Posted on: 26/02/2021
Mental Health Week this year was perhaps one of the most important mental health weeks we've had so far. Still in a full national lockdown, so many of us must be wondering how the children in our lives are faring: the children in school; the children who are accessing remote learning (or not); our own children; grandchildren… And not only might be we be wondering how the children are coping, but what the impact of all this will be in a few months’ time and beyond. How will things be in terms of inclusion, belonging, empathy and the ability to articulate feelings? We know that giving children a voice is extremely important but so too is giving them the vocabulary to voice their feelings. It is so important that we help our children and young people explore big and sometimes difficult ideas and time and time again we've said how important our choice of literature is in order that we can facilitate this. Even if a book doesn't contain a plot or storyline that exactly matches a difficult situation, we know that children are still able to draw parallels between their own and others’ situations through this medium. We must also acknowledge that affording children the opportunity to observe how others cope in difficult situations can be a hugely powerful model for children who are also walking through hard times. We need to use literature not only to help children find a sense of resolution and inner peace but also to develop an awareness of others and the empathy needed to make a difference and help others feel that they belong.
Perfect for pre-schoolers and children in key stage one, this delightful and incredibly conceptualised new offering from Patrick George is billed as being a book to help young children express their feelings. So cleverly has every single element been executed that this is the kind of book that you can read, re-read and then read again, each time seeing things quite differently. The premise is that each child is depicted through the use of silhouettes; each carrying a balloon. The balloon is then used to depict the mood felt by its owner. Sometimes it's the position of the balloon that belies the holder’s feelings but at other times the balloon itself almost takes on the expression of the emotion: one such balloon is stretched between two silhouettes of children as if in a tug of war to depict frustration; another is peeking out from behind an open book while its owner reads from another text, the caption being, I feel curious. Other balloons appear to move as in the one to depict excitement, whooshing across the page in an accelerated rush as if its air has been suddenly expelled. But what we feel is perhaps the most genius depiction, is of the antonymous emotions of difference and acceptance: this presents as a diptych of pages, where the 1st shows a silhouette of a child - standing alone- holding aloft a green balloon against a yellow background - and the opposing page shows a group of children who have clearly left the green balloon-holder out, perhaps because all of their balloons are blue yet the isolated child’s one is green. However, one child at the edge of that hostile-looking group all tightly bundled together, identical blue balloons overlapping, appears about to step across to stand with the child with the green balloon. And in the third illustration we can see that all of those children now stand with the boy, balloons also now green having stepped from a white background onto yellow… exceptional in terms of the simplicity of the science paired with the complexity of the message. A powerful text.
When author Tom Percival began writing this book, he set out to tell the story of children in society who are often overlooked. And whilst this tender yet confronting book tells the story of one child who is living in poverty and undoubtedly it gives a voice not just to her but to all children living in poverty, so too is it to give a voice to others in society who may feel they don't belong; people who feel overlooked and unseen.
Isabel is the sort of child who sees beauty in the world. She is the sort of child who appreciates all that she has: loving parents; a faithful pup and a sense of safety.
Her house is freezing cold - her family cannot afford to have the heating on. But they have each other. Then the day comes where Isabel's parents, defeated expressions upon their faces, sit surrounded by final demands for bills, counting their final few coins: their money has run out. The little family have to move to the other side of the city away from all that Isabel has ever known and the sense of isolation is palpable; the sense of misery profound. Now the girl seems unable to find anything to cheer herself up with. People seemed to be unable to see her anymore: they drive past her in her their shiny cars, wearing fine clothes and she starts to fade away: drifting silently down the streets, as pale and thin as the wind. It is then that Isabel realises there are other invisible people: an elderly lady, planting cuttings in old paint-tins; an asylum seeker far away from his homeland; a rough sleeper. Knowing that she is not alone, Isabel is galvanised into action and begins helping. She cares for plants and animals, she fixes things. Other people - invisible people -notice what Isabel is doing and come to join in, And the more people came together... the more they could all be seen… Isabel had made a difference.
In the author’s note at the end of the book, Tom Percival reflects upon his earliest memory of being in a caravan that actually was to become his home for the next six years. Poverty having driven his family into the situation, the family were lacking in money but Percival feels he had love and books in abundance. An important book about inclusion; a sense of community and believing that no matter how small you feel you are, you can still make a difference.
This beautiful new book from award winning duo depicts the wonderful window to the world that a child’s imagination can be. Little Milo is heading on the tube with his sister. All sorts of people are travelling: A whiskered man with a face of concentration a businessman with a blank lonely face and a wedding dressed woman with a face made out of light. Once a month on a Sunday Milo and his sister make this journey. They feel never ending, and as usual, Milo is a shook up soda. Excitement stacked on top of worry on top of confusion on top of love. Where is it that the children go every month? What is the cause of the excitement, confusion and love?
From whatever the cause of the worry Milo is experiencing, he tries to distract himself, his imagination becoming a window to the world, which he draws into his sketchpad. The whiskered man is imagined living in a fifth-floor apartment, with rats and cats …; A besuited boy with perfectly parted hair boards the train and, through pictures Milo imagines the boy being royalty and draws a carriage, a moat and even staff. The woman in the wedding dress alights at the next stop and Milo imagines the grand cathedral ceremony where the couple will be pronounced husband and wife. Back to the boy where, seemingly trying to hide some kind of shame, he and Milo lock eyes. And in that moment, although it goes unsaid, Milo is thinking how different the boy’s life must be to his. All this Milo imagines and then ponders, What do people imagine about his face? When Milo and his sister reach their stop, he's surprised to see the boy in the suit walking a few paces ahead and it suddenly occurs to him that Maybe you can't really know anyone just by looking at their face: both boys are visiting their mums in prison. A powerful book about how your imagination can be helpful, especially if you're experiencing anxiety, but also how it can be subconsciously biased and that it is good and important to remember that just because appearances might be deceiving, we don't really know what others might be experiencing.
What an uplifting yet poignant read this is! Archie’s parents have separated and things are a bit grisly: arguments; adjustments to life needed and a child who just desperately wants things to return to normal. But there’s a secret being kept from Archie and, one evening, he overhears what this secret is: his dad is gay. Archie’s best friends – Seb and Bell – provide huge support for Archie as he deals with the news that means life is changed for ever whilst also beginning to navigate the tricky territory that is being there for each of his parents as they all try to adjust to their new normal. But then Archie’s attention is caught by a leaflet advertising that summer’s London Pride and he knows just what to do: maybe the answers that he seeks in order to somehow bridge the gap that he feels has opened up between him and his dad lie at the event?
The three plot to make it in to London on the train but are met with several obstacles along the way including becoming separated from the nervy, most cautious Seb. Helped by a gaggle of kindly drag-queens and their friends, the three children are welcomed into the fold that is Pride as part of the Pride family and there’s a tender moment when Archie’s dad appears, too. Answers found and ‘what had accidentally been broken’ fixed, the group are reunited, new friendships formed and Pride is enjoyed in all its wondrous glory. Archie learns that although situations may change, people can still stay the same. True growth is seen in the characters of this brilliantly written book and Dean writes perceptively, humourously and with a great deal of candour. Perfect for children in upper key stage 2.
Posted in: Literature Review
