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Nature’s Song

Aug22
Nature's Song

Nature’s Song

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nature’s Song

Robert Vescio

Nicky Johnston

New Frontier, 2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9781922326782

It’s tough being inside when Outside is peeking through the window and beckoning you to follow.  But it’s even tougher if you’re confined to bed because you have a broken leg.  And so the little girl resists the temptation to escape and keeps her brother company instead. Until the day the plaster finally comes off and she is able to be there herself to watch the morning rise, serenade the sun and  rediscover the wonders of Outside has been keeping.  Now, how can she bring this inside so her brother can share it too?

Beautifully written, and softly and sensitively illustrated this is a story about discovering the wonders of our own natural environment without having to seek “artificial” entertainment.  As the little girl and her dog frolic in the freedom of being outdoors again, and discover the extraordinary in the ordinary as Mother Nature goes about her daily business of making the world wonderful, young readers can be encouraged to not only look for all the details portrayed in the pictures and discover things often overlooked or taken for granted,  but to also look at their own Outside and use their senses and imagination to see what magic is waiting for them.  Perhaps, they too, can find a way to bring it Inside.  

And maybe, as they lie in bed on the edge of dreams and reflect on the day, they might ask themselves, “Did I find wonder in the world, today?” “Did I listen to Nature’s song? What tune was she playing?”   For even on cold, misty mountain mornings as we have today, there is always a song being sung. You just have to listen.

 

Why Worry Wally?

Aug14
Why Worry Wally?

Why Worry Wally?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Worry Wally?

Rick Foster

Jackie Case

Rick Foster, 2019

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.95

9780646810966

As soon as Wally wakes up in the morning, his mind starts working overtime about all the things that might go wrong that day from eating too much breakfast to monkeys falling from the trees.  He is a perpetual worrier,  getting so anxious and uptight about what might happen that he is unable to enjoy what does.

Children’s anxiety is a growing mental health issue and is in fact, becoming such an issue that it is at last getting the recognition it requires. So much so, that, since its inception in 1991, the phone counselling service Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) has responded to 8. 5oo ooo contacts from kids who just need someone to listen.  And while there have been a number of picture books written and shared to help children manage their anxiety, this one offers suggestions such as eating healthy food and having fun as well as encouraging positive self-talk as a pathway forward.  As well, the author has developed an incursion to complement a school’s well-being program aimed at those up to Year 4 that helps children understand that everyone feels worries and concerns at some time and there are strategies they can learn to help them manage them, even when they become overwhelming, particularly being   able to start a conversation with a trusted adult. 

With its soft-palette graphics and rhyming text, Wally’s predicament may well resonate with a number of students but the positive and inspiring message that offers acknowledgement of the issues rather than their dismissal, and encourages them to look for help rather than feeling they have to go it alone, they are also offered hope.  While there was a strong focus on kids’ well0being after their isolation during the lockdowns of the pandemic, as life returns to normal, we cannot let this concern diminish.  So any stories and programs that shine a spotlight on the problem that might help just one kid make a positive difference to their lives or build awareness in the adults around them are an essential part of any mindfulness programs and library collections. 

An A to Z of Dreaming Differently

Aug13
An A to Z of Dreaming Differently

An A to Z of Dreaming Differently

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An A to Z of Dreaming Differently

Tracey Dembo

Lucia Masciullo

Puffin, 2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9780143778905

A is for Attitude.
May you have bucketloads of it, kid.

But for many children,  A may well be for Anxiety as they try to navigate a pathway through the expectations they believe others expect them to meet, the acceptable behaviour that is demanded by society, the beliefs and values of their families and community groups, and who they are actually are inside.   

Inspired by an incident when her 4-year-old daughter was given a “slightly old-fashioned, moralistic books about a kid who was taught that there are consequences if rules aren’t observed”, and she was angry because her daughter was “was already getting enough messages from the world about following rules” and needed ” a book that did the opposite” , the author believed,  “There needed to be a book about writing your own rules. About asking questions and being curious. About trusting your own instincts and relying on your gut to make a decision. About following your own path. About not feeling like you need to shrink yourself or to conform because of what someone else thinks. That it is all right to stand up for what you believe in. That it is good to speak up. That it is okay to be unapologetically YOU.” 

