A fun and reassuring tale about dealing with worries, all about a Worrysaurus who faces a series of worried thoughts about the picnic he has planned. Can Worrysaurus find a way to chase his fears away and have fun?This story can be used to support children with high levels of anxiety, to help children to recognise the physical affects of anxiety and to support a whole school focus on developing resilience.
A poignant and heart-warming picture book exploring the importance of making space and time for our own griefs, small or large, sensitively visualized with David Litchfield’s stunning illustration. A small boy is sad, and instead of ignoring it or trying to push the feeling aside, he creates a shelter for his sadness – a safe space where Sadness can dwell until it is ready to leave the shelter. This story can be used in a small group to support children experiencing sadness, e.g. after a loss or bereavement, or more widely to talk about the value of acknowledging feelings. It can also be useful to explore the concept of safe spaces.
A moving, powerful story that shines a light on those that feel invisible in our world. Isabel and her loving family are forced to leave their home due to poverty. Feeling alone and invisible to the world, Isabel begins to notice the many other people living in similar circumstances – in fact, there are other ‘invisible’ people everywhere. Isabel is stirred to action and decides to make a difference to her new community in the little ways she can. By gradually improving small things that cost nothing, she starts a community movement and, before long, colour floods into her life and the lives of others once again.
This story links to whole school values of tolerance, kindness and caring and can be used for developing a sense of belonging and community. It shows how anyone can make a positive impact on those around them, regardless of how little they have.
Colour Monster is heading to school – but he is not really sure what exactly school is. Is it a spooky castle filled with terrifying animals? Or perhaps a place in the sky, amongst the rainbows and clouds? With a little help from a friend, Colour Monster soon finds his feet at school and throws himself head first into lots of exciting activities.This is a perfect for the first day of school when children are feeling nervous, as well as being a story that can open discussions about feelings associated with starting something new.
I challenge anyone not to be moved by this wonderful book. It’s such an enormously important narrative that’s spun with such simplicity. Norman is startled when he grows wings, initially hiding them out of fear. But before too long, the act of hiding who he is becomes the very thing that makes him miserable. And once he accepts – and indeed celebrates – himself, his whole world changes for the better. This gorgeous book encourages children to accept themselves fully, reinforcing the idea that embracing one’s differences leads to true happiness.
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?
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.
This is a feel-good story with an important message about the value of each human being. Only One You is a good book for stimulating discussion and reflection about treating each individual with respect and appreciating the uniqueness of ourselves and others. We also fell in love with the matching puppet available on Amazon that goes with the story.
Get pupils choosing, imagining and expressing their own preferences with this massively appealing picture book full of choices.
Each double-page spread is themed around a different choice to make and packed with all sorts of possibilities from the tame to the outright wacky; choose furniture for your ideal house, choose a pet (watch out for the dragon) and choose favourite food (the ice cream looks good but I’m not sure about the boar’s head!).
The You Choose series of books have seen enormous popularity and are well-loved by children because of the premise of letting the reader choose items from an appealing illustrated scene on each page. Readers are invited to select their favourite food, destination, clothing, hobby and family from a mix of plausible and not-so-plausible cartoon options, illustrated by the inimitable Nick Sharratt. These engaging books have mileage to be read over and over again, and children love interacting with them together with friends or family as they discuss their choices.
There is nothing that can quite take the place of this fantastically engaging series!
This bright and colourful picture book is a joyful celebration of the uniqueness of each individual. The positive message of the book is not to worry about what you are not but to enjoy the things you are and “all the brills you’ve got!”. The illustrations are bright and fun, adding to the celebratory feel of the book.
This is a feel-good book for EYFS class book corners or to support primary pupils with an ‘All About Me’ topic. It encourages children to be confident in who they are and to embrace differences and accept others.
A hardback non-fiction book from Usborne’s interactive lift-the-flap series, exploring the topic of germs through bite-sized question-and-answer chunks. Written with advice from Public Health England, it’s an attractive book that is useful for addressing queries, ‘just-wonderings’ and misconceptions about germs. By learning what germs are, where they live and how they behave, young readers can also learn how to prevent germs from spreading between people and the book includes top tips about staying healthy and hygienic.
review
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Year group(s) the book is most suitable for:
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Does the book contain anything that teachers would wish to know about before recommending in class (strong language, sensitive topics etc.)?
Would you recommend the book for use in primary schools?
yes
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Curriculum links (if relevant)
Any other comments
Any other comments