What I read July / August 2021

[ my image -  Bempton Cliffs, Yorkshire, July 2021 ]

Sunflower Sisters by Monica Singh Gangotra and Michaela Dias-Hayes. Owlet Press have done it again, this is another one that will be a contender for my best of 2021! A beautifully illustrated colourful story of 2 weddings and 2 friends, Amrita and Kiki, who's sister and brother are getting married the next day. Amrita's Aunty makes some comments about their skin colour, which she thinks should be lighter to be more beautiful. But Mum soon puts her straight, Amrita and Kiki are beautiful in their skins just how they are. This powerful story opens up conversations about skin colour, and colourism, why treating a person differently because of the shade, tone and colour of their skin is always wrong, and what we can do to change this. Be curious, challenge attitudes, listen and learn, and speak out. Published by Owlet Press in July 2021, so you've probably seen it in a bookshop window somewhere near you. Find out more here https://www.owletpress.com/product-page/sunflower-sisters.

Here be Dragons by Susannah Lloyd and Paddy Donnelly. A hilarious knightly romp, where the really rather silly knight goes off to look for the really rather clever dragon. He never does find that dashed dragon...or does he? Helped along the way by his trusty steed, and a princess that he doesn't even rescue, the knight gives us plenty to chat and laugh about. Published by Frances Lincoln childrens' books at Quarto Knows

Grandma's house of rules by Henry Blackshaw. There are lots of rules when you go to stay at Grandma's house - some of them make perfect sense like "Wear an apron when you do a messy job", but some just don't make sense at all like "Don't sit on the special chair, it's just for looking at". But what about the really big, old family blue and white vase... Oh crumbs. Funny facial expressions made us laugh all the way through this, even when disaster strikes the blue and white vase. Published by Cicada Books, find out more here - https://www.cicadabooks.co.uk/books/p/grandma-house-of-rules

Atlas of Amazing Architecture - the most incredible buildings you've (probably) never heard of, by Peter Allen. I love books like this, that you can pick up and put down and pick up again, and find out about places. This is an author-illustrated collection of the stories of over 50 buildings around the world and throughout history. Some of which I've actually never heard of, like the Ziggurat of Ur built in 2100BCE in Iraq and the Chand Baori in Rajasthan in India which was a type of well for bathing and drinking. There's so much to talk about and fascinate in this lovely picture book for young children to share, including a haunted hall in Cheshire, a Korean fortress, a "Disney" castle and an art school in Cuba. Published by Cicada Books , find out more here - https://www.cicadabooks.co.uk/books/p/atlas-of-amazing-architecture

Blow, wind, blow by Dom Conlon and illustrated by Anastasia Izlesou. This is the third in a series of poetic introductions for young children and their families to share, to the many wonders of the natural world (the Wild Wanderers series from Graffeg ). We are guided by the author and illustrator through the unique journey of one gust of wind, as it helps windmills, sail boats, and kites, and as it creates sandstorms and hurricanes.The artwork is fabulous, completely capturing the feel of the wind, and the lyrical text captures it too, as the author uses alliteration and onomatopoeia brilliantly. I love these as art works as well as childrens' picture books, and I'm sure they will inspire a few writers and illustrators for the future.Published on 29/6/21 by Graffeg . Find out more here - https://graffeg.com/collections/childrens-books/products/blow-wind-blow

Conversations that make a difference for children and young people - relationship-focussed practice from the frontline by Lisa Cherry. The premise of this is to link converations with real practitioners from education, social work and healthcare, to pertinent and relevant topics affecting today's children - namely attachment, adversity and trauma. The thread running through the whole book is one of empathy and kindness encouaging collaboration and thinking children holistically. The central message that the author passionately gets over is that "we can bring about social change, one interaction at a time". This remnds me of Julie Fisher, from the early childhood sector who talks about "interacting or interfering", encouraging us to make sure every interaction with the children we work with is carefully considered. I like the conversation with Eunice Lumsden, from the early childhood sector, who points out that "In any work with children and families you need to ... recognise it is not a nine to five job... it is full of complexity and challenge ... it is indeed chaotic", that we need to be constantly reflecting, searching for new knowledge, and that we need to realise that we are part of a jigsaw of services and practitioners for children and families, all of us with a unique role to play. In Andi Brierly's conversation, he points out that significant investment in Early Help is necessary for the best possible outcomes, and he mentions a conversation with a prisoner who had no idea that his own experiences would affect his children, pointing out the importance of educating prisoners about adverse childhood experiences. Lisa Cherry helps us realise that all agencies working with children and families should have a shared language around attachment, adversity and trauma so that it supports multi-agency work better, as well as the importance of reflective supervisions for practitioners working with children and families, crucial for practitioners well-being if they are to avoid "professional trauma and fatigue". In his conversation with the author, Benjamin Perks of UNICEF believes that practitioners need to ensure that every child knows that they matter as an individual. The athor concludes with a call to action - that "cultural humility is at the forefront of our practice; a continuous reflection, learning and a challengeof our own privileges and assumptions about the world. Only then can we create safety and challenge institutional and structural racism". Published by Routledge (https://www.routledge.com/Conversations-that-Make-a-Difference-for-Children-and-Young-People-Relationship-Focused/Cherry/p/book/9780367644017).

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Brilliant story. Recommended reading. Essential narrative.

