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Picture Books on BIG Topics for Small Children

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5 Books on Big Topics for Small Children

5 books on big topics for small children, selected by author Donna David.

Donna says ‘Picture books are my favourite thing! They can make me snort with laughter or quietly chuckle. They can inspire me to visit somewhere or learn a new skill. Sharing books with my young children make up a large portion of my favourite memories. And sometimes, picture books can help us teach big topics to small children. They open discussions and provide a safe space for questions and exploration. Here are five of my favourites…

Eva Eland
Picturebook

This book has very few words but it does such an incredible job of introducing the ideas of emotional literacy and mental well-being to very small children. Sadness turns up on the doorstep one day and follows our main character around. We don’t know why it came or when it will leave but it’s there. By embracing Sadness (taking it for a walk or drawing with it), the emotion becomes easier to live with until, one day, it completely disappears.

Kate Milner
Picturebook
Mum works really hard, but today there is no money left and no food in the cupboards. Forced to visit the local foodbank, Mum feels ashamed that they have to rely on the kindness of others, but her young daughter can still see all the good in her day like reading and drawing, and even the foodbank. Maybe one day things will be different but for now together they brighten up even the darkest of days. A moving insight into the sad rise and necessity of foodbanks from the perspective of society’s most vulnerable, and an essential book to help develop empathy in younger readers.
Donna David
 & Laura Watkins
Picturebook

I’m a little bit biased with this one as I wrote it but I really wanted to include a picture book that gently introduces consent. I believe all children should have autonomy over their bodies and be encouraged to express it. If they don’t want to kiss someone goodbye, so be it; if they don’t want to be tickled then that’s OK.

Bobo, an orangutan, romps through the jungle cuddling animals without asking. It’s not until the very end, when Elsie the elephant does the same to him, that he realises the errors of his ways.

Joseph Coelho
 & Robyn Wilson-Owen
Picturebook

In this poignant picture book from award-winning performance poet, Joseph Coelho, a little girl is sad and feels alone. People say she’s quiet or shy, but she’s not. She’s dealing with loss in her own way and, when she’s on her own, she makes a “racket” to express her sorrow. By talking to her dad, she realises that she’s not alone. A big cuddle from Dad doesn’t make the sorrow disappear, but it makes it manageable. The last spread, with Dad and his daughters, surrounded by pictures of a missing mother, is poignant and moving.

Maurice Sendak
Picturebook

In this gorgeous picture book we go on a journey with Max, who’s been sent to his room for chasing the dog with a fork, and being an all-round wild thing. But somehow his room becomes a forest, and when he travels across the sea by boat he finds more Wild Things and becomes their king.

This book is such a classic and, as such, means so many different things to so many different people. For me, it teaches a young child that it’s OK to feel angry; it’s OK to take some time out. Your family will still love you. They’ll still be waiting for you when you come back. When Max stomps off to visit the wild things, he’s angry and frustrated. He’s so mad that he sails off “through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year”. When he calms down, he realises he misses home and, to the disappointment of his new Kingdom, he heads back to his bedroom where his “still hot” supper is waiting for him. This story is really the embodiment of an emotion and the power of those final lines – the release of them – still brings me to (happy) tears.

 

Many thanks to Donna David for compiling this guest booklist for us. You can find out more about Donna’s new book Oh No, Bobo!  over on our blog.

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