Last Month's Favourites

Giveaway

We have a fabulous giveaway this month of Press Here Board Book Edition by Herve Tullet - one that we have the hardback edition of and love but this board book would be a super sturdy version to explore with young readers.

Grab the Button:

Book Bairn

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Dear Earth
Now
Under the Same Sky
We Are Together
Not Lost
Everybody Counts
Kindness Grows
Together
Here We Are
What We See in the Stars
The Garden of Hope

The Worrysaurus by Rachel Bright & Chris Chatterton

I know that BookBairn isn’t an adventurous personality and her tendency to worry about what will happen sometimes stops her from doing things like going down the big slide, or going on fairground rides. So I know she understands the butterflies in the tummy of the Worrysaurus. It’s a beautiful day and the Worrysaurus has planned a special picnic. Really planned it. Every eventuality. But it isn’t too long into his adventure that the butterflies start to creep in. What if he doesn’t have enough to eat? What if he gets lost? Or trips and falls? What if it starts to rain? Fortunately he gets some advice from his mummy, and puts into place his strategy for calming his anxiety so that he can get back to having fun. This is a charming rhyming story which is light hearted and approachable for little worriers. The illustrations are bright and the Worrysaurus so adorable and lovable that he’s bound to enter your hearts. Definitely a new favourite in our family.

Ruby's Worry by Tom Percival

Ruby is worried. She has a worry that follows her around everywhere. She tries to ignore it but everyday it gets bigger. No one else can see Ruby's worry so Ruby tried pretend that she can't see it either. But the Worry is always there - stopping her from doing the things that she loves. Ruby worries about the Worry. which only makes it worse. Until one day Ruby notices a boy sitting alone who looks exactly like she feels - sad. And then she notices something hovering next to him. Could it be that he has a Worry too? And maybe they can find a way to shrink their worries together. This is a reassuring and sensitive book to open a conversation with children about worries. But it's also a lovely story about about friendship. Beautifully illustrated and with very clever use of colours, this is a great read to enjoy together.

The Worry Box by Suzanne Chiew & Sean Julian

This lovely story stars Murray Bear, who has a lot of worries. So many, in fact, that it's stopping him from exploring and going on adventures with his friends. With the help of his sister, Milly, Murray makes a special box to keep all his worries in and sets out to explore, adventure and make new friends. With soft illustrations and adorable characters that children will relate to, this is a brilliant story to encourage children to talk about their worries and fears. A much-needed book for classroom and school libraries!

My Monster and Me by Nadiya Hussain & Ella Bailey

This picture book places telling someone, about sharing your “monster”, right at the heart of taking control of your worries. This is the story of a little boy whose worry monster follows him everywhere he goes. It’s there when he gets dressed, when he plays with his toys, it gets in the way of him playing with his friends. But his monster is very good at hiding from his family so his parents sand older siblings don’t notice that it is there. But when he opens up to his grandmother, there is a big change in monster. And whilst monster might never go away completely it becomes so small that the boy can carry him around in his pocket. And if ever it feel like getting out of that pocket he knows how to make it go away. His monster is part of him, and it’s natural to have some worries but with support he can make sure his monster behaves. Beautifully illustrated, and with monster that looks more playful and mischievous than frightening, this book is a powerful tool to show children that they needn’t be afraid of their worry monster but they shouldn’t let it boss them around. 

A Little Bit Worried by Ciara Gavin & Tim Warnes

The main character in this is perfect for children coping with anxiety or struggling with new experiences and they way the story is constructed it will also give empathy to those who are more confident and outgoing. It’s the story of Weasel who is caught in a big, angry storm, so he builds a fortress to hide in. But inside his fortress one day, he discovers Mole, who loves to play in the wind and splash in the rain. And Mole helps Weasel to overcome his fears and find joy, whatever the weather! I love the way that this book isn’t dismissive of those self-protective behaviour we have but rather encourages a more mindful approach to the fearful things we can’t control. The illustrations bring to life the characters through a clever use of expressions and the clever use of the changing weather to portray the changing mood and emotions of the character is a subtle way to share with children that after the rain comes the sunshine.

The Problem with Problems by Rachel Rooney & Zehra Hicks

Have you ever met a problem? Problems are creatures. They come in all sizes. Some even wear disguises! Each one is different but all of them want to cause trouble. They certainly can be tricky creatures. But the key is to keep quiet calm, don’t let them trouble you. There are so many things you can do to send them on their way! This lovely picture book brings to life ‘problems’ in a way that very young children can understand and helps them explore the problems with problems and the solutions! This is an ingenious book which has very cleverly personified problems in a way that makes them feel approachable, ignorable, solvable. The illustrations are bright and cheerful! Making you feel bright and cheerful as you read and choose to tackle your problems head on. A wonderful addition to your bookshelf and a great conversation opener about children’s problems and mental health!

