MSI Press Blog

  Today's Publisher's Pride is  Mental Health Mayday,  by Gregg Bagdade, which reached #199 on Amazon's bestseller list for psychology education and training and #285 for safety and first first aid. Reviewer:  "saved my life" Book description: From their swearing-in all to the way until retirement, even the most hardened firefighters can be affected by mental health concerns. A fascinating look behind the scenes of the career of a firefighter, this book explores the why and explains the how to better prepare these individuals for a healthy and productive career and life, based on the author's personal experience as a counselor, who also has 27 years as a firefighter and paramedic. Firefighters can learn how to acknowledge their mental health issues, such as PTSD, addiction, or anger issues while developing strategies to address these concerns with techniques and solutions throughout their career. This powerful book is part memoir and part call to action. Throu...

   The e-book edition of  Lamentations of the Heart  by Marti Wells-Smith is on Kindle countdown discount, beginning at 99 cents, from April 4 through April 11. Marti Wells-Smith's  Lamentations of the Heart Mingled with Peace and Joy  combines prose and poetry in a comforting missive for bereaved parents. Through its pages, one finds not only the resilience of the author but sources for anyone to develop needed resilience in the face of devastating life circumstances. When it came out, it quickly became one of Amazon's "hot, new releases." Description Lamentations of the Heart  soulfully combines contemporary free verse poetry and nonfictional prose to tell the story of one mother's grief following the death of her only child. The author interweaves scriptural passages with the inevitable struggles to accept and make sense of her new reality. All of it reveals the unending love for family that remains. Written to reach out to others who have experienc...

  Following up on previous posts about the Animal Friends Shelter, we wish we could say good things are happening -- and donations do come in, that is good -- but the circumstances become more and more dire for this Gaza shelter, with one of the two shelter volunteers/staff/managers developing hepatitis (typical right now in Gaza but medical facilities are mostly blown up) and food markets and warehouses being blown up, too. Still, some food can be found; it is just becoming very, very expensive and the shelter dependent upon donations, for which they are very grateful. Praying that enough people will help for now and that complete relief will come soon. If you wish to donate directly to the shelter, it is also possible -- and safe. I have done it twice, and each time the funds were received right away. The link to donate is  PayPal.Me . The funds go directly to Sameer. If you are a cat lover, please do take the time to read the posts at the  Animal Friends Shelter  ...

Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly. #94   Begin at the Beginning: KWL   The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I haven't read.  ~Abraham Lincoln   Perhaps the first step in understanding informational text is to start even before you read. How can you do that, you might ask? The KWL Method is one commonly used in elementary classrooms. It is usually done for one particular subject that a child is going to read about. Use a piece of paper turned sideways with two lines dividing it into three vertical sections as follows:   K= KNOW: Your child writes down (or you can write for a younger child) what he already knows about the subject. Write down everything, whether or not it actually is correct.   W= WANT to know: In this column, your child records his questions about the subject. What does he want to ...