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The Magnificent Adventures of Folotjing and Friends: Guardians of the Forest is now available at all online bookstores! Buy it now and join Folotjing–a magical creature of the forest–on his journey as he learns life's most essential lesson: that his love is more powerful than his magic.
Join Folotjing, our unlikely hero, as he embarks on a journey that will change the course of his life and where he learns its most difficult and important lessons.
This tiny, peace-loving creature is forced to battle the elements to save neighbors a hundred times his size, armed only with the strength of his heart and courage to do what is right.
But sometimes, that's not enough. How will he deal with the pain of losing the loved ones who did not make it?
Will he leave the world behind him and end his magnificent adventures?
Let's follow Folotjing as he shows us how even magic cannot rival the power of love and kindness.
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The story of Folotjing is mainly about compassion and courage and all other virtues that intertwine with love. Folotjing shows that bravery fueled by kindness is a potent formula to change the world around us. He is an example that no matter how small we are, it is the size of our hearts that matters.
Folotjing shows us to be compassionate and sensitive to the needs of others, that when faced with a fork in the road, we choose the path to kindness.
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This story deals with a difficult subject: loss. It's an experience that every child has to face at some point and a challenging topic for parents to cover. This book is a useful introduction to the theme as it raises different aspects of loss—all of which will give some good points for caregivers and children to discuss.
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How do I pronounce Folotjing?
fall-law-t-jing with the (t) or fall-law-jing without the (t), either way, is correct.
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*Note to Parents*
For children under the age of seven years old, I kindly suggest that parents assist their child in reading the book. This book contains big words and phrases that might be beyond their comprehension, such as magnificent, pranced, astonished, re-emerged, and surreal, to name a few.
Reading this book to a child opens up a conversation between parents/guardians and children. It presents a valuable opportunity to encourage children to ask sensitive questions related to loss/death and instill in them a sense of empathy for others who are going through difficult times. You may also take this chance to explore other subjects that may branch out due to the dialogue.
The Magnificent Adventures of Folotjing and Friends: Guardians of the Forest
Copyright © 2021 by Rio N. Cortez
All rights reserved
4 out of 4 stars - Official OnlineBookClub.org review of
"The Magnificent Adventures of Folotjing and Friends"
5 Star Review:
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"Rio N Cortez’s picture book story, The Magnificent Adventures of Folotjing and Friends: Guardians of a Forest, is a heartwarming, tender story. Told in rhyming verse and with spectacular illustrations (I love the swirling skies), the plot follows Folotjing’s travels and adventures in the forest. The language is, for the most part, simple and lyrical which will appeal to young readers. There are some big words in this story, but young readers are always up to the challenge as they strengthen their reading skills. Having an adult read with them will assist in learning these big words. The message is subtle: take care of the world and other living creatures around you.
The story also confronts the difficult topic of loss, as Folotjing learns to part with his rescued kitten and mourns a friend that even Folotjing’s magic cannot save. He has another difficult lesson to learn. And, later, as he snuggles in for a good slumber amongst friends, the bear, the wolf, and the eaglet, he realizes that sorrow hurts, but “family is proof that love will give you what magic cannot.” Isn’t that the most important message: that love is stronger than any kind of magic, because love, in itself, is magic."
- Emily-Jane Hills Orford @ readersfavorite.com
5 Star Review:
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"Do you know what a duendi is? You probably don’t unless you are familiar with Filipino culture. Rio N. Cortez tells the most interesting story about a duendi in The Magnificent Adventures of Folotjing and Friends: Guardians of the Forest. Duendi are little creatures, much like an elf, that can be mischievous or helpful. They grant people either bad or good luck. If you have happened upon this book, then you have been granted great luck. This book is a delight to read. The hero, Folotjing, is a duendi that goes about helping the inhabitants in the forest around his house. He encounters several adventures but the most exciting one is during a bad storm. Folotjing learns how to deal with loss and death.