Almost Anything by Sophy Henn

This is a wonderful story about self-confidence and stars a whole cast of woodland creatures. George, the rabbit, thinks he can’t paint, bowl, dance or skate like his friends and he’s too afraid to try. Bear makes him a magic hat to give him the courage to try and when he does it turns out he can skate, and dance and read and a whole host of other things! But then George loses his hat, and his confidence with it. How will he be able to join in with his friends? If he can't do all the new things he has learned how will he have fun? So Bear tells him the truth: the magic didn’t come from the hat, it came from inside. Now doesn’t that sound like a magic picture book? When you feel like everyone else can do something but you can’t it can leave you feeling lonely and left out. And in this book little ones will see that all they need is a little bit of confidence to try, resilience if they fail, and friends to help them find their own magic to succeed. And if all else fails - a paper hat might do the trick!

Sometimes I am Worried endorsed by Dr. Janet Rose and illustrated by Marie Paruit

This fantastic book is full of tactile lift the flaps and turn wheels show what it feels like inside our bodies when we are worried and how our body might react as well as things we can do to ease that discomfort. I love how kid-centric these books are and how direct and to the point - just here is what it’s like to be worried and here is what it might feel like inside. They can lift the flaps, slide the tabs and turn the wheel to explore what a worry is, why they might worry and how they can stop their worries from becoming too big and we love the sliding scale on the final page! On the cover it says “for sharing and talking” and this is just perfect for exactly that!

I hope you find these supportive for your little worriers and that they start a conversation about your bairns' worried. If you are looking for more of our very favourite books to support children's mental health check out my Amazon shop and click on the section for Children's Books about Mental Health.

 

You might remember that at the start of the year I wrote a blog post about my Most Anticipated Picture Books of 2020. And I've had the opportunity to read six of the original ten on the list. What I find interesting is that occasionally when I do those lists I am super excited to read the books and then I don't ever actually get a copy or when I do they disappoint. So I thought it would be interesting to look back on the ones that I got and see if they lived up to my expectations.

So BookBairn has started school! And she is really loving it - to be honest I knew she would once she got over separation anxiety and settled in because she is so ready to learn. But we also did lots of reading of stories about starting school, and school based stories because I knew that given the situation with Covid-19 restrictions, the lack of transition visits might make it more difficult to settle. And the books certainly helped!

Below is a quick-flick through video of some of our favourites and you can find them all listed on my Amazon Shop page. And below are full reviews of the ones we read the most!

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A post shared by Kim & the BookBairns (@bookbairn) on Jul 27, 2020 at 12:18pm PDT

Going to School by Rose Blake

This is the best 'Going to School' book I've ever read. It goes through the main elements of the day as well as sharing lots of the fun and wonderful ways the children learn and the teachers teach. From a teacher's point of view, it shows the way we strive to make every element of learning fun and exciting and how we try to appeal to all the different interest and learning styles of the children whilst still applying all those elements within the wider curriculum. From a kid's point of view this book shows lots of the awesome things you can do at school as well as eases some of the anxiety they might have about all the new things they might encounter and it focuses on some of the transitions in school - drop off, pick up, lunch and break times as well as different spaces like the cloakroom, gym hall, computer room. I adore the illustrations by Rose Blake - they capture the life and soul of school life in a class of diverse students so that every child can see themselves in this book. There’s also clever little stories woven in the illustrations so on each read you can spot something different making it great fun to read over and over which is exactly what you will want to do to support new school starts. A very well thought out, fun and colourful book!

The Colour Monster Goes to School by Anna Llenas

If you haven’t seen the original Colour Monster book I can only implore you to read it by telling you it’s a fantastic feelings book full of colour, character and fun and if you’re lucky enough to get your hands on the pop-up edition (the one we have) then you’re in possession of one of the most incredible examples of picture book perfection!
But anyway...
Colour Monster is off to school and he’s not so sure, he’s a bundle of mixed feelings. But with a little persuasion he spends a yellow happy day with all his classmates and realised that school is a wonderful adventure to be shared with friends. Our favourite part is actually the endpapers where you see all the drawings that the children have created of Colour Monster and leaves a little space for you to add your own! Such a fun way to end the story!

