Author Marvyn Harrison (founder of Dope Black Dads) has a mission… ‘each and every child is special, and it is important to tell them so every day.’ And so begins this empowering picture book. The story follows the characters from Monday through to Sunday, to help with learning the days of the week and family routines. Each day, the characters look at themselves in the mirror and say positive affirmations to their reflections. A different affirmation each day, with examples of how to be that person. The book also encourages children to talk about themselves and express their thoughts and feelings. The colourful pages burst to life thanks to the illustrations of Diane Ewen who is able to show how to be brave, smart, strong, kind, happy, loving and beautiful. This book is vibrant and energetic, and sure to engage our youngest children. Harrison describes his philosophy on affirmations as ‘just as regular exercise and a balanced diet set up strong patterns for good physical health, so can practising affirmations lead to better mental health’. You can read more about affirmations, Black Dope Dads and tips for reading with your child, at the back of the book.

This is a wonderful picturebook about the nature of individuality, perfect for building a classroom or school culture where the uniqueness of each person is celebrated.

The book invites readers on a whimsical journey that follows a young boy’s desire to create a robot clone of himself. However, before he can bring his cloned self to life, he must embark on a quest to uncover the essence of his individuality. What is it, exactly, that makes him who he is?

Bursting with imaginative illustrations, this thought-provoking book offers an engaging and enjoyable experience that not only sparks discussion but also serves as an ideal catalyst for exploring the concept of each person’s distinct uniqueness. Teachers could use this book as an icebreaker discussion to enable a new class to get to know themselves and others, for thoughtful artwork based on the fun labelled diagrams in the book or for PSHE lessons about expressing and celebrating individuality.

Younger classes will enjoy imagining what a robot close of themselves might look, act and feel like, while older children can get philosophical about the factors that have come together to make them who they are, or even about the potential ethics of cloning oneself (I’m sure overly busy teachers may also be tempted to wish for a clone!).

Either way, this is a really fun focal point for classrooms and one that works best if children are given enlarged or close-up access to the illustrations.

Written with Alexandra Strick, co-founder of Inclusive Minds, You Can! sets out to celebrate the joy and empowerment that can be found in following your dreams and believing in yourself.

The words tell a simple list of the things ‘You can…’ do, such as be brave, talk about how you feel, make mistakes and learn from them, and could be read straight through from start to finish in less than 3 minutes. But this would defeat the purpose of the book – there is so much to interrogate and discuss on each page. The pictures bring another dimension, showing each child gradually developing from toddler to child to young adult and challenging themselves at each stage of the journey. The challenges gradually broaden and deepen to reflect the age of the characters, from the toddlers being encouraged to try new things and be brave, to the young adults refusing to be put in a box and being determined to reach their goals. The endpapers contribute to this sense of growth and progress with the front showing 14 babies (which one looks most like you?) and the end showing 14 adults engaged in various jobs (which job would you most like to have?).

This book would be great to share with a whole class, particularly during a unit on Ourselves, but would also make a brilliant resource to share with an individual child, such as the one in every class whose first response is ‘I can’t!”

Thoughtful, uplifting and empowering, ‘You Can!’ is a joy to explore.

Funnybones follows the adventures of a well-loved family of skeletons. These classic stories are full of humour and provide a great curriculum link into finding out about what lies inside the human body. There is also an accompanying Read & Respond guide available from Amazon.

Hair-Raising Human Body Facts is a fascinating tour of the human body. As they read, children will learn a huge amount of intriguing facts about the body that they have inhabited since they were born. They will be desperate to share information – such as how your body sheds 50kg of skin by the time you are seventy and that the average human passes wind about twelve times a day!

Each colourful double-page spread focuses on one aspect of the body. The information is a mix of explanations, fact boxes, historical information and common myths about the body feature being discussed (Did you know that kissing a donkey was thought to be a cure for toothache in medieval Germany?).

Learners will enjoy the mixture of photographs, illustrations, speech bubbles and cartoons. The photographs also include images from a microscope, which are captivating.

A simple but powerful rhyming picture book that shines a light on the importance of diversity and inclusivity in the classroom.

Right from its opening lines, “Pencils sharpened in their case, Bells are ringing, let’s make haste, School’s beginning, dreams to chase. All are welcome here,” the book exudes an essence of acceptance and unity that strikes a chord as pupils settle into the culture of their new class. The book uses the format of a school day to show how different classmates are equally included, and the repeated refrain of ‘All Are Welcome Here‘ is one that classes could easily adopt as their own motto.

For any school or teacher committed to diversity and inclusion, this is an essential book with a clear message elegantly conveyed through the journey of a group of children as they navigate a day at their school, where the very essence of seeking to make every individual welcome is the thread the runs through all of the pages. Each double page spreads come alive with vibrant depictions of children donning different cultural clothing, all engaged harmoniously in activities in an environment that is intentionally inclusive. This portrayal of a school thriving on shared learning from one another’s traditions is both heartening and thought-provoking.

All Kind of Families, written and illustrated by Sophy Henn, is a wonderful book to use across various opportunities in the primary classroom. It is an excellent resource to promote discussion and understanding of family diversity in humans and animals. By making links to animals, children gain a wider experience of different families, all underpinned by the theme of love. The book explores and promotes families with different parents, varying numbers of siblings and family sizes, roles of other individuals and adoption. Each is done sensitively to help children understand and embrace the naturally different shapes of families. The book would be most suitable for KS1 or lower KS2 but could be adapted for any age. Each theme is linked to a different animal and the final pages of the books give more information about each of those animals.

How do you say hello? How many other ways can you think of? This lift-the-flap book is a celebration of languages and cultures, showing people from different countries saying ‘hello’ in their native language. Find out what ‘hello’ in different languages looks and sounds like in this visually appealing non-fiction text.