Amidst the myriad of picture books encouraging children to be themselves and affirming that who they are as they are is enough that have been published over the last few decades, using the alphabet to organise these affirmations to help the child develop their emotional intelligence and become curious and critical thinkers is rare.  Each letter is used to highlight a trait that encourages the child to have the courage to be themselves, follow their dreams, to ask questions, have fun, speak up and reach for the stars. 

I is for Imagination
Grow yours big and feed it every day.

V is for Voice.
Find yours. Use it loudly and proudly. Be seen AND heard. 

While there are extensive teaching notes and an activity pack to support the use of the book in the classroom,  older students could also use the format to develop a new book that inspires other traits that not only enable us to be ourselves but also to be more outwardly-focused. Perhaps C could be for Caring and Compassion or even Consequences; E could be for Empathy; J could be for Joy and Jubilation; L could be for Listen and Learn; R could be for Responsibility; U could be for Understanding and so forth, giving older children the opportunity to consider what these attributes mean and look like and their impact on others,  so having found and accepted themselves they can contribute to the greater good rather than stopping at the feel-good.  

Butterflies Be Gone

Jun30
Butterflies Be Gone

Butterflies Be Gone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Butterflies Be Gone: Yoga Therapy for Fear and Anxiety

Loraine Rushton & Adele Vincent

Andrew McIntosh

Little Steps, 2023

40pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9781922833655

When Jesse wakes up with butterflies in his tummy, he feels anxious about his day. But as he begins to move his body in special yoga poses, he is able to work through different emotions. Soon his body feels better and his imagination takes off!

It’s rare for a children’s storybook to come with a disclaimer that “the authors take no responsibility for any injury or illness resulting or appearing to result from doing the yoga in this book…” but that aside, this is still one worth having because so many of our children suffer from anxiety and if following some simple exercise patterns helps alleviate that, then it’s worth trying.  Giving the exercises such as lying on your back and then scrunching into a tight ball to let the butterflies out, a context so the reader is exposed to 18 different techniques that may be useful in times of stress. And even though it is called “yoga therapy”, many of them are the sorts of movements that might form part of a phys ed stretching session so they would be useful in the classroom setting when a change of routine is needed, benefitting more than just those feeling anxious. With simple illustrations of each pose offered at the end and their catchy names, children will enjoy participating in these without feeling that they are being singled out – everyone is involved but some will need them more than others.  

Nevertheless, given the prevalence of anxiety – whether it’s butterflies in the tummy to a debilitating medical condition – all children (and adults) can benefit from having a few strategies on hand to release it beyond taking a few deep breaths.  There really is nothing quite as magical as being so relaxed that you can hear your heart and the rhythm of love and life that it is beating.   

Smile Your Way to Happy

Jun25
Smile Your Way to Happy

Smile Your Way to Happy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smile Your Way to Happy

Bernie Hayne

Valery Vell

Little Steps, 2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A26.95

9781922678379

There is an old saying about if someone has lost their smile to give them one of yours, but what happens if you’re the person who has lost it?

This is a bright, colourful rhyming story that encourages young children to smile their way to happiness if they are feeling unhappy by sharing smiles, thinking of things that they are grateful for, or doing something they really like.  A smile is a universal language that doesn’t need words and thus it is its own superpower.  

Young readers will delight in the vibrant illustrations that reflect children doing all the things they like to do, but particularly at the quokka whose cheery face is on every page. One for the mindfulness collection. 

Grandma’s Guide to Happiness

Mar15
Grandma's Guide to Happiness

Grandma’s Guide to Happiness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grandma’s Guide to Happiness

Andrew Daddo

Stephen Michael King

ABC Books, 2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A22.99

9780733341304

My grandma says the funniest things.

She says that you don’t need much to be happy – not really.

Grandmas know that it’s often the simplest things that make you happy, like splashing in a puddle or baking delicious cookies, and the further I got into this book the more I was convinced that Andrew Daddo had been spying on me – right down to the creation of the fairy garden!!! We even moved from city to country so our little ones would have the space to roam freely and use their imaginations!

