“Tree Spirits helps spark creativity and inspiration in children -- to help them to see and visualize our world in non-obvious ways and introduce them early to an understanding of their own inner spirit and feelings; key skills for early childhood development and crucial for lifelong success."
PASADENA, Calif. (PRWEB) May 26, 2021
Are you concerned that your young child is entering a world where Artificial Intelligence and robots are stealing all the jobs? Would you like to get them to "log off" devices and spend more time engaging with you, and in nature?
Inspire your child’s creative visualization abilities, cultivate their innately human superpowers of emotional intelligence and empathy with “Tree Spirits” by technology entrepreneur Louise Wannier -- a playful, vibrant picture book and interactive learning experience now available in bookstores and on Amazon for $21.95 or direct at http://www.treespirtsbook.com.
Tree Spirits is a new breed of interactive “analog” kid’s books and games designed to help kids “unplug and log off devices” and engage with nature and human beings -- it is designed to spark mindful awareness, encourage and reward creative imagination.
An interview with Wannier by eight-time Emmy award-winning documentary filmmaker David Hoffman, released today, reveals how Tree Spirits uses interactivity to build emotional intelligence in children.
A second video shows children interacting with the book:
Hoffman also released his interview with the author to the 100,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel today. It covers topics such as how kids books can teach creativity and develop problem solving skills at the crucial early childhood education and pre-elementary school ages of 3 to 8.
Tree Spirits helps develop the creative problem solving skills that enable humans to excel at precisely what makes them superior to Artificial Intelligence and robots. Early childhood, before primary school, is when children learn to ask questions instead of just answering them.
HOW “TREE SPIRITS” TEACHES MINDFULNESS
Tree Spirits is a deceptively simple interactive picture book written in rhyme with transparent overlays that prompt children to imagine a tree’s aliveness in animal characters hidden in the patterns of bark, branches and roots.
The book opens with a photograph of a tree and the question, “What do you see when you look up at this tree?”
In the next page, there is an acetate overlay which the reader can lift up and replace so that the viewer can alternate between seeing just the photograph of the tree, as well as the photograph with the animal character drawing overlaid upon it.
On each page with the “tree spirit” overlay, the child is invited to imagine: “How is each character feeling today?”
In this way, the child is invited to pause, understand and reflect on their own feelings and see what they see and understand from each photograph. The book includes a spectrum of feelings including excitement, sadness, and a sense of peace and calm. Each feeling expressed also helps children cultivate mindful awareness and empathy.
The book concludes with a selection of photographs and tracing paper which invite the children to draw some of their own, as well as to share their drawings of their “tree spirits” online, or by sharing their own YouTube videos.
Videos have already been submitted from a number of early readers and classrooms where Louise has been offering Zoom readings. Several of these young reader reviews and videos from classroom activities with the book can be seen on the Tree Spirits website.
ENCOURAGING KIDS TO RESPOND WITH VIDEO AND DRAWINGS
In this launch video, Louise points out that there are no “correct” answers. All answers are encouraged and rewarded by the storyteller, to encourage and reward the skills of creative visualization, presence and mindfulness.
This unique and fun dual approach strengthens children’s ability to utilize contextual clues, identify common objects, and recognize rhyming patterns, while building emotional intelligence in children.
Wannier’s unique blend of photography and simple line illustrations by April Tatania Jackson fill this book with whimsy and delight, and the delight of discovery will have children asking to run through it again and again.
“Tree Spirits helps spark creativity and inspiration in children -- to help them to see and visualize our world in non-obvious ways and introduce them early to an understanding of their own inner spirit and feelings; key skills for early childhood development and crucial for lifelong success,” said Wannier, who was a pioneering technology inventor and CEO in the early days of the Internet and PC industry.
“We focus so much on “STEM” Math and Science, but we need more books for teaching creativity and problem-solving skills. It’s actually empathy that can boost creativity in kids, and it is creativity that separates human intelligence from artificial intelligence," she adds.
Wannier founded and grew four technology companies and has a number of issued patents in information technology and personal shopping ecommerce technology. She studied astrophysics at Caltech when there were few girls interested in space, and became a trailblazing female leader and CEO in the early days of Personal Computer software and the Internet, at a time when “STEM” careers had not yet become a focus for most women. She developed the book to teach creativity and developing problem solving skills in children at a formative age.
“By the age of three, children have officially entered Piaget's preoperational period, the hallmark of which is the ability to use symbols and representational thought to represent something else. With these newfound representational abilities, children's imaginations become boundless. Thus, it is the perfect time to support the development of divergent thinking -- where children generate unique solutions and make new connections without being tied to the one right answer. (convergent thinking),” writes Michelle Anthony, Phd, a sought-after developmental expert.
“Tree Spirits stimulates the imagination by offering examples of what imagination is,” says Rabbi Robert Jacobs, a Grandfather, Los Angeles, CA. “I’ve never quite seen something like this and frankly wish I had had something like this when I was a small child,”
The book, Tree Spirits, is available now in bookstores and on Amazon.com for $21.95 US, or direct at http://www.treespirits.com
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ABOUT LOUISE WANNIER
Creative entrepreneur. Author. Artist. Mother. Grandmother. Safta. Louise Wannier is a pioneering technology entrepreneur, building innovative consumer/interactive media products. Louise founded and built four technology product companies and advised many others in diverse industries: Education Technology, Consumer Electronics & Publishing, Information Management Software and Fashion/eCommerce.
Louise was the co-creator and founder of Gemstar, maker of VCR Plus+, which in the 1990s simplified the programming of a VCR to record a show or film using code numbers in the New York Times and major newspapers and TV magazines internationally. Gemstar had a successful IPO and went on to acquire TV Guide.
Wannier has an MBA with Honors from UCLA’s Anderson School, a B.S. with Honors from the California Institute of Technology, and a Professional certification in Textile Design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Ms. Wannier has served on a number of non-profit Boards of Directors, including Entretech, promoting the growth of high-tech companies. She initiated/chaired the PWC-Entretech Entrepreneur Awards for Greater L.A. from 2004-09. She has a personal passion for the arts and cycling (completed six 200 mile cycle challenges in Africa, South America and Asia.)
She is one of many CEOs, public figures and leaders who penned innovative new children’s storybooks during the Covid pandemic downtime.
ABOUT TREE SPIRITS
Animals / Trees / Rhyming / Ages 3 - 8
Tankobon Softcover, _ x _ inches, 46 pages
ISBN-10 : 0990997634
ISBN-13 : 978-0990997634
$21.95 US
High-res scans to your specification are available upon request; scanning from the book or lifting images from the mechanical file are strictly prohibited.
Mandatory credit line:
From Tree Spirits, Story and Photography by Louise Wannier, Illustrated by April Tatinia Jackson, published by True Roses Books.
Available on Amazon.com, select bookstores and through TreeSpiritsBook.com.
