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Isabel Otter

The Garden of Hope
by Isabel Otter & Katie Rewse

Maya’s house feels different without Mum. Her Dad is trying his best but he’s a little overwhelmed and the house, the garden and Maya herself are all a little untidy. She’s very grateful for her Dad and her dog Pip but sometimes she still feels lonely and anxious. Everything about her life has changed.

But then one day her Dad gathers Maya on to his lap and tells her a story. He explains that her Mum used to feel anxious too but she kept her worries at bay by planting and growing beautiful things in the garden. On the table in front of her Maya sees multiple packets of seeds and smiles.

Maya sets to work. She pulls up the weeds, she untangles the swing and she plants her first seeds in the ground. As she toils she thinks about her Mum but the green space makes her calm and she starts to feel like she has a purpose.

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Turn and Learn: Our World by Isabel Otter & Hannah Tolson

Technically this book is a little old for Ivy – the publisher recommendation is 6 to 8 years  – but she’s had so much fun with it this week that it really doesn’t matter!

Our World by Isabel Otter and Hannah Tolson is a fantastic book of facts with an interesting interactive twist. It takes five different habitats – desert, rainforest, polar, savannah and sea – and teaches you about the flora, fauna, animal life and indigenous people.

Despite the slightly older age bracket, Ivy has shown lots of interest in what the book has to say. Her favourite section is about the arctic and antarctic and she has learned that penguins and polar bears actually live on opposite sides of the world (something i’m ashamed to say I didn’t realise until I was in my twenties!)

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