If You Can Make It, Mr. Harris...So Can I: Teacher’s Guide and Workbook

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0989968510 ISBN 13: 9780989968515

Publisher: Sammy the Journey Productions, 2015

Sam (Sammy) Harris, one of the youngest survivors of the Holocaust, speaks to thousands of adults and school children every year. Among the numerous letters he receives are those from hundreds of students who have been inspired by Sam’s courage and positivity. When Ellen Palestrant read these letters, she was struck by what they strongly illuminated: kids today are hungry for the values and character traits Sam epitomizes—and not the material values of cynical marketers with which they are constantly bombarded. Nor should kids be the unsuspecting recipients of messages of hate for the other broadcast by conspiratorial political and religious leaders and their colluding supporters. An insidious mind-grab exists and Sam Harris is the perfect antidote.

About the Author:

Ellen Palestrant, South African-born writer, artist, filmmaker and creativity consultant, resides in Arizona. She was educated in South Africa and Britain and immigrated with her family to the USA in 1987. Palestrant is a game inventor, hydroponic farmer, special education teacher, television scriptwriter (adult documentary and children's animation), film producer, college instructor (English, Humanities, Creative Writing) and co-publisher of a college press. Her published books include NOSEDIVE, JOHANNESBURG ONE HUNDRED, REMEMBERING DOLORES, I TOUCHED A STAR IN MY DREAM LAST NIGHT, and PRETZEL ON PROZAC: The Story of an Immigrant Dog, THE WORLD OF GLIMPSE, IF YOU CAN MAKE IT, MR. HARRIS ... SO CAN I,  IF YOU CAN MAKE IT, MR. HARRIS ... SO CAN I Teacher's Guide & Workbook,  HAVE YOU EVER HAD A HUNCH? The Importance of Creative Thinking, LET'S DO HUNCH: Creativity Workbook for Individuals and Groups, KOPTOE, Transcending Boundaries: The Comrades Marathon.

Review:

ReviewEdit"Sam is a miracle because he was witness to unspeakable, unmanageable horror, and in place of vengeance and hate, he filled his heart with compassion and loving-kindness. Would that all mankind could learn from Sam."
 Richard Kaufman - Psychiatrist, Emeritus, University of Chicago"Sam Harris is proof that one life can produce change in the lives of everyone they touch, no matter what their ethnic heritage."  
William Delgado - State Senator, Chairperson, Senate Education Committee

 
What is justice? What are thethings that we consider good in the world? Mr. Harris, by telling his story tochildren in their formative years, helps all of us understand the choices wehave made in life. He has chosen the path of forgiveness, despite the immensewrongs done to him, and that choice has clearly affected the children who haveheard him. Thank you, Sam Harris, and thank you, Ellen Palestrant, for bringingto us this book of hope and immense humanity.
 Linda Chapa LaVia - State Representative 83rd District,Chairperson, Elementary and Secondary Education Committee
 
The story of little SzlamekRzeznik - who we all know as Sam Harris - never fails to bring tears to myeyes. What is so remarkable is how important his story has been to the manyschoolchildren who have tasted the evil of the Holocaust, and yet emerged fromthat experience with a sharper sense of humanity because of him. This book is amust read.
 Dr. Ronald Perlman - President, The Center: Resources for Teachingand Learning