It's ChristMOOSE time...a MOOSE wonderful time for books!

Books make wonderful stocking stuffers!   You can place an order from now until December 17, 2015 to guarantee Christmas delivery!

~Place all orders at the bottom of this page~

About the Book- The Moose at the Manger

When Muse the Moose accidentally wanders off from her family, she becomes lost in the forest. She luckily finds a friend in Star Bright, the brightest star in the sky, who leads her on a fantastic journey. When Muse becomes The Moose at the Manger, she realizes her most important journey is yet to come.

Moose at the Manger Items 

Teacher's Guide with Answer Key 
 $8.00

Paperback Edition -
$8.00

                                                                                             

(Buy both the Paperback Edition and the Teacher's Guide for just $14.00)

Coloring Book (moose and crayons not included) -
$5.00

T-Shirts 
(Don't forget to order the right size!)
$10.00

Gift Set: 

Includes - 1 T-shirt, 1 paperback book, 1 coloring book

All for the low price of $20.00

3-D Edition (with glasses) 
$9.00

About the Book - Mark the Missing Moose

Jimmy was on cloud nine during Show and Tell when his classmates cheered for him and his best friend, Mark the Moose.  That happiness quickly ended when Mark went from being Jimmy's sidekick to becoming the missing moose. Saddened and angry, Jimmy didn't want to talk to anyone, not even his own mother.  His best friend was gone and he was all alone! When it was time for Show and Tell again, Jimmy didn't want any part of it until he heard what his friend Joe had to say.  Follow Jimmy as he discovers that opening up and letting others in can really help him out.

Mark the Missing Moose Items

Paperback Edition 
 $8.00

Teacher's Edition 
 $8.00

                                                                                                                        

(Buy both the paperback Edition and the Teacher's Guide for just $14.00)

About the Book - My Hero, My Ding

‘I awoke in the darkness listening to the sound of a jack hammer.  After a few moments, I realized it was me, the jack hammer, my heart.   Fear engulfed me and I remained still wondering why my heart was pounding so heavily in my ears.  Where was I?  The room was dark, and except for the throbbing of my heart, silence ensued.’

Even though they were hundreds of miles apart at the time, the message of her grandfather’s death reached her in a dream.

My Hero, My Ding tells the poignant story of Lisa and her grandfather and the overwhelming bond they shared.  You’ll find yourself captivated with love, and find yourself gaining a deeper understanding of life-lessons. Experience the antics that were shared and discover the respect and affection between two ordinary people with an extraordinary connection.

My Hero, My Ding Items

My Hero, My Ding Paperback
 $9.00

Teacher's Edition with Answer Key
 $12.00

    (Buy both the paperback Edition and the Teacher's Guide for just $18.00)

Place orders here: 

The Moose at the Manger Items

Paperback Book $8.00 USD Teacher's Guide $8.00 USD SET: Paperback Book AND Teacher's Guide $14.00 USD Coloring Book $5.00 USD T-shirts $10.00 USD GIFT SET: 1 T-shirt, 1 Paperback Book, 1 Coloring Book $20.00 USD 3-D Edition with Glasses $9.00 USD

Size for T-shirt

None Adult - Small Adult - Medium Adult - Large

Name on Autograph

E-mail for Teacher's Guide

Mark the Missing Moose Items

Paperback Book $8.00 USD Teacher's Guide $8.00 USD SET: Paperback Book AND Teacher's Guide $14.00 USD

Name on Autograph

Email for Teacher's Guide

My Hero, My Ding Items

Paperback Book $9.00 USD Teacher's Guide $12.00 USD SET: Paperback Book AND Teacher's Guide $18.00 USD

Name on Autograph

Email for Teacher's Guide

Please Note: When ordering a Teacher's Guide, please include your email address for the delivery of the PDF files. Thanks!

Questions or Comments?  Special Orders? Contact me at

lisatortsbook@ameritech.net

Talented students at St. Agnes share their story endings!

A special shout-out to some very talented students at St. Agnes School in Chicago Heights!  After my visit with them last month, some budding authors wanted to share their alternate endings to my book, Mark the Missing Moose.  They did a fantastic job and created wonderful illustrations too!

Thanks Derek, Ethan, Thaddeus, Angela, Gianna, Hana,Yesenia, and Jalen for a job well done!

This definitely gets the MOOSE

Mark the Missing Moose makes it in the Midwest Book Review!

Mark the Missing Moose
Lisa A. Tortorello, author
Michael Roque, illustrator
Tate Publishing
127 E. Trade Center Terrace, Mustang, OK 73064
9781628542721, $9.99, www.amazon.com

"Mark the Missing Moose" is a sensitive, child -friendly book about dealing with loss, and learning to accept help and support from significant others. Jimmy is a boy who treasured sharing his close relationship with his trusted friend, Mark the stuffed moose. Mark went everywhere with him and shared most experiences with him, listening to his confidences. Jimmy enjoyed showing Mark to his class at Show and Tell, but afterwards a sad accident occurred. Mark was lost! Jimmy is shattered when he discovers Mark is not only missing, but has been destroyed by a mean neighbor's dog. Jimmy's sadness and anger overwhelm him and he is unable to communicate with his mom or accept comfort from her or others. Then one day at Show and Tell at school he learns another boy had a similar loss of a live pet, but he handled it differently. He had sad, angry, helpless feelings, but he managed to listen to his mother and to talk to her about how he felt. Gradually he learned to accept the pet's death and focus on his good memories of their time together. Jimmy learns from his friend's experience, deciding to open up to his mother and let her comfort him about his loss of Mark. "Mark the Missing Moose" is written in a gentle narrative, with lively color illustrations to cheer the pages. Children age 5 and up will benefit from the healing message of "Mark the Missing Moose."


http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/dec_13.htm#rc

New Book Trailer on YouTube!

We are happy to share our latest book trailer with you for

Mark the Missing Moose.  

If you have a moment, check it out and see what you think.

What a nice surprise!

I received a message the other day from newspaper columnist Kevin Bradley telling me to keep an eye out in The Shopper because he wrote a PART 2 about my books.  I was pleasantly surprised.  As Bradley writes, " Giving a child the gift of a book can help them develop a lifelong interest in literature, expanding their imagination and stimulating their mind."  I couldn't have said it better myself.  Thanks Kevin!

Original Article in The Shopper written by Kevin Bradley - 
http://www.shoppersource.com/articles/2013/12/10/columnists/bradley/120413-bradley.txt

"Chicago School Teacher, Lisa Tortorello first ventured into the world of writing with a memoir (My Hero, My Ding) detailing the special relationship she had with her grandfather growing up. Her subsequent inspirations have developed into a children’s book series with two installments published and a third in the thought process.

Lisa has long loved the moose. She and her husband, Charlie, share their home with dozens of the creatures in stuffed animal form, providing plenty of ‘moosespiration’ (inspiration derived from moose) for her storybooks. Mark the Missing Moose and The Moose at the Manger are written for children in kindergarten to grade four or five, although Lisa says, “Sometimes my sixth graders also like the books and their message.”

The Moose at the Manger is a Christmas story, published in June of 2012, featuring a moose lost in the forest who follows a Christmas star and sees Jesus. Mark the Missing Moose is inspired by real life events, but toned down to children’s level. It is a story to help kids understand dealing with a loss. These titles are available at www.amazon.com, or by purchasing signed copies direct from the author, available at her moose blog, musethemoose.blogspot.com.

After Lisa has completed a story and self-edited; she then submits it to her publisher, Tate Publishing, who edits the story for grammar or content issues, returning the manuscript to Lisa for revisions. Following the editing and revision process, Lisa is paired with one of Tate’s illustrators, who, Lisa says, “Have done a wonderful job of bringing my stories to life.”

Lisa also has a marketing representative, assigned by Tate, who helps find local events for her to do book signings and helps her market her books on the internet; but the reality is: In today’s world of decreased marketing budgets among publishers, the bulk of this duty lies with the author. This is why Lisa ranks marketing highest on her current priority list as an author. She sells more paperbacks than electronic editions, and mostly during face to face events.

Giving a child the gift of a book can help them develop a lifelong interest in literature, expanding their imagination and stimulating their mind. A signed book can make the gift a little extra special. Helping kids develop good habits and find inspiration is a lasting and positive influence. Questions or comments may be sent to kevinbradley@columnist.com. Good luck, K.B."

There is just one slight addition to this article - as my regular readers know, the amount of moose we have is well over a dozen dozen- 

This is where my "moosepiration"' comes from!

If you missed Part 1, you can read it on The Shopper website by clicking this link -

http://www.shoppersource.com/articles/2013/12/10/columnists/bradley/111313-bradley.txt

(Young Reviewers (Part 3 in the series)

Who better than children to write reviews for a new children's book. I appreciate the time that all these young reviewers made to read Mark the Missing Moose and then write a review.  

Here is what some of our reviewers have to say...

'This was a wonderful read that had a great lesson everyone of all ages could learn from. '

Brenna

'I like the book. It was touching and I learned it's ok to talk about being sad.'

JD

Mark the Missing Moose was good.  It reminded me of how I lost my dog.  I was sad and mad.  But I learned something from this book.  I learned it's okay to miss my dog.  Sometimes we tell stories and laugh about all the stuff she did.  That makes me smile.  My mom is helping me feel better and she said someday we'll get another dog. 

Jeremiah Mawhinney

Book Reviewer Jeremiah

Young Reviewers (Part 2 in the series)

Who better than children to write reviews for a new children's book. I appreciate the time that all these young reviewers made to read Mark the Missing Moose and then write a review.  

Here is what some of our reviewers have to say...

I thought the message in the book was an exceptionally good one for reminding people that it is important to talk about your feelings.  Mark the Missing Moose is a great story for helping children (or even adults) who need help during hard times.  It teaches them to talk about their feelings because talking about how you feel really helps remind you that others are there for you and eventually things will start to look and feel better. While the missing moose is only a stuffed animal, the book can be used to address the feelings associated with any type of loss.

Sydney Potpora (age 12)

Book Reviewer Sydney

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, to start off, this was an amazing book!  In this story, Joe was Jimmy's friend and cheered him up.  Joe said that when he lost his hamster, Buddy, he was angry and sad just like Jimmy.  But Joe's mom told her son that it was okay to be sad or mad.  In this case, I too agree with Joe's mom.  Many kids are sad because a friend moved away or because they lose something.  I was once one of those kids.  So by reading this book, it did not only make me realize that it's okay to be sad, but that everybody goes through this.  Thanks to Mrs. Tortorello, children can now open up and let out emotions, some that they were afraid to let out before.

Cecilia Solis (age 13)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark the Missing Moose made me think of how I would feel if something happened to my favorite stuffed bunny named  Donut.   It made me sad and angry that Mark the Moose was eaten by the dog, but I was happy that Jimmy found a new friend at the end of the book.  I think Mark the Missing Moose would be a good story to share with children who feel sad because they lost something or someone they love.

Allison Potpora (age 9)

Book Reviewer Allison

Release of Mark the Missing Moose means extra deals for you!

I am excited to announce the release of  Mark the Missing Moose! With the book's release,  the moose and I decided that YOU deserve some extra perks.  From now through October 31st, anyone who purchases a copy of Mark the Missing Moose directly from me, will also get a FREE Moose at the Manger coloring book (which is great for Christmas)! That's right...two books for the price of one!  

For every purchase of Mark the Missing Moose -

Name on autograph

You will get one Moose at the Manger coloring book FREE- 

Remember, the offer is good through October 31, 2013!  

Just place the order using the PayPal link above (or the one on the side panel of this blog).

Young Reviewers (Part 1)

Who better than children to write reviews for a new children's book. I appreciate the time that all these young reviewers made to read Mark the Missing Moose and then write a review.  

Here is what some of our reviewers have to say...

I liked how much happiness Jimmy got from Mark.
Brianna, age 6

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought the story was a little sad. But I liked how you made a point that even if you lose something you should always be happy that you had time with it.

Mikayla, age 10

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This book is awesome, pretty good, sad and happy.  I love, not liked, loved the pictures. My favorite one was of Jimmy holding Moose in his lap and showing him off to his friends. Oh, and I hated the mean dog.
Devin, age 6

Book Reviewer - Devin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mark the Missing Moose is a good book. It's very sad, but entertaining. It teaches you a lesson that it's a good idea to talk to someone if you're sad.  I would recommend this book to all my friends.

Denny, age 11

Book Reviewer - Denny