November 2020

Month

Wed
18 ^th

M is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child by Tiffany Rose

This gorgeous alphabet book is a celebration of black children everywhere.

Each page features an affirmation, beautifully illustrated with happy children who are making their mark on their world. From A for Afro, B for Black, and C for Creative right through to X for Malcolm, Y for You and Z for the Zillion people trying to tell you to be someone else – this book encourages kids to be the best version of themselves.

Every child featured is unique and each has their own special style. We see black skin in a wide variety of hues (including a child with vitiligo and another with albinism) and so much joyful freedom of expression – I really can’t recommend this book highly enough!

Mon
16 ^th

Book Box Review:
The Brave Girls Book Club

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Do you subscribe to any book boxes for your child? We get a monthly ‘Koala Crate‘ craft/innovation box from KiwiCo but we don’t have any book subscriptions so I have been doing some research in to what is available here in the UK.

I have followed Books that Matter (a feminist book box for grown ups) on Instagram for some time so I was very happy when they offered to send me one of their brand new boxes for kids – The Brave Girls Book Club!

The box is aimed at middle grade readers (age 7-12) so it’s currently a bit old for Ivy but the contents were so lovely that I wanted to share it with you anyway! I’m sure that many of you will have older children who would really benefit from this box.

Fri
13 ^th

Good Evening Star Baby
by Kathy Walsh & Clare Wasserman

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Written by mindfulness expert Kathy Walsh, this book encourages children to stay connected to the love and light inside themselves.

The gentle rhyme asks children to consider how it might feel to shine as bright as the stars, to have love flow through your veins and for their joy to light up the world for all to see.

The vivid illustrations take you on a dream-like journey through the night sky. We see children flying through the clouds on giant white birds, sliding down rainbows and communing with nature.

Fri
13 ^th

Red Riding Hood and the Sweet Little Wolf
by Rachael Mortimer & Liz Pichon

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What would the story of Little Red Riding Hood have looked like if the wolf was a peace-loving creature with a penchant for frills and fairy tales? Let’s find out! This adorable book takes the well-known traditional tale and turns it in to brand new story which Ivy absolutely loves.

Deep in the woods there lives a family of wolves. The mother and father wolf are very big and very bad, so they’re a little confused by their child’s sweet nature. Their Sweet Little Wolf is happiest when she’s reading books and twirling through the trees decked in flowers and frills. She has no interest in being big or bad at all.

One day they decide the time has come for the Sweet Little Wolf to become a ‘real’ wolf and they send her off with a shopping list for their dinner. Along with the onions, carrots, potatoes and rosemary, she must find a tender and juicy little girl…

Fri
13 ^th

My First Book of the Cosmos
by Sheddad Kaid-Salah Ferrón & Eduard Altarriba

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Since reading City Moon by Rachael Cole we’ve taken a few evening walks around our neighbourhood. Ivy really enjoys spotting the moon and the stars and it’s prompted lots of questions about Space. This isn’t my specialist subject at all so I’ve been turning to our copy of ‘My First Book of the Cosmos’ for help!

Aimed at children aged 8+, this fascinating book introduces kids to a complex subject in a really fun way. It breaks down a wide range of topics in to manageable chunks and does a great job of explaining it all in a way which is easy to understand (even for me!).

There are pages on gravity, galaxies, the big bang, stars, planets, black holes, wormholes and the possibility of other life forms. The layout is engaging, with brightly coloured illustrations, simple graphs and accessible examples.

Thu
12 ^th

Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice
by Nikki Grimes & Laura Freeman

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When little Eve slams the door on her return from school her Mum instantly knows that something is wrong. She listens carefully as her daughter explains that a boy in her class had laughed at her when she said she wanted to be President one day because “Girls can’t be President, stupid.” Her Mum sits her down and tells her a story about a girl from their own town – a girl called Kamala…

What follows is a detailed but child-friendly look at the life of Kamala Harris, the Vice President-elect of the United States. We learn about her heritage, her childhood and how the quest for justice and peace has been a part of her life since she was a baby. We follow her story as she deals with family separation, moves to a new country, graduates college and fails an important exam. Whatever the obstacles she has to face in her own life, she never stops fighting for the rights of the people around her as she edges ever closer to her dream.

Mon
09 ^th

The Spots and the Dots
by Helen Baugh & Marion Deuchars

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This is a very clever book which features two stories – the first one you read traditionally from the front cover, then you flip the book over to read the second story from the back cover. The two stories meet in the middle which makes for a very smart twist.

The Spots are little red dots who live at the bottom of a very steep hill. They live in little tent-like pods and they love to bounce around and have fun. However the Spots live in fear of the terrible Dots who are rumoured to live on the other side of the hill. From when they are babies, the Spots are taught by their parents that they must never go up to the top of the hill because the terrible Dots will take them away. The story is passed down through generations of Spots and the children play games of Spot vs Dot where they always come out on top.

Flip the book over and we see another little community, telling a story which is somewhat familiar…

Mon
09 ^th

Ella Has A Plan
by Davina Hamilton & Elena Reinoso

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It’s the day of the big family party and everyone at Ella’s house is busy getting ready. Kind-hearted Ella can’t wait for her relatives to arrive but she’s also a little bit worried. Two of her cousins, Taye and Jade, have a habit of arguing and bickering and she’s concerned that this might ruin the party for everyone else.

Mum tells her to go and chat to Great Grandad Frank who apparently has a great story about how he once tricked two of his children into playing nicely together. Ella speeds off to find him, but sure enough, a fight breaks out before he gets the chance to share his wisdom.

As Ella steps between Taye and Jade she realises that she needs a plan. How can she get the two cousins to understand that they are more alike than they realise, and that arguments are not the answer?

Mon
09 ^th

Together
by Charles Fuge

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If you have been searching for the perfect snuggly bedtime book then you can stop now as I have found it! This beautiful story feels like an enormous hug.

In a vast landscape of ice and snow a polar bear and cub find warmth and comfort in each others company. We watch as they explore their surroundings, battle snowstorms and find joy in small things. They dream of faraway lands, gaze at the stars in the night sky and master new skills. Life in the snow may be tough at times but they know they will never be lonely as they have each other.

Written in gentle, reassuring rhyme this story celebrates love and kindness. The icy tones of the illustrations are really calming and the bears are depictied beautifully. I find myself drawn to the depth of love you can see in their eyes as they live their lives peacefully side by side.

Sun
08 ^th

Rabbit & Bear: Rabbit’s Bad Habits
by Julian Gough & Jim Field

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It’s time for another chapter book review and this one is the first in a fab series which will have your kids laughing out loud!

Bear wakes up early from hibernation to discover that someone has sneaked in to her cave and stolen all of her food. How rude! But Bear is a ‘glass half full’ kind of girl so she decides to make the most of her early start by building a snowman.

Whilst rolling the snow into a suitable shape she encounters a rabbit who doesn’t quite share her joyful view of the world. Rabbit is grumpy and he wants everyone to know about it. Rabbit has never built a snowman but he knows that if he did it would definitely be better than Bear’s!

As the two busy themselves on their creations they start to talk and Rabbit gives Bear a rundown on how awful it is to be a bunny. He even lets slip that he has to eat his own poo!

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