JUNO Book Club
The Song of the Nightingales: stories for Ukrai...
Last year, Australian author Susan Perrow was invited to partner with a social worker based in Romania, Didi Ananda Devapriya, on a story project for Ukrainian refugees. Over the past nine months, they have written and collated a therapeutic story collection entitled The Song of the Nightingales. Here they introduce the book... Therapeutic stories are a healing medium that allow children, teenagers and adults to embark on an imaginative journey, rather than being lectured or directly addressed about the issue. By identifying with the main character or characters, the listener is empowered as obstacles are overcome and a resolution achieved. This is a gentle, easy, yet often effective means of addressing challenging behaviours and difficult situations. As medicine is used to help restore wholeness or balance to out-of-balance physical conditions, story medicine (therapeutic or healing stories) can be an imaginative and effective pedagogical strategy. Story medicine uses metaphor and story...
The Song of the Nightingales: stories for Ukrainian refugees
Last year, Australian author Susan Perrow was invited to partner with a social worker based in Romania, Didi Ananda Devapriya, on a story project for Ukrainian refugees. Over the past...
Molly’s First Festival: a fun picture book for ...
Molly’s First Festival is a fun and inclusive picture book about a little girl going to a music festival for the first time. It was created by Somerset-based illustrator Katherine O’Shea and was made possible through crowdfunding. “It all started in a field on Worthy Farm, when I went to Glastonbury Festival as a mum for the first time,” says Katherine. “My husband and I had never gone to an event like this with a toddler in tow and were both rather nervous, given that Molly had been born during the Covid-19 lockdown and was unused to such large events. But of course, music festivals are wonderful places for children, and despite the ups, downs and general messes, we all had a magical time. “As I looked at the lights across the valley and thought about the beautiful experience we had been through together, the idea to create a children’s...
Molly’s First Festival: a fun picture book for festival families!
Molly’s First Festival is a fun and inclusive picture book about a little girl going to a music festival for the first time. It was created by Somerset-based illustrator Katherine...
Spring Book Club: four new books for adults
The Danish Way of Raising Teens: What the Happiest People in the World Know About Raising Confident, Healthy Teenagers with Character By Iben Dissing Sandahl, Piatkus Denmark has been voted the happiest country in the world by the OECD for more than 40 years, and in her book The Danish Way of Parenting, Sandahl looked at why upbringing is influenced by ingrained values and how that cycle repeats itself. In her latest book, Sandahl looks particularly at how Danish teenagers are parented, and how this contributes to the overall ethos of happiness. Many of the elements discussed are universal – trust, authenticity, empathy. However, some elements are more specific to Danish culture, such as efterskoles, which are independent residential schools for students aged between 14 and 18 years, where education is mixed with activities and the opportunity to learn independence. Sandahl also writes about attitudes to alcohol in Denmark, accepting...
Spring Book Club: four new books for adults
The Danish Way of Raising Teens: What the Happiest People in the World Know About Raising Confident, Healthy Teenagers with Character By Iben Dissing Sandahl, Piatkus Denmark has been voted...
Spring Book Club: seven new books for children
The Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Unearthed the Truth About the Dinosaurs By Kate Winter, Puffin Dinosaurs hold a particular fascination for children, and this book tells of Mary Anning’s important fossil discoveries over 200 years ago. As well as being full of scientific and historic information, The Fossil Hunter is also a captivating story. Mary, who lived in Lyme Regis, was too poor to go to school. Her father taught her about fossils, and Mary collected them to sell to wealthy tourists. After her father died, she went on to discover the first ichthyosaur, and an almost complete skeleton of a plesiosaur. Her findings paved the way for modern palaeontology. The book raises interesting points for discussion as it addresses the way in which the establishment attempted to take credit for Mary’s work and write her out of history. The illustrations are wonderfully atmospheric. As well as capturing a...
