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!

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!

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.

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.