The Book of Hopes
The Book of Hopes
Bloomsbury, 2021
400pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99
9781526629883
Even though much is being made of the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine rollout and the messages of hope and optimism that are being spread with it, Australia, although in a “comfortable” position, is not out of the woods and the effects of lockdowns, job losses and uncertainty, and the breakdown of family relationships is still affecting many families at a personal level.
And as has been shown in other crises like floods and bushfires, the adults get busy doing adult things as they must and sometimes the children are left to sort their own feelings and emotions and imaginations.
When the UK went into lockdown, recognising that in difficult times, what children really need is hope. author Katherine Rundell emailed some of the children’s writers and artists whose work she loved most:
‘I asked them to write something very short, fiction or non-fiction, or draw something that would make the children reading it feel like possibility-ists: something that would make them laugh or wonder or snort or smile. The response was magnificent, which shouldn’t have surprised me, because children’s writers and illustrators are professional hunters of hope … I hope that the imagination can be a place of shelter for children and that The Book of Hopes might be useful in that, even if only a little.’
First published online to comfort, entertain and inspire the children, this print collection, packed with short stories, poems and pictures from the very best children’s authors and illustrators, aims to provide just that. Within its pages you’ll find animal friends from insects to elephants, high-flying grandmas, a homesick sprite, the tooth fairy, and even extra-terrestrial life.
There are 133 contributions from authors and illustrators, including Anthony Horowitz, Axel Scheffler, Catherine Johnson, Jacqueline Wilson, Katherine Rundell, Lauren Child, Michael Morpurgo and Onjali Q. Raúf. There is also a reading list so the reader can explore more books by the contributors thus offering not only comfort (and often a laugh) now but also a pathway forward for more entertainment. who could resist wanting to find out about the washing machine that went to the moon (David Solomons) or the hungriest caterpillar (Isabel Thomas).
Proceeds from this book will be donated to NHS Charities Together, but regardless, it is a wonderful new addition to the teacher’s toolbox for those times when you want to fill both a few moments and a little heart.
