Tag: acceptance

Reena’s Rainbow, by Dee White & Tracie Grimwood

In Reena’s world, sounds scattered and scrambled and made no sense.
But her clear blue eyes saw everything.
She saw the scruffy brown dog with drooping ears who hid in the shadows of the park.

Reena is hearing impaired. She loves to play with the other children who come to the park but sometimes she is left behind because she doesn’t hear what is happening. Dog is homeless. He loves to watch and to play, but he doesn’t have a person or place of his own. But when the two pair up, each findsa new sense of belonging.

Reena’s Rainbow is a touching story of friendship and belonging. The pairing of girl and dog is heart warming, and the message about acceptance is important. The gentle soft-toned illustrations are a perfect complement to the gentlessness of the story.

Lovely.

Reena’s Rainbow , by Dee White & Tracie Grimwood
EK Books, 2017
ISBN 9781925335491

Blue & Bertie by Kristyna Litten

Every day Bertie and the giraffes did the same thing at the same time.

Crunchity-crunch – they nibbled sweet leaves from the top of the trees.

Blue and BertieEvery day Bertie and the giraffes did the same thing at the same time.

Crunchity-crunch – they nibbled sweet leaves from the top of the trees.

Bertie is happy with his life. There’s plenty of giraffes and plenty of food and water and company. Then one day, he sleeps in. When he wakes he discovers a whole different world. Without the others to be with and to copy, he doesn’t know what to do, or where to find them. When he is thoroughly lost, he encounters Blue. Blue leads Bertie on a wonderful day of new things and adventure. But at the end, Bertie is happy to rejoin his herd. Now it is Blue’s turn to feel lost and different. Blue and Bertie are friends and together they enrich the lives of the entire herd. Illustrations are stylised, in gentle and welcoming.

Blue & Bertie encounter each other by accident but are happy to play together despite their self-perceptions of being different. Each accepts the other happily into their differing worlds, and in doing so expands and enriches the world of each. Blue and Bertie is a delightful story of friendship and acceptance. Recommended for pre- and early schoolers.

Blue and Bertie, Kristyna Litten
Koala Books 2016 ISBN: 9781742761800

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com

A New Friend for Marmalade, by Alison Reynolds & Heath McKenzie

Toby, the boy from across the road, joined in.
Ella shrugged and Maddy sighed…
Marmalade peeped out in surprise.

Ella, Maddy and Marmalade the cat love to play together, but when the boy from across the room tries to join in, he gets in the way. He knocks down cubbies and smashes sandcastles. He even pats Marmalade the wrong way. Ella and Maddy are not impressed, but Marmalade enjoys the tummy rubs. Then, when Toby’s attempts to help with a new sand castle scare Marmalade up a tree, it is Toby who has the solution.

A New Friend for Marmalade is a picture book story about friendship and acceptance. A companion book to A Year With Marmalade, it is just as beautiful as the first, and can either stand alone or be read as a sequel. The message of acceptance is gentle, and the whimsy of the resolution will appeal.

This is an exquisite picture book.

 

A New Friend for Marmalade

A New Friend for Marmalade, by Alison Reynolds & Heath McKenzie
Five Mile Press, 2014
ISBN9781743466599

 

You can see an interview with Alison here.