So there were so many memories of the things we did together when they were little in this charming book that shows that happiness can be found in the simplest things, if we just take the time to enjoy the moment. Despite all the attractions and distractions of today’s busy world, there is something magical about lying on the grass watching the pictures in the clouds or cooling off under the sprinkler or taking a sneaky swing on the clothesline.  The things we grandmas enjoyed as children are just as fun today, if we and our grandchildren just take the time… Although Stephen Michael King has been flattering in his illustration of me – I’m more the traditional short, rounded, glasses-wearing granny (although I do still have my natural red hair) – nevertheless, he has interpreted and captured Daddo’s words in a way that just shows the magic of mindfulness,  And although my littlies are now Miss 12 and Miss Nearly 17, there are still times when we just take a minute to jump in a muddy puddle – especially if Grandad is close by!

Intergenerational relationships are so important for all, and they’re long and strong in this family.  Thanks for the memories, Andrew and Stephen!!!!

 

 

Song in the City

Mar6
Song in the City

Song in the City

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Song in the City

Daniel Bernstrom

Jenin Mohammed

HarperCollins, 2023

40pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

 9780063011120

Sunday morning in the city, and Emmelene is accompanying her Grandma Jean to church where there is a choir singing and trumpets blowing  and hand-clapping to hear and join in with. But Grandma Jean is getting cross because Emmelene is lagging behind because she is listening to the music of the city – the tap-tappa-tap, the yip-yippa-yip, the pitter-patter-drip and all the other sounds that her ears hear but her eyes can’t see.  

And in church, when Grandma Jean’s music makes little impression on Emmelene , Grandma gets even crankier and just doesn’t understand what Emmelene can hear – although she does try. And then Emmelene shows her…

A long time ago, I read a poem about the sounds of night falling and it made such an impression on me, that now, mosquitoes willing, one of my favourite wind-down activities is to listen to the dark creep across our bushland home.  I have to admit that I’m a bit like Grandma Jean and haven’t heard the music of the city so maybe I should sit in the park in town and close my eyes… Certainly, it is something we can do with our kids on a nice day – take them outside, let them lie on the grass in the sun and just listen to the music of the outdoors.  And if someone falls asleep, that’s fine – either they needed the rest or the activity had the desired effect of putting them in the zone for a while.  

But, while this is a great book to inspire an awareness of our surroundings and be mindful in the moment, on a more practical level it is also one for exploring the concept of onomatopoeia as the sounds of the vehicles and other things that Emmelene hears are illustrated in a way that makes you see them as well as hear them.  Another opportunity to explore and experience our language. 

 

 

Breathe In and Out

Feb28
Breathe In and Out

Breathe In and Out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breathe In and Out

Jan Stradling

Jedda Robaard

ABC Books, 2023

24pp., hbk., RRP $A19.99

9780733342387

Big Ted is having one of those days when his feelings are dark and stormy, and when his friends come to play he doesn’t want to join them.  Even when they build him a mindfulness cubby, he doesn’t feel better until…

Our youngest readers will immediately recognise the characters from ABC Play School in this story but more importantly, they will recognise that feeling gloomy, anxious or wound-up are perfectly natural emotions that everyone has.  Unpleasant though they may be, they are part of life and after all, without rain there are no rainbows.  But because Jemima and Kiya and Little Ted have all experienced them, they know the sorts of things that can help and so through their actions, little ones can learn their own strategies to work their way through those times when the going gets tough.   Who doesn’t feel a little calmer when cocooned in a cubby made from sheets spread over chairs, with familiar smells to breathe in, peaceful sounds to listen to and things that bring back happy memories to look at?

Being able to self-calm and self-regulate is a huge step in growing up and this story will go a long way in helping our littlies to master and manage their emotions, while still acknowledging that such emotions are real,, are part of who we are, and will be part of us for our lifetime. 