Spring Book Club: seven new books for children
The Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Unearthed the Truth About the Dinosaurs By Kate Winter, Puffin Dinosaurs hold a particular fascination for children, and this book tells of Mary Anning’s...
Three books to help little ones connect with na...
What Can You Spot in the Woods? By Andrea Pinnington and Caz Buckingham, Fine Feather Press Part of the Nature Spotters series, this is a child-friendly companion for exploring our rich woodlands and discovering the species that live there. It’s divided into themes such as mammals, birds, trees and fungi, and there are large colour photographs of each species for easy identification. You can tick off entries as you see them, and even if you don’t spot all 190 species featured, it’s wonderful to learn about the incredible wildlife living in our woods and forests. A Little Dose of Nature: Outdoor Fun to Help Happiness Bloom By Dr Alison Greenwood, illustrated by Anneli Bray, Ivy Kids With activities such as making a mandala, scavenging for smells, and drawing sun portraits with a friend, this gentle, interactive book offers us a daily dose of nature to make us feel good. The...
Three books to help little ones connect with nature
What Can You Spot in the Woods? By Andrea Pinnington and Caz Buckingham, Fine Feather Press Part of the Nature Spotters series, this is a child-friendly companion for exploring our...
An essential read for pregnant women to know th...
I qualified as a midwife in 1972 and have worked for the NHS in both hospital and community. “Am I allowed?” was a question I have been asked countless times. How I wish I’d had a book such as this in my little black bag! Gone are the days when women simply accepted and complied with tests and treatments being provided under the banner of ‘care’. They are now, thankfully, questioning more and more, with a wish to take control of their confinement and birth. A woman should not be made to feel part of a conveyor-belt system, but should be treated as an individual who is also protecting the rights of her unborn child. Beverley Beech has years of experience campaigning on the rights of mothers during pregnancy and birth. I am sure she has been a thorn in the side of both the Royal College of Midwives and...
An essential read for pregnant women to know their rights
I qualified as a midwife in 1972 and have worked for the NHS in both hospital and community. “Am I allowed?” was a question I have been asked countless times....
Four powerful and inspiring books for young rea...
The Lost Whale By Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold, HarperCollins Children’s Books Hannah Gold taps into something elemental in her new book, The Lost Whale. The protagonist, Rio, is sent to stay with his grandma in California while his mother is in hospital, receiving help after a long period of mental ill health. Rio has spent much of his childhood caring for her, and he feels the weight of her recovery on his shoulders. While in California where his mother grew up, he learns of her love of whales, whose migratory path takes them down the west coast each year. One whale in particular was once special to his mother: White Beak. When Rio comes face to face with White Beak, he feels a powerful connection to her, and to his mum. When White Beak runs into danger, Rio believes that by saving her, he can also save his mum....
Four powerful and inspiring books for young readers
The Lost Whale By Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold, HarperCollins Children’s Books Hannah Gold taps into something elemental in her new book, The Lost Whale. The protagonist, Rio, is sent...
Summer Reads: eight beautiful and thoughtful bo...
We’ve reviewed a range of 8 beautiful books for children, perfect for summer reading. Suitable for a range of ages. Just Like Grandpa Jazz By Tarah L. Gear, illustrated by Mirna Imamović, Owlet Press Grandpa Jazz is a master storyteller. But his grandson, Frank, is not always sure which stories are made up and which are true. Did he really fall into a volcano? Did his dog actually stand guard over him while his mother washed clothes in the river? We discover Grandpa Jazz came to the UK as a young man to work in the NHS, and when Frank learns he was treated differently to the white passengers on the journey over, he feels sad. “If I’d been with him on that ship, we wouldn’t have been together,” he says. Grandpa Jazz is getting ready to return to Mauritius for a holiday, and Frank sees his own suitcase in the boot next to...
Summer Reads: eight beautiful and thoughtful books for children
We’ve reviewed a range of 8 beautiful books for children, perfect for summer reading. Suitable for a range of ages. Just Like Grandpa Jazz By Tarah L. Gear, illustrated by...