Who has not tasted the grief of death? If we have lived long, we all have. Too often children have to deal with death’s grief and they have not been taught how. This excellent little book is wonderful for parents to read to or with their children to help them learn how to deal with loss, fear, ridicule, acceptance, and death. In The Magnificent Adventures of Folotjing and Friends: Guardians of the Forest, Rio N. Cortez follows the journey of the duendi Folotjing as he navigates some joys and also some negative circumstances. One of the lessons Folotjing learns is that grief is easier to bear when experienced in the company of friends. A parent can use this book to begin many different conversations with their child about issues that concern them. I highly recommend this book to all parents."
- Philip Van Heusen @ readersfavorite.com
Folotjing the Brave and Kindhearted
A hero is not always someone big and powerful. Regardless of how small you are, you can make a massive difference in the world. All that matters is the size of your heart.
Folotjing is a tiny elfin creature of the forest who lives inside an ancient magical tree. This is the story of his adventure in the deep, dark woods when he encounters terrifying beasts that want to eat him. But through his wisdom and the kindness of his heart, he makes them realize the error of their ways and eventually earn their friendship. It shows that compassion is its own reward and that kindness begets a chain of itself.
Folotjing is a true hero despite his size, someone who is brave, kindhearted, and chooses to do the right thing, especially in the face of great difficulty and danger.
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How do I pronounce Folotjing?
fall-law-t-jing with the (t) or fall-law-jing without the (t), either way, is correct.
The Magnificent Adventures of Folotjing:
The Brave and Kindhearted
Copyright © 2019 by Rio N. Cortez
All rights reserved
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Folotjing is clever a story about a small creature who shows amazing kindness and compassion, even when treated poorly by other creatures who he comes in contact with within the story.
Rio N. Cortez is the author and illustrator of Folotjing. His illustrations are beautiful, as they capture the spirit and essence of the story and message. I would highly recommend Folotjing as an ideal read for students at the upper primary or middle school reading levels.
Author and illustrator Rio N. Cortez has created an utterly delightful story from start to finish with the immersive and truly beautiful stories of Folotjing. The sweet little dwendi is charming, both in the colorful and sepia-toned pages of the picture book and in the lovingly crafted poetic verses and dialogue where he shows his incredible kindness. The moment with the wolf melted my heart from the off. There is a rhyme scheme that keeps the readability flowing for younger, accompanied readers to the book, but it also never interferes with the language usage and the scheme changes to fit different moments of the story. Deceptively complex in its creation, this gives each moment of the tale a different atmospheric feel whilst also staying simple enough for younger readers to access it. Overall, The Magical Adventures of Folotjing – The Brave and Kindhearted is an unmissable picture book that every child should own.
By K.C. Finn for Readers’ Favorite @ readersfavorite.com
The Magnificent Adventures of Folotjing - The Brave and Kindhearted is a well-intended, adorable, and wonderfully drawn and written book by Rio. N Cortez. The illustrations are colorful and they definitely caught my eye. Cortez’s illustrations are sure to attract and entertain its target audience. I found it to be a visually appealing book that has many important lessons to be learned. The story itself is short, to the point, and very sweet. Folotjing is easily captured because of his height and size but he makes up for it by being sharp, brave, and oh-so-kind.
We have learned in life that it is not easy to forgive someone who means to cause you harm and Cortez skillfully presents this dilemma in a short but concise way. When Folotjing hesitates before helping the bear, I sympathized with him. It is realistic and smart to stop and think first before you head back into possible danger, but even though the bear first intended to do harm on the small Dwendi, Folotjing still goes back to help him anyway. Folotjing’s actions teach me the importance of a good heart. I think this book is outstanding because it managed to convey such important lessons in two short stories. Truly a marvelous work, good job!
THE MAGNIFICENT ADVENTURES OF FOLOTJING by Rio N. Cortez is a whimsical book captures the reader’s interest from the start, with its papery background and simply sketched drawings; one can easily imagine that these pages have come from an ancient collection of folktales about wonder and magic. This impression is further supported by the book’s rhyme scheme and its division into short tales, each of which teaches a lesson of kindness by using Folotjing’s actions as an example, without being too preachy or moralistic.
By IndieReader.com
2020 Discovery Awards Verdict
By Jessica Barbosa for Reader's Favorite @ readersfavorite.com
The book is now available at these online bookstores