Mouse's Big Day by Lydia Monks

It’s a big day for Mouse! Her first day of school. But she doesn’t want to go. Not one bit. Lucky for her, just like BookBairn, her class is full of friends. The teacher sets the children a challenge to find something special; Owl finds some feathers, Rabbit found a carrot, Frog found a tadpole (his brother or sister perhaps?) and Mole stumbles on gold. But what Mouse finds is even more special: friends. The characters from Twit Two School are enchanting and we look forward to following them on another adventure soon! And the book ends on BookBairn’s favourite part:
“[Mouse] found that she didn’t like school...
She LOVED it, and she couldn’t wait to find out what tomorrow would bring!”

First Day at Bug School by Sam Lloyd

“At the bottom of the garden, 

where no one really sees,

a secret school is hidden

amongst the grass and weeds…” 

This is a funny and reassuring book for little ones about to start school, featuring counting classes for ladybirds, hopping lessons for fleas and lots of fun for all the creatures at bug school. BookBairn loves looking at the illustrations in this one - enjoying noticing all the little details. And although this is a book about a bug school it does have all the key elements of school - from teachers, to friendships, to break time and lunch time, even the toilets, so it covers lots of things you want to chat about with your child before starting school. Written in rhyme it’s also a lot of fun to read aloud. 

When a Dragon Goes to School by Caryl Hart & Rosalind Beardshaw

How do dragons behave at school? Do they throw the crayons, refuse to share the toys and set fire to the building? Of course not! Dragons don’t do that!! But behaving at school isn’t always easy. A lovely way of taking to children about rules, routines and being a good friend and classmate. Written in rhyme with a lovely cast of characters and a little star in the dragon! I love that the teacher only appears as a pair of legs and feet and the whole day centres around the children. The way a school day should be!

Pirates Don't Go to School by Alan MacDonald & Magda Brol

Pirates don’t go to School, right? They sail the high seas, hunt for treasure swab the poop deck, evade sea monsters. Ao when Jake declares that he wants to go to school his family are horrified! They tell him school is full of rotten rules and monstrous teachers but nevertheless Jake is determined to go to school. But despite his fears, he has a brilliant day at school, especially with the highjinks of his stowaway parrot. In fact he finds out that he gets to do all his favourite things: singing, rope climbing, splashy mess-making! And he even manages to convince his family to re-think their attitude to school. A wonderfully fun story about finding your ‘sea legs’, this is a lovely story for any children who might be nervous about starting their own school adventure. Or for anyone who loves a pirate story! Or just for anyone who loves a picture book quite frankly!

King of the Classroom by Derrick Barnes & Vanessa Brantley-Newton

This is the story of a young boy on his first day of school and not only is her determined to have a good day, it’s going to rule! Starting from when the boy first gets up, through breakfast and on the school bus, this story is packed full of royal puns that will tickle grown ups as they read and will make it real for little ones the idea that he is a king! I love the little crown motif that is peppered through all the illustrations and BookBairn loves spotting them as we read. Into the classroom, meeting the teacher, and having so much fun, the little boy is also a fantastic role model for making new friends. And of course he’s excited to return to school the next day! Such a fun and clever book (worth noting this one has a lot of features from the US school system - no uniform, yellow buses, but there’s also a lot that is universal about a first school experience so it’s got plenty of appeal for UK readers too.)

I Have to Start at School Today by & Simon Philip Ged Adamson

The little girl in this story starts school today. Her parents tell her it will be fun but she starts to worry about a whole list of things that might go wrong (fuelled by her big brothers lies). From rhinos at the gate to bears who won’t share, she believes there are all sorts of things that could go wrong on the first day of school. But grandma sets things straight and helps her realise that maybe the rhino and the bear are there to help? That things might go all right! Written in rhyme and full of jokes and out of this world imaginings, this is a hilarious book to read aloud and a great way to get kids ready for school.

Kindergarten Countdown by Majorie Blain Parker & Sophie Burrows

Such a lovely book for counting down the sleeps until ‘kindergarten’ starts! Though the terminology ‘kindergarten isn’t really used here in the UK, we’ve still been enjoying this adorable book which helps children prepare for all the excitement of their first day of school. Counting down the number of sleeps and talking about ten exciting things about school from wearing new clothes to going to a bus and packing your own lunch (worth noting that one of these is pledging allegiance to the flag which makes this aimed at an American audience) until reaching zero sleeps because the big day is here!! And the most exciting thing of all? Making new friends! This book has gorgeous illustrations and is full of energy and excitement and will have kids looking forward to starting school.

I hope this helps if you're little one is starting school soon! If you are looking for more of our very favourite starting school books check out my Amazon shop and click on the section for Going to School Books.