FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
School Principal Pens New Children’s Book Series During Pandemic Justine Wilson, International Educator turned to writing to help alleviate homesickness, when Qatar closed its borders due to Covid-19. Missing her family, she FaceTimed with her 11⁄2-year-old niece in California, showing her their two fun-loving dogs that were also stuck inside during lockdown. A new picture book series was born – ‘Apartment Adventures with Amora and Yalla,’ written through the lens of her dogs.
As Lower School Principal of GEMS American Academy of Qatar, Justine knows a lot about kids. She transitioned 750 students and nearly a hundred faculty online in less than 48-hours due to the pandemic. According to Mark Lentz, CEO of GEMS American Academy Qatar, “We had to build the plane while we were taking off and nothing phased Justine. Her calm, professional and positive energy got the job done.” GEMS is the largest K-12 private education provider in the world.
The Dog Days of Summer
Unable to leave the country, Justine thought this would be the perfect time to adopt another rescue dog – a white Saluki-mix named Yalla, which means “Let’s Go” in Arabic. This breed is known to hunt by sight, not by scent and can run up to 43 mph.
Justine’s husband Chris, a high school history teacher helped bring her stories to life with colorful fun illustrations. Together, they launched the
new dog book series, ‘Apartment Adventures with Amora and Yalla’ on Amazon. The couple hosted their first book release party on Zoom. Six countries were represented comprised of friends, family and colleagues to celebrate the new book launch.
"The story is suitable for different age groups. The fact that the dogs could talk to each other was very fun and I loved the colorful pictures. I also liked that it didn't have too many characters and that made the story to be easy to remember," says grade 6-beta reader, Eva P.
The picture book series, ‘Apartment Adventures with Amora and Yalla’ takes you into the life of the two rescue dogs, while living in lockdown during the scorching heat in Doha, Qatar. Amora, the Black Lab from Brazil, heard the chirping sounds and watched closely through the glass doors. A baby bird got stuck outside the Wilson’s 17th floor balcony of their apartment. The adventure begins. The first book in the series, “A Flighted Friend” was born and published. “As an educator and new author, my mission is to teach kids to love to read,” says Wilson. Positivity and life lessons are conveyed throughout.
In addition to learning everything from A to Z of the self-publishing world, Justine learned how to play the piano and completed three professional development courses this summer.
Click to learn more and buy the book.
Justine Wilson is the Lower School principal at GEMS American Academy of Qatar (and newly published author) where her team is responsible for the education and wellbeing of 750 students aged 3 years old in Pre K through grade 5. Justine started her career as the Elementary Principal at the Pan American School of Bahia in Salvador, Brazil. She has been an educator since 1996, first teaching as a Residence Hall leader at NC State University. She has taught in the USA (North Carolina, Ohio, California, and Colorado), Egypt, Brazil and Qatar! Her academic background is in the sciences- Biology, Botany and Ecology. She has two Bachelor of Sciences and an Honor’s Degree from New Zealand in Ecology, as well as, a Masters Degree in Education and an EdS. in Educational Leadership. Her passion is to help people become the best version of themselves making the world a better place.
Contact: Author: Justine Wilson, [email protected]
Follow on social media: @AmoraAndYalla
Website: www.AmoraAndYalla.com
Skype: justine_wilson78
Media: Robyn Levin, [email protected]
[email protected] l Ph/Text: 415.690.9990 l RobynLevin.com
As Lower School Principal of GEMS American Academy of Qatar, Justine knows a lot about kids. She transitioned 750 students and nearly a hundred faculty online in less than 48-hours due to the pandemic. According to Mark Lentz, CEO of GEMS American Academy Qatar, “We had to build the plane while we were taking off and nothing phased Justine. Her calm, professional and positive energy got the job done.” GEMS is the largest K-12 private education provider in the world.
The Dog Days of Summer
Unable to leave the country, Justine thought this would be the perfect time to adopt another rescue dog – a white Saluki-mix named Yalla, which means “Let’s Go” in Arabic. This breed is known to hunt by sight, not by scent and can run up to 43 mph.
Justine’s husband Chris, a high school history teacher helped bring her stories to life with colorful fun illustrations. Together, they launched the
new dog book series, ‘Apartment Adventures with Amora and Yalla’ on Amazon. The couple hosted their first book release party on Zoom. Six countries were represented comprised of friends, family and colleagues to celebrate the new book launch.
"The story is suitable for different age groups. The fact that the dogs could talk to each other was very fun and I loved the colorful pictures. I also liked that it didn't have too many characters and that made the story to be easy to remember," says grade 6-beta reader, Eva P.
The picture book series, ‘Apartment Adventures with Amora and Yalla’ takes you into the life of the two rescue dogs, while living in lockdown during the scorching heat in Doha, Qatar. Amora, the Black Lab from Brazil, heard the chirping sounds and watched closely through the glass doors. A baby bird got stuck outside the Wilson’s 17th floor balcony of their apartment. The adventure begins. The first book in the series, “A Flighted Friend” was born and published. “As an educator and new author, my mission is to teach kids to love to read,” says Wilson. Positivity and life lessons are conveyed throughout.
In addition to learning everything from A to Z of the self-publishing world, Justine learned how to play the piano and completed three professional development courses this summer.
Click to learn more and buy the book.
Justine Wilson is the Lower School principal at GEMS American Academy of Qatar (and newly published author) where her team is responsible for the education and wellbeing of 750 students aged 3 years old in Pre K through grade 5. Justine started her career as the Elementary Principal at the Pan American School of Bahia in Salvador, Brazil. She has been an educator since 1996, first teaching as a Residence Hall leader at NC State University. She has taught in the USA (North Carolina, Ohio, California, and Colorado), Egypt, Brazil and Qatar! Her academic background is in the sciences- Biology, Botany and Ecology. She has two Bachelor of Sciences and an Honor’s Degree from New Zealand in Ecology, as well as, a Masters Degree in Education and an EdS. in Educational Leadership. Her passion is to help people become the best version of themselves making the world a better place.
Contact: Author: Justine Wilson, [email protected]
Follow on social media: @AmoraAndYalla
Website: www.AmoraAndYalla.com
Skype: justine_wilson78
Media: Robyn Levin, [email protected]
[email protected] l Ph/Text: 415.690.9990 l RobynLevin.com