From Canongate Books here https://canongate.co.uk/books/2471-the-midnight-library-the-no.1-sunday-times-bestseller-and-worldwide-phenomenon/

The land of long lost friends by Alexander McCall Smith. Holiday reading. Love these stories of life, tea and private detection in Botswana.

Spikey by Tereza Anteneova, illustrated by Mike Phillips. A lovely story for slightly older children to share with a grownup, or for early readers to read alone. The author has created a hedgehog world, where Spikey, the lonely hedgehog has to survive the winter in Regent's Park with only his grandma's wisdom to help him. One thing I really liked about this was the question prompts for dislogic reading at the bottom of each page - encouraging grownups to use more open-ended questions to talk about the story rather than falling into that easy trap of asking questions about colours and numbers instead... Older early readers can use the question prompts to think about the story for themselves and to talk to others about the ideas.

Published by compass-publishing uk. www.thelittlehedgehog.com

10 Silly Children by Jon Lander. A simple but original concept, this is a twist on the usual picture book about numbers. Each page shows us some children (one to ten) doing something awfully sensible. However, on opening up the large flap, we find the children being anything but sensible, and getting into all sorts of silly mishaps. On the cover page, the reader is encourgaed to "be exceedingly sensible" when reading the book, and whatever you do "do not open the fold-out pages unless you want to be subjected to silly behaviour of the highest order"...but of course, anyone reading this with a three year old knows how much they love silliness! This comic take on the classic number book ends with all the children very sensibly going to bed and falling asleep...or does it? Published by Pavilion on 5th August 2021. Find out more here - www.pavilionbooks.com/book/10-silly-children/

This book is Cruelty Free by Linda Newbery, published by Pavilion on 8th July 2021, guest reviewed on the blog by Hannah Hudson here - http://itsallaboutstories.blogspot.com/2021/08/book-review-this-book-is-cruelty-free.html

Women and Power, a manifesto by Mary Beard. This is a short book based on lectures she gave in 2014 and 2017. Mary Beard, Professor of Classics, looks at how history has treated powerful women, including journalists and politicians, and traces misogyny from Ancient Greece and Rome to today and Trump, including that directed at herself. She doesn't promise any answers but rather gives us background, context and a lot to think about, acknowledging the advances we have made, but pointing out how far we still have to go. So we must call out all injustices, those against women, as well as other oppressed groups. Because, as she says at the beginning when asking us to conjure an image of a "professor", "it's still hard for ME to image someone like ME in my role ". So, take inspiration from the three women who founded the Black Lives Matter movement, who names most of us couldn't recall - Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, and Opal Tometi - " together they had the power to get things done in a different way".

Nurturing personal, social and emotional development in early childhood by Debbie Garvey (introduction by Suzanne Zeedyk). Debbie Garvey has a brilliant accessible style that makes the reader feel as if she is just having a chat with you but making you relect at the same time. She links together personal, social and emotional development of children in the early years with a range of other issues such as wellbeing, infant mental health, brain development, neuroscience, teenagers, cats and listening holisticaly to all children are trying to get across to us. Her writing makes me reflect (that is the point of the book) on how relevant this is to our interactions with human beings of all ages, as I spend a week with my elderly mother-in-law, thining about how our well-meaning must be in her best interests, needs and wants. We must look through the eyes of the child in our practice, as well as through the eyes of the people in our personal lives. I feel the need to tidy my mother-in-laws kitchen, but on relection realise that the bottles and jars are on the counter becasue that is exectly where she can reach them. So in terms of our work with small children, is everything we do in their best interests? An example she gives is Christmas, thinking through the eyes of the child and how they might feel when they turn up one morning to their familiar setting to find it a grotto of glitter, tinsel, music and making stuff, she encourages us the reflect on whether these types of well-meaning activities are really meant for the child or are they really for the adult, a production line of glitter (don't get me started on the environmental cost of glitter). We think about how it is normal toddler development to express emotions strongly, and how wrong it is to just label them as a biter, screamer or maughty - what are they trying to express, what are they feeling? Debbie Garvey pints out the importance of helping children to develop empathy, compassion and an understanding of culture, difference and individuality - and asks if a Diwali colouring sheet or a production line celebration card really accomplish this. She finishes by linking what we have read to the importance of lifelong learning, and points us to an article entitled "Step away from the laminator" by Amii Spark - "Time in nature is what children are so greatly deprived of, so it's this we need to give them. In this way we can be sure that every child who attends our settings benefits from at least some of the time they so desparately need to engage with the natural world, without being inundated with pre-academic polution" (Find the article here, reflect, ask questions and be curious, as Debbie Garvey challenges us to do)Published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers (2018, https://uk.jkp.com/products/nurturing-personal-social-and-emotional-development-in-early-childhood)

I am an artist by Kertu Sillaste, translated from Estonian by Adam Cullen. The author is inspired by her own life as an artist to give children an insight into what everyday life as an artist is like. She introduces us to creativity, thinking, ideas, art as a game, a puzzle, a story, or a surprise, as well as sometimes having bad days where nothing works out at all, but that's OK because you try again later. I love the bit where the artist, a little boy called John, has to be brave when showing his art to his big brother, and is really pleased when he likes it. A great introduction for young children to the many possibilities of art and creativity, opening up the chance to talk about challenges and worries in our own lives. Published by Graffeg on 19th August 2021 (https://graffeg.com/products/i-am-an-artist)

And we shared these stories with props with the children during July -

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