The Phoenix Five
The Phoenix Five
Sandi & Christopher Phoenix & Monica Millgate
Katherine Appleby
Little Steps, 2025
32pp., hbk., RRP $A26.95
9781922833457
Down by the coast, where the river meets the sea, there’s a secret meeting place beneath an old gum tree…
And gathered around that old tree are five friends – Flo Cockatoo, Marli Croc, Cody Quokka, Frankie Sea Eagle and Saffi Koala – who call themselves The Phoenix Five, “Adventurers of the land and skies.” At today’s meeting they decide that they need a meeting place, more than just the tree itself, and so they start to plan the construction of a tree house. Agreeing on the design, materials and procedures, they collaborate and cooperate to build it, each using their particular strengths and interests to make it the best tree house ever.
With its rhyming text and characters that youngsters can relate to and appealing illustrations that could be Anywhere, Australia, at first glance this appears to be just another story for little ones about how they can work together to achieve something that they couldn’t do by themselves, but the Educator Notes at the back take the adult reader much deeper, explaining the philosophy of “Needs Literacy” that underpins the story.
For decades, educators have known, understood and applied William Glasser’s Choice Theory that is founded on the premise that each of us, as humans, have five basic innate needs – the physical need to survive and the psychological needs of love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun – and that our behaviour at any given time is determined by the need to satisfy one or more of these, even if the choice impacts others. However, while adults might understand the impetus that drives the challenging behaviour they encounter from children, the child itself doesn’t yet have the words, understanding and logic to articulate their need so physical actions and emotional outbursts become their only way to express their frustration. So this book, based on The Phoenix Cup philosophy, becomes a starting point to help them begin to understand what their particular, individual strengths and needs are so that as they mature, their experiences broaden and their language develops they can start to choose and modify their behaviours.
Currently, not a day goes by when news bulletins are not peppered with stories of violence, particularly amongst young people, and violence against teachers especially by primary-school aged children, is becoming alarming so clearly there is a need in both home and school to teach children to recognise what is driving their emotions and how to manage these better. While it might take some time to work through the system, this book is another weapon in the mindfulness arsenal we can draw on.
