By Davina Bell & Hilary Jean Tapper
🏆 WINNER OF THE ABIA CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2023
🥇CBCA NOTABLE PICTURE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023
I highly recommend this book for primary students, parents and teachers. This book made me teary and my heart hurt!! Such a beautiful book with absolutely gorgeous and heart warming illustrations highlighting times when children need support, love and care from others. This book can be used as stimulus for discussion about emotions with children – how would they feel in this situation? How could they help? Have the felt this way before? Children have to learn how to negotiate social situations, to see other points of view, and respect other cultures.
Reading fiction supports emotion concepts through exposure to these emotions in context (Schwering et al., 2021, p.178), developing understanding of point of view and perspective assisting with the development of empathy in children (Mar et al., 2009). Literature acts as both windows and mirrors for students (Bishop, 1990); seeing yourself and seeing others within resources.
Davina Bell is the author of children’s picture books including All the Ways To Be Smart, All of the Factors
of Why I Love Tractors and Under the Love Umbrella. She has also written an award winning young adult novel, The End of the World is Bigger than Love. It won the 2021 CBCA Book of the Year for Older Readers and the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards’ Ethel Turner Prize for Young People’s Literature.
I wrote this book because I wanted to give you some words you could use when you are feeling small in a big situation. I wanted to say to you – you are not alone! Everyone feels this way sometimes. You will get through it, and going through hard things makes our hearts bigger. I am with you and I’m proud of you! I hope this book is a reminder that we are all connected by how tricky and how wonderful it is to be alive. Happy reading always.
Author, Davina Bell
Curriculum links
Check out the wonderful Teachers Resources including Emotions Emojis activity.
Teacher Librarian Janet 
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