 

Julian Is a Mermaid

Feb23

 

 

 

 

Julian Is a Mermaid

Julian Is a Mermaid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julian Is a Mermaid

Jessica Love

Walker, 2018

40pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781406380637

Going home on the subway with his grandmother, Julian spots three glamorous women dressed as mermaids and is immediately transported to his imaginary world living under the sea as a mermaid, at one with the creatures there.  He is pulled from his reverie as the train reaches his stop but the memory lingers and once he is home and his grandmother goes to have a bath, he uses the things in her apartment to transform himself – plant fronds for flowing, hair, lacy curtains for a splendid tail, and some lipstick. But then his grandmother comes out – will she scold him for becoming something so feminine or will she embrace his imagination and diversity?

In what is almost a wordless picture book, the reader has to immerse themselves in the pictures to really engage with this story that challenges the stereotype of being a mermaid being a girl’s dream and celebrates diversity, being true to yourself and accepted for that. 

One can imagine the eyebrows that would be raised on an Australian metro train should three glamorous women dressed as mermaids get on, each confident in themselves and their dress (reminiscent of the costumes of Priscilla, Queen of the desert)- but this is New York and instead of derision they encourage a young child to dream and then make that dream a reality. 

His grandmother, somewhat overweight but nevertheless flamboyant in her own style, is clearly very comfortable in her own skin, not driven by the expectations of others and definitely not the stereotype grey-hair-and-knitting that is so commonly portrayed in stories, and so it is not surprising that she embraces Julian’s desires and takes him to a place where he can truly belong. 

Because so much of the story is told in the illustrations, they have to be superb and they are. From the stunning undersea creature presenting the mermaid Julian with a coral necklace to the characters that Julian and his grandmother pass in the street, indeed even the women in the pool in the endpages, each with is imbued with personality and confidence and pride in who they are. 

This is a book that demands close reading and reflection so its riches are revealed; it is one that will raise questions and demand explanations; but to those who are like Julian and dream of things that are beyond the traditional stereotype bounded by gender, it will bring comfort and maybe confidence so they too can be themselves. 

Originally published June 28 2018

Updated February 2023

Perfectly Norman

Feb21

 

 

 

 

Perfectly Norman

Perfectly Norman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perfectly Norman

Tom Percival

Bloomsbury, 2017

32pp., pbk., RRP $A12.99

9781408880982

Norman had always been perfectly normal. That was until the day he grew a pair of wings! 

He had imagined growing taller or even growing a beard like his dad, but not growing  a pair of wings!

Norman is very surprised to have wings suddenly – and he has the most fun ever trying them out high in the sky. But then he has to go in for dinner. What will his parents think? What will everyone else think? Norman feels the safest plan is to cover his wings with a big coat.

But hiding the thing that makes you different can prove tricky and upsetting. The coat became a burden, even an embarrassment and Norman began to resent the wings until he realised it was the coat making him unhappy, not the wings. After all, no-one else has wings, so why him? Can he find the courage to discard the coat? What does he discover when he does?

In this poignant story about being different, Percival has set the text against striking backgrounds of various shades of grey depicting normal and dull while giving Norman bright colour and light so that his feelings of being unique are highlighted physically as well as emotionally. He has also chosen to depict a diversity of characters, each unique in their own way and each of whom accept Norman as normal, so really, what does “normal’ mean? What do Norman’s wings represent – could it be he has come to terms with his gender identity and regardless of the coat, he can now use the wings to be true to himself?  

 For a wonderful part of their lives, children don’t see difference and they just love who they are but then awareness starts to develop and they start to see themselves with new and often unkind eyes.  They want nothing more than to be the same as their peers, to not stand out, to be normal and anything that makes them unique, whether it is skin colour, wearing spectacles, being an only child or growing a set of wings, becomes a burden that they would rather not carry. But the freedom when the coat is shed… 

Accepting and celebrating who we are and what we are, especially those things that make us special and unique is so important for our mental health and at last, we are starting to understand that the self-talk and messages we give ourselves as we interpret our interactions and experiences as a child can have an incredible impact on the well-being of our older selves. The more children can encounter books like Perfectly Norman and discuss them so they understand that there is no ‘normal’ or “perfect” the healthier they will be.  It is our responsibility as teacher librarians, teachers and other significant adults in their lives to make sure they meet lots of Normans and not only grow to love their own wings but to use them to fly!

Originally published October 1 2017

Updated February 2023