowska.com
Now if you're REALLY interested in my bio, here it is:
Alinka Rutkowska is a an award-winning Children's Author. She writes the “Maya & Filippo” Book Series for Children – travel books for kids with a positive attitude. She takes inspiration from her own travels while cruising with her husband and daughter around the world. She is positive, appreciative and happy 95% of the time and during the miserable 5% she thinks to herself quickly: “things always work out for me” and they do.
Alinka’s doesn’t really have a “to do” list but she does have a “fun things to do” list. It usually consists of writing, reading, reading her writing, writing in her diary, blogging, reading other blogs, commenting, breathing deeply, meditating, feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin, closing her eyes, breathing some more and thinking what a wonderful world she lives in.
Sometimes she takes a few minutes to pause and instead of doing something from her “fun things to do” list she just daydreams a little. She thinks of all the great things that she wants for her to happen and imagines how wonderful it will feel to be interviewed about them in the future. She’s already preparing the answers to those interview questions in her mind. She especially loves the part, in which she says that she achieved all these things because she spent a considerable amount of time visualizing them first.
Alinka loves to ski while listening to music at the same time, she enjoys an occasional glass (or bottle) of Barolo with dark chocolate, she loves cuddling with her husband and daughter. Alinka really likes tea, especially that last sip which is usually the tastiest.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Bil Howard for Readers' Favorite

Alinka Rutkowska and Konrad Checinski have done it again in Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway. Maya and Filippo travel all over the world with their mom, dad, and their cat named Otello on a ship called the Fun Princess. They see many wonderful sights and always learn valuable lessons. When the Fun Princess docks along the coast of Skagway, Alaska, everyone but Filippo is eager to see the sights of a frontier town that boomed, almost overnight, in 1898 when two men found gold. Because Filippo is in such a foul mood, Maya and her mother board the White Pass train and enjoy a fantastic day of beautiful vistas and bright sunshine, but Filippo stays with his dad and goes to the park. Filippo’s sour day only gets worse when it starts to rain and then he spills hot chocolate on himself. “Don’t let a few drops spoil your day. You can turn it around, Filippo,” his dad tells him. Will Filippo be able to turn his day in Skagway around or will the whole trip be ruined for him? Find out what happens and then ace the quiz at the back of the book. There are also some interesting facts about Skagway to add to the lessons that Maya and Filippo learn.

The simple lessons and bright colors of Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway are a continuation of the already brilliant series written by Alinka Rutkowska and illustrated by Konrad Checinski. The new sights that they explore and the fun facts that are discovered about places all over the world spur the imagination of children who read their books. The simple yet profound lessons that are learned are ones that ought to stick with them throughout their lives and are an excellent reminder even to adults. The colorful illustrations grab your attention and make the story come alive. Simple, colorful and profound, Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway will brighten your day and help you turn it around.

Patricia Reding

As readers are sure to do in the future, I’ve followed along with Maya and Filippo on a few of their adventures of late. This time, with Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway, by Alinka Rutkowska, I joined Maya and Filippo, two children who live on a ship at sea with their parents and cat, Otello, to visit Skagway, Alaska. Here, for the first time, the siblings, also best friends, separate for the day. Maya and Mom take a train trip on the White Pass, while Filippo, experiencing a difficult day, goes with Dad to the playground. First, Filippo gets rained upon —but that is just the beginning of his troubles. Even so, he learns something important along the way, a lesson worth sharing with young readers: no day is so bad that it cannot turn around and things look better when one is not grumpy and complaining.

The illustrations by Konrad Checinski are delightful, bold and colorful. The story urges young readers to follow along and perhaps even to create adventures of their own. This time youngsters will visit Skagway, learn a little something about the White Pass, and about hiking in bear country. Following the story, teachers and parents can test children’s comprehension and can share further information with them about the Alaska Gold Rush and about safe hiking practices. All aboard, young readers! Next stop: Skagway, Alaska. Don’t forget to bring along your sense of fun and adventure!

Melinda Hills

Sister and brother, Maya and Filippo, live on board a cruise ship with their parents. As the ship sails around the world, the children have the opportunity to see many wonderful places and learn about different ways of life. In Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway by Alinka Rutkowska, Maya joins her mother for a train ride into the mountains. Filippo is in a bad mood and goes to the playground with his father. As things get worse for Filippo, his father suggests that he can ‘turn it around.’ Filippo learns a valuable lesson – instead of focusing on the negative, he looks for the positive and ends up feeling much happier. Back together at the ship, the family decides to hike to a nearby lake. Again, Filippo ‘turns it around’ when he and Maya come across a wild bear. They sing a cheerful song to keep from being afraid and the bear runs away. On the way back to the ship, both children talk about the wonderful day while their parents are grateful for the tremendous opportunities and lessons available to the children.

Alinka Rutkowska and Konrad Checinski have teamed up and created another wonderful children’s story. Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway is not only a great story full of object lessons for young boys and girls, it also provides interesting information about Skagway, the Gold Rush, and Alaska. There is also a quiz to check comprehension of the story and a section of facts that provide additional background on the places and things mentioned in the story. This is a great book to share with a child!

Jack Magnus

Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway is a children’s book written by Alinka Rutkowska and illustrated by Konrad Cechinski. Maya and Filippo live on a cruise ship with their parents and their cat, Otello. They travel around the world and have many different adventures together. The family is visiting Skagway, a small town in Alaska that was historically a gold-mining town. Maya’s mother lists the things they can do in Skagway, which include taking the White Pass Train ride, going to the playground or taking a hike. Maya wants to take the train ride, but Filippo doesn’t know what he wants to do. Their mother suggests that Maya ride the train with her while Filippo goes to the playground with their father. The train ride is a lot of fun, but Filippo becomes upset when it starts raining at the playground. When his father takes him for a hot chocolate, Filippo spills it on his clothing. The whole day seems to be spoiled until his father suggests that looking at the day differently might make it better.

Alinka Rutkowska’s children’s book, Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway, is an enjoyable tale filled with information about the natural beauty found near Skagway in Alaska. Konrad Cechinksi’s illustrations make the old mining town and its environs come to life. As with the other books in the Maya & Filippo series, Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway makes learning geography fun and interesting. There’s also a great hiking adventure to Lower Lake in the book, where Maya and Filippo get to see the wildlife. This is a real hike as the appendix to the book indicates that bears do live in the woods there. There’s also a lesson in the story about making the best of a situation when things don’t work out perfectly. Sometimes things get even better when you do make the necessary attitude adjustment. Maya & Filippo Separate in Skagway has a message, teaches a little geography, and entertains all at once, and it’s recommended reading.

Lisa Jones

Mayo and Filippo Separate in Skagway by Alinka Rutkowska is another brilliant adventure in the life of the brother and sister. They live aboard a cruise ship with their parents and their pet cat. The Fun Princess soon arrives at the port of Skagway in Alaska. The siblings separate and Mayo goes with her mom while Filippo goes with his dad. Maya and mum set off on a train ride and are soon having fun. Filippo thinks that his day is a disaster but his dad helps him to see the best of the situations that they find themselves in. On this particular adventure, it would seem that Filippo does learn to turn things around and manages to see something good come from a bad situation.

Alinka Rutkowska delivers another excellent children's book. Mayo and Filippo Separate in Skagway is fun and interesting. This book was a little different as each sibling had their own adventure. Filippo did learn how to see things in a different way which I found to be a good message for children. The author included a cute little quiz at the end of the book. This is fun and unique and is a learning exercise that benefits the reader. The concept is original and different to other books in the same genre and this is what makes the book stand out. The illustrations are lovely and they draw the reader in from the start. Overall, this is a lovely